Kvernes 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 the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. Originally, it encompassed the whole island of

Averøya Averøya is an island in the municipality of Averøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located north of the Romsdal peninsula surrounded by the Kornstadfjord on the west and the Kvernesfjord on the south and east. The main villages on ...

, part of the

Romsdal peninsula Romsdal is a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named after the v ...

, part of the island of

Nordlandet Nordlandet is an island in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island is located just east of the city center of Kristiansund, and is one of the boroughs of the city. The island is home to Kristiansund Airport, Kv ...

, and part of the island of

Frei Frei is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2008 when it was incorporated into Kristiansund Municipality. It was located between the Kvernesfjorden and Freifjo ...

. Over time it gradually got smaller until 1964, when the municipality was merged into

Averøy Municipality Averøy is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Nordmøre. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bruhagen. Other villages in the municipality include Bremsnes, Kornstad, Kver ...

. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kvernes where Kvernes Stave Church (built in the 14th century) and the Kvernes Church (built in the 19th century) are both located.

History

The municipality of ''Kværnes'' was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). According to the 1835 census, the municipality initially had a population of about 3,754. On 1 January 1878, a small area in the western part of Bud Municipality (population: 15) was transferred to Kvernes. Then again on 1 January 1891, the Bollien farm (population: 15) was transferred from Bud to Kvernes. On 1 September 1893, parts of Kvernes Municipality (population: 477) along with parts of

Frei Municipality Frei is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2008 when it was incorporated into Kristiansund Municipality. It was located between the Kvernesfjorden and Freifj ...

and Øre Municipality were used to create the new

Gjemnes Municipality Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former stea ...

. On 1 January 1897, the large municipality of Kvernes was divided into four areas to create the municipalities of

Eide Parallel ATA (PATA), originally , also known as IDE, is a standard interface designed for IBM PC-compatible computers. It was first developed by Western Digital and Compaq in 1986 for compatible hard drives and CD or DVD drives. The connection ...

, Kornstad,

Bremsnes Bremsnes is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1897 until its dissolution in 1964. Bremsnes municipality surrounded the Bremsnesfjorden and it included parts of the islands of Averøya, Fr ...

, and (a much smaller) Kvernes. The remaining part of Kvernes had a population of 857. On 8 July 1903, an uninhabited area of Bremsnes was transferred over to Kvernes. 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, Kvernes was merged with most of Kornstad and Bremsnes municipalities to create the new

. Prior to the merger, Kvernes had a population of 693.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Kvernes, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services,

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 during the refere ...

and other social services,

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 ...

, 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 counc ...

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

representatives, which in turn elects 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 ...

Municipal council

The

of Kvernes was made up of 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 featur ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

{{Authority control Averøy Eide Kristiansund Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway