Hillesøy is a former municipality in the old

Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by t ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 t ...

. The municipality existed from 1855 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located on both sides of the

Malangen Malangen ( sme, Málatvuotna or fkv, Malankivuono) is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The old municipality surrounded the Malangen fjord and today that area ...

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

in what is now the present-day municipalities of

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

Senja or is an island in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway, Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the Atlantic, and a mild ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

was located at Brensholmen on the western shore of the island of Kvaløya. Brensholmen is also the location of

Hillesøy Church Hillesøy Church ( no, Hillesøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located in the Brensholmen area on the western part of the island of Kvaløya. It is the churc ...

, the main church for the municipality. Hillesøy Municipality included about of land with on the island of Senja, about on the island of Kvaløya, and about of smaller islands including

Hillesøya Hillesøya is an island and fishing village in Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The island is dominated by a mountain, but the southeastern third of the island is relatively flat and that is where the residents of the isl ...

and

Sommarøy Sommarøy is an old fishing village in the western part of Tromsø Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located about west of the city of Tromsø and is a popular tourist destination due to its white sand beaches and scenery. ...

a. On Senja island, Hillesøy Municipality included the larger villages of

Fjordgård Fjordgård or Fjordgard is a small fishing village in Senja Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is located on the northern part of the island of Senja, the second largest island in Norway. Fjordgård lies on the west side of the ...

, Husøy, and

Botnhamn Botnhamn is a village in Senja Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The small village is located more than north of the Arctic Circle on the northern part of the large island of Senja. The village lies along the west side of the S ...

. On Kvaløya island, it included Ersfjordbotn and Brensholmen. The island of

a is connected to the large island of Kvaløya by the Sommarøy Bridge. Most of the other islands are only accessible by boat.

History

The municipality of Hillesøy (originally spelled ''Hillesø'') was established in 1855 when it was separated from the large

Lenvik Municipality Lenvik ( sme, Leaŋgáviika) is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the isla ...

(or it might have been in 1871–some sources do not concur). The initial population of Hillesøy was around 800 people. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, Hillesøy Municipality was dissolved and its lands were divided as follows: *The areas of Hillesøy on Kvaløya as well as all of the islands north of the

fjord (with 1,316 inhabitants in total) were merged with the city of Tromsø (population: 12,602), the whole municipality of

Tromsøysund Tromsøysund is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed most of what is now Tromsø Municipality including areas on the island of Kvaløya ...

(population: 16,727), and all of the municipality of

Ullsfjord Ullsfjord is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in what is now the eastern part of Tromsø Municipality and the southwestern part of Lyngen Municip ...

except the Svensby area (population: 2,019) to form a new, enlarged

Tromsø Municipality Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

. *The areas of Hillesøy on the island of Senja and the little island of Hekkingen (with 1,159 inhabitants in total) merged with

(population: 8,825), the part of

Tranøy Municipality Tranøy is a former municipality that was located in the old Troms Troms (; se, Romsa; fkv, Tromssa; fi, Tromssa) is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the ne ...

along the south shore of the river Lakselva (population: 106), and the part of

Sørreisa Municipality Sørreisa ( sme, Ráisavuona suohkan) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skøelva, and Smørsgård. The munici ...

on Senja island (population: 129) to form a new, larger

Name

The municipality is named after the old ''Hillesøy'' farm ( non, Hildulfsøy) on the island of

since that is where the

was originally located. The first element of the old name comes from the old male name ''Hildulfr'' and the last part is identical with the word for "

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 ...

". Another possibility for the meaning of the name is ''Hellisøy'', where the first element comes from the work ''hellir'' which means "rock slab" and the last element again meaning "island".

Government

Municipal council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counci ...

of Hillesøy was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature f ...

breakdown of the council was as follows:

References

External links