Godøya or Godøy is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Giske Municipality Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres i ...

in Møre og Romsdal county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The island is famous for its beautiful nature, dominated by the tall mountain ''Storhornet'' and the large lake ''Alnesvatnet''. The island had 1,117 residents in 2015. Most of the population lives on the southeastern side of the island in the villages of Godøy and Leitebakk, although the small fishing village of Alnes, with the old Alnes Lighthouse, is located on the north side of the island about away via a tunnel through the tall mountain ''Sloktinden''. Godøy Chapel is located on the southern coast of the island. There is a lot of cultivated farm land along the shores.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

fish processing The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...

are the main industries for the island. There is an

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry li ...

, the

Godøy Tunnel The Godøy Tunnel ( no, Godøytunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel which runs between the islands of Giske and Godøy in Giske Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The tunnel is long; it is part of County Road 658 and the Vigra Fixed ...

, which connects Godøy to the neighboring island of

Giske Giske is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality lies north-northwest of the town of Ålesund in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The municipal centre is Valderhaugstrand. Other population centres in ...

. Tunel was renovated in 2009. There is further ferry-free road transportation (including the Giske Bridge) that connects the island to the town of

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...

. A variety of wildlife can be found on the island, mammals such as

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of we ...

Roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, Otter,

Harbour seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared se ...

and

American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...

are predominant. The steep mountain sides of the island also contain a number of nesting

White-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal raptors ...

Name

The name stems back to the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Germ ...

, and is derived from the name "Gud øy", which translates to "Island of God(s)" in English. The current name, Godøya, can be loosely translated to "the good island".

References

Giske Islands of Møre og Romsdal {{MøreRomsdal-geo-stub

Name

See also

References