Osterøy 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 ...

situated northeast of the city of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

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 t ...

. With a total area of , it is the largest Norwegian island not located directly adjacent to the

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

, and the second largest such island in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...

. Osterøy is covered by two municipalities: the majority () by

Osterøy Osterøy is an island municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses most of the island of Osterøy. The administrative centre of Osterøy is the village of Lon ...

municipality, and the rest () by

Vaksdal is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Dalekvam. Other villages in Vaksdal include Dalegarden, Flatkvål, Helle, Nesheim, S ...

municipality. The vast majority of the island's population lives in Osterøy municipality (7,305 inhabitants as of 2008). The island is surrounded by

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 ...

s with mainland Norway on all sides of those fjords. The

Osterfjorden Osterfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy (island), Osterøy. The fjord runs along the municipal border of Alver (municipality), Alver and Osterøy municipalities. Th ...

- Romarheimsfjorden flows along the north side, the Sørfjorden flows along the southern and western sides, and the

Veafjorden Veafjorden (historically, the Vedåfjorden) is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord flows between the mainland and the island of Osterøy in Vaksdal municipality. There is one bridge across the fjord, the Kallestadsundet Bridge ne ...

flows along the eastern side. The highest mountain on Osterøy is the tall Høgafjellet. There are two road bridges that connect the island to the rest of the road network in Norway. The first is the

Osterøy Bridge The Osterøy Bridge ( no, Osterøybrua) is a suspension bridge in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the Kvisti farm area on the island of Osterøy in Osterøy Municipality with the Herland farm area on the mainland in Bergen Municipa ...

, built in 1997 on the southwestern tip of the island. That bridge is the only road connection to the mainland for most residents of Osterøy. The other is the

Kallestadsundet Bridge The Kallestadsundet Bridge is a bridge over the Veafjorden in Vaksdal municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge links the mainland part of Vaksdal municipality to the part that lies on the island of Osterøy. The bridge lies about no ...

which connects the northeastern tip of the island to the mainland. The northeastern part of Osterøy only has one road, and it is not connected to the rest of the roads on the island, so to get from the northeastern part of the island to the rest of the island, one would have to cross the Kallestadsundet Bridge to leave the island, drive along the mainland to the opposite side of the island, then cross the Osterøy Bridge to get back onto the island. This is why the northeastern part of the island is part of Vaksdal municipality and the rest of the island is part of Osterøy municipality.

Media gallery

File:Osteröysbrua IMG 3730.JPG, Southwestern tip of the island with the

File:Osteröy Sörfjorden Trengereid IMG 3726.JPG, Western part of the island, surrounded by the Sørfjorden File:Haus1.JPG, View of Hausvik, on the western coast File:Veafjorden.JPG, View of the

with Osterøy to the left File:Havratunet.jpg,

Havrå Havrå or Havre (sometimes Havretunet or Havråtunet) is a cluster farm along the southern shore of the island of Osterøy in Osterøy municipality, Vestland county, Norway. Havrå is one of the last and best preserved of the common farm cluster ...

, a cluster farm on the southern coast of the island

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osteroey Osterøy Vaksdal Islands of Vestland