Haram is a former municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

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 ...

. It was part of the

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. The

administrative center 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 A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

was

Brattvåg Brattvåg is a village in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the Norwegian mainland, along the west side of the Samfjorden. It is located about northwest of the villages of Vatne, Møre og Romsdal, ...

, the industrial center of Sunnmøre. Other important villages in the municipality included

Austnes Austnes is a village in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the southeast side of the island of Haramsøya, about southwest of the village of Longva via the Ullasund Bridge. The Ulla lighthouse is located ...

, Eidsvik, Helle,

Longva Longva is a village in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the southwest side of the island of Skuløya, along the Longvafjorden. It is about northeast of the village of Austnes on Haramsøya via ...

, Hildrestranda, Søvik, Tennfjord, and Vatne.

Brattvåg IL Brattvåg Idrettslag is a Norway, Norwegian sports club from the village of Brattvåg in the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It has sections for association football and Nordic skiing. The club was established in 1940 ...

is a sports club based in the municipality. ''Tennfjord Mannskor'' is a male

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

from the village of Tennfjord. The Ulla Lighthouse and

Hellevik Lighthouse Hellevik Lighthouse ( no, Hellevik fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal, Norway. It was first established in 1880, and was automated in 1973. The lighthouse was replaced by a smaller automated light in ...

are both located in the northwestern part of the municipality. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 294th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Haram is the 122nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,345. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is and its population has increased by 8.4% over the last decade.

General information

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Haram was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). The western island district of

Roald Roald is a village in Giske Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the northern part of the island Vigra. Roald is located about north of the city centre of Ålesund. It is connected to the mainland via two ...

was separated from Haram on 1 January 1890 to form the new municipality of Roald. This left 1,956 people left in Haram. 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 1965, three municipal changes involving Haram occurred: *The part of Haram Municipality on the island of

Harøya Harøya is a swampy island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. At , it is the largest island in the municipality. The island is located between the islands of Finnøya (to the northeast) and Fjørtofta (to the southwest ...

, including the Myklebost area and the smaller surrounding islands to the west of there (population: 287), was separated from Haram Municipality and merged into the neighboring

Sandøy Municipality Sandøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre was the village of Steinshamn. Other villages included Ona and Myklebost. The municipality was spread out over man ...

to the northeast. *Most of

Vatne Municipality Vatne is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included land and islands surrounding the Midfjorden and Vatnefjorden in what is now part of � ...

(population: 2,260) to the southeast of Haram Municipality was merged into Haram Municipality. *The Søvik area in Borgund Municipality (population: 1,191) to the south of Haram Municipality were merged into Haram. These three boundary changes created a much larger municipality of Haram. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Haram,

Skodje Skodje (''pronunciation'': kɔʏəor køʏə is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Skodje. The other main village in the municipality ...

Ørskog Ørskog is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Sjøholt. The other main village was Vaksvika, about south of Sjøholt. The European Rou ...

Sandøy Sandøy is a former municipality 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 ...

, and

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 administrative ...

were merged to form a new, large municipality of Ålesund. This occurred because in June 2017, the

Parliament of Norway The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

voted to approve the merger.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''Haram'' farm ( non, Harhamarr), since the first

Haram Church Haram Church ( no, Haram kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Austnes on the island of Haramsøya. It is one of the churches for the ''Ha ...

was built there. The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is ''hamarr'' which means "rocky hill". Before 1889, the name was written ''Harham''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

was granted on 7 August 1987. The arms show three

wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

s in blue with a silver or white background, symbolizing the importance of the sea in this island municipality.

Dialect

The

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

of the district was well known for its practice of

H-dropping ''H''-dropping or aitch-dropping is the deletion of the voiceless glottal fricative or "''H''-sound", . The phenomenon is common in many dialects of English, and is also found in certain other languages, either as a purely historical developmen ...

and the old and traditional pronunciation of the name of the municipality was :ram

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

has five parishes () within the municipality of Haram. It is part of the

Nordre Sunnmøre prosti ''Nordre'' (Northern), formerly known as ''Haramsnytt'' (The Haram News), is a local Norwegian newspaper covering events in the northern part of the municipality of Ålesund in Møre og Romsdal county. History The newspaper was established as ''Ha ...

(

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...

) in the

Diocese of Møre The Diocese of Møre ( no, Møre bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway which geographically consists of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Its bishop is seated at the Molde Cathedral which is located in the county administrative center ...

Geography

The municipality of Haram includes many islands including Bjørnøya,

Fjørtofta Fjørtofta is an island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located in the northern part of the municipality, between the islands of Flemsøya, Harøya, and Midøya and Dryna (both in Molde Municipality). F ...

Haramsøya Haramsøya is an island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located between the islands of Lepsøya and Flemsøya, just northwest of the mainland. The village of Austnes is located on the southeast part of ...

, Løvsøya, Skuløya, and Terøya. The islands of Bjørnøya and Terøya are connected to the mainland via

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

s. The islands of Haramsøya and Skuløya are connected with the

Ullasund Bridge The Ullasund Bridge ( no, Ullasundbrua) is a bridge that crosses the Ullasundet strait between the islands of Haramsøya and Flemsøya in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The original bridge was opened in 1969. The Ulla ...

. The rest of the islands have

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

connections to the mainland. The new

Nordøyvegen Nordøyvegen () is a road that connect the northern islands of Ålesund (formerly in Haram Municipality and Sandøy Municipality) to the mainland in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This road was opened in 2022 and replaced several ferry crossings ...

bridge and tunnel network will connect all of the main islands of Haram to the mainland when it is completed in 2022. The Haramsfjorden, Vatnefjorden, and

Romsdal Fjord Romsdalsfjord or Romsdal Fjord ( no, Romsdalsfjorden) is the ninth-longest fjord in Norway. It is long and located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county. It flows through the municipalities of Molde, Ålesund, Vestnes, and Rauma. T ...

all flow through the municipality. The municipality shares land borders with

Vestnes Municipality Vestnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Vestnes is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vestnes. Other villages in the municipality include Vikebukt ...

to the east and

Skodje Municipality Skodje (''pronunciation'': kɔʏəor køʏə is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre was the village of Skodje. The other main village in the municipality was ...

to the south. The rest of the municipality is surrounded by sea. The municipality also borders (by sea)

and

Midsund Municipality Midsund is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre was the village of Midsund on Otrøya island. Other settlements on the island included Uglvik and Raknes in th ...

to the northeast,

Ålesund Municipality 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 administrative cent ...

to the south, and

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 ...

to the west.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Haram, are responsible for

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and o ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

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 elected representatives, which in turn elect a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

. The municipality falls under the

Sunnmøre District Court Sunnmøre District Court ( no, Sunnmøre tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Ålesund. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over approximately the southern third of t ...

and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal ( no, Frostating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal ...

Municipal council

The

() of Haram is made up of 27 representatives that are 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 final municipal council was as follows:

Media gallery

File:Hildre kapell.jpg, Hildre Church near Brattvåg File:Hamnsund kirke i Søvik.jpg, Hamnsund Church near Søvik File:Brattvåg.jpg, View of Brattvåg village File:Lepsoeya.jpg, View of Lepsøya island

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

* {{authority control Ålesund Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020