Aukra is 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, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdalen. 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 ...

is the village of Falkhytta, which is part of the

Aukrasanden Aukrasanden is a village in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the southeast side of the Gossa (island), island of Gossa, just south of the village of Varhaugvika and the municipal centre of Falkhytta ...

urban area. The municipality is made up of the island of Gossa as well as many small surrounding islands, plus a small area around the village of

Hollingen Hollingen is a village in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is mostly in Aukra Municipality, but about 1/3rd of the village area lies to the north of the municipal border inside Hustadvika Municipality. It is located on the Romsdal peni ...

across the Julsundet strait on the mainland

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 ...

. Some of the main population centers include the villages of

Varhaugvika Varhaugvika is a village in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the eastern side of the island of Gossa along the Julsundet strait, just north of the village of Aukrasanden. The municipal centre of Aukra is at ...

, and

Røssøyvågen Røssøyvågen is a village in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the west side of the island of Gossa. It is located about northwest of the village of Varhaugvika, about northwest of the village of Aukras ...

Nyhamna Nyhamna is a small peninsula on the northeast side of the island of Gossa in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located along the Julsundet strait, about northeast of the village of Varhaugvika and northeast of the vil ...

is a major industrial area in Aukra. The municipality is the 345th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Aukra is the 215th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,518. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of ''Akerø'' was established 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). In 1840, most of Akerø on the

was separated to form the municipality of Frænen. On 1 January 1867, the islands that are located to the west of Gossa (population: 601) were separated to become the new Sandøy Municipality. On 1 January 1924, the southern part of the municipality (

Otrøya Otrøya (sometimes called ''Otterøya'' or ''Otrøy'') is the largest island in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island sits at the entrance to Romsdalsfjord, west of the island of Midøya and east of the mainland Romsd ...

and several other islands) were separated to form the new municipality of

Sør-Aukra Sør-Aukra is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Sør Aukra Municipality existed from 1924 until 1965 when it was merged into Midsund Municipality (now part of Molde Municipality). The municipality consisted of the enti ...

, and the remainder of the municipality was renamed ''Nord-Aukra''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Mordal area of Nord-Aukra (population: 77) was transferred to

Molde Municipality Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. On 1 January 1965, ''Nord-'' was dropped from the name of the municipality, so it was then just called ''Aukra''. On 1 January 2020, the uninhabited islands of Lyngværet and the island of

Orta Orta may refer to: Places *Orta, Møre og Romsdal, an island in Aukra, Norway *Orta, Çankırı, a district of Çankırı Province, Turkey *Orta, a town near Rome which, in medieval contexts, may also be called Orte *Lake Orta, in north Italy *Orta ...

(population: 11) were transferred from Sandøy Municipality to Aukra.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Aukra'' farm ( non, Aukrin), since the first

Aukra Church Aukra Church ( no, Aukra kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Aukra Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Aukrasanden on the southeast coast of the island of Gossa. It is the church for ...

was built there. The first element is ''akr'' which means " field" or "

acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

" and the last element is ''vin'' which means " meadow" or " pasture". Before 1918, the name was written ''Akerø'' or ''Agerø''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 22 May 1987. The arms show two Bronze Age bracelets on a blue background. The bracelets are based on an

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

finding in the area. The rings thus symbolize the long tradition of habitation in the area.

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 one parish () within the municipality of Aukra. It is part of the

Molde domprosti Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of t ...

(arch-

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 ...

History

Aukra is the site of a

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

and rescue operation, when the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

on 4 April 1938. The monument of ''Rokta'' is situated on

Rindarøy Aukra is municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdalen. The administrative centre is the village of Falkhytta, which is part of the Aukrasanden urban area. The municipality is made up of the island o ...

island with a view of Galleskjæra where the ''Rokta'' sank.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Aukra, 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 services, unemployment 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, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Møre og Romsdal District Court Møre og Romsdal District Court ( no, Møre og Romsdal tingrett) is a district court located in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Volda, Ålesund, Molde, and Kristiansund. T ...

and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Aukra is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Aukra (incomplete list): *2019–present: Odd Jørgen Nilssen ( H) *2007-2019:

Bernhard Riksfjord Bernhard Riksfjord (born 10 January 1946) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He served as a deputy representative to the Norwegian Parliament from Møre og Romsdal during the terms 1993–1997 and 1997–2001. On the local level he ...

( Ap) *1999-2007: Aud Mork ( KrF)

Economy

The

industrial area on the northeastern part of the island of Gossa in Aukra is the location from where the

Langeled pipeline The Langeled pipeline (originally known as Britpipe) is an underwater gas pipeline transporting Norwegian natural gas to the United Kingdom. Before the completion of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, it was the longest subsea pipeline in the world. ...

, transporting natural gas from the enormous Ormen Lange gas field to the United Kingdom, came onstream in 2007.

Aukra Auto Aukra Auto is a bus and truck operating company based in Aukra, Norway. The company has a monopoly on bus transport on the island Gossen and between it and Molde. The largest owner of the company is Nettbuss (66%). Their Aerobus transports people ...

runs the bus service on the island of Gossa.

Notable people

* Jonas Danilssønn Ramus (1649 in Aukra - 1718) a Norwegian priest, author and historian *

Anton Beinset Anton Konrad Beinset (7 January 1894 – 16 December 1963) was a Norwegian journalist, newspaper editor, short story writer, crime fiction writer and politician. He was born in Aukra, a son of farmers Kristian Ivarson Beinset and Marie Aukra. B ...

(1894 in Aukra – 1963) a journalist, newspaper editor, short story writer, crime fiction writer and politician *

Iver Horrem Iver Andreas Horrem (born 1 January 1977 in Aukra) is a Norwegian professional beach volleyball player from Norway, best known as Bjørn Maaseide's teammate. He also plays volleyball for Kristiansund VBK. Playing career Career start Horrem h ...

(born 1977 in Aukra) a Norwegian professional beach volleyball player *

Emilie Nautnes Emilie Nautnes (born 13 January 1999) is a Norwegian footballer who plays for Rosenborg and the Norway women's national football team. She was selected to the team representing Norway at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Wome ...

(born 1999 in Aukra) footballer, plays for the Norway women's national football team

Gallery

File:Aukra kirke fra KMB.jpg, Aukra kirke File:Roktabautaen april 2019 (1).jpg, Roktabautaen File:RøssøyvågenGossen.jpg, Røssøyvågen on Gossen island, Aukra File:Smågevatnet Gossen.jpg, Smågevatnet Gossen

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 ...

* {{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Møre og Romsdal 1838 establishments in Norway