Austrheim is a municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. 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 ...

of the municipality is the village of

Årås Årås is the administrative centre of Austrheim municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located in the central part of the island of Fosnøyna, about northeast of the village of Austrheim. The village has a population (2019) ...

. Other villages in the municipality include

Austrheim Austrheim is a municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årås. Other villages in the municipality include Austrheim and Kaland. The Mongstad industrial ...

and Kaland. The

Mongstad Mongstad is an industrial site in Vestland county, Norway. The site sits on the border of the municipalities of Alver and Austrheim, with most of the site in Alver. The site features an oil refinery for Equinor and other oil companies, including ...

industrial area lies along the border of Austrheim and neighboring

Lindås Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of the ...

municipality. The westernmost point of mainland Norway lies in the municipality at

Vardetangen Vardetangen is a point in Austrheim Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. This place is notable in that it is the westernmost mainland point in Norway proper. The point is located on the mainland Lindås peninsula, jutting out into the Fensf ...

. The municipality is the 347th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Austrheim is the 231st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,889. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period. In 2016, the chief of police for

Vestlandet Western Norway ( nb, Vestlandet, Vest-Norge; nn, Vest-Noreg) is the region along the Atlantic coast of southern Norway. It consists of the counties Rogaland, Vestland, and Møre og Romsdal. The region has no official or political-administrative ...

formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Austrheim and Fedje be closed.

General information

Historically, Austrheim was a part of the large

Lindås Municipality Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of the ...

. On 1 January 1910, the northwestern district of Lindås (population: 2,518) was separated from Lindås to form the new municipality of Austrheim. On 1 January 1947, all of the islands located west of the

Fedjefjorden Fedjefjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the municipalities of Fedje, Austrheim, and Øygarden. The fjord has a width of about and extends about from Holmengrå Lighthouse (at the northern end) to the island of Sel ...

(population: 920) were separated to form the new

Fedje Municipality Fedje is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fedje. The traditional economic activity of the inhabitants is fishing. The municipality is ...

. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Straume area on the island of Radøy (population: 56) was transferred from Austrheim to the new

Radøy Municipality Radøy is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district of the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new municipality of Alver in Vestland county. The mun ...

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''

'' farm ( non, Austrheimr), since the first

Austrheim Church Austrheim Church ( no, Austrheim kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Austrheim Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Austrheim (village), Austrheim on the island of Fosnøyna. It is the church f ...

was built there. The first element is ''austr'' which means "east" and the last element is ''heimr'' which means "homestead" or "farm". Until 1889, the name was written ''Østereim''. After that the spelling was ''Austreim'', and most recently it is spelled ''Austrheim''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 17 February 1989. It shows three silver bows (as in the shape of a rainbow) on a blue background. The three bows represent the many bridges in the island municipality.

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 Austrheim. It is part of the Nordhordland prosti (

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 Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Austrheim, 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 Hordaland District Court and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Austrheim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Austrheim (incomplete list): *2011–present: Per Lerøy ( Ap) *2003-2011:

Ole Lysø Ole Lysø (born 29 April 1940) is a Norwegian labourer, trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party. He was the mayor of Austrheim. He was born in Kornstad as a son of fisher and farmer Alfred Magnar Lysø (1900–1960) and housewife Olia ...

(Ap)

Economy

The

industrial complex lies on the border of Austrheim and Lindås. It is the largest oil port and refinery in Norway, is responsible for about 70% of all wet bulk. Many residents of Austrheim work at the facility.

Geography

Austrheim is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county. It is located south of the

Fensfjorden Fensfjorden is a fjord in Vestland, Norway. The long fjord begins in the North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it conn ...

, east of the

, north of the island of Radøy, and west of the

peninsula. The municipality includes the far northwestern tip of the peninsula as well as many islands. The largest island (by far) is the island of

Fosnøyna Fosnøyna or Fosnøy is an island in the municipality of Austrheim in Vestland county, Norway. The island makes up the majority of the land area of the municipality. The island is located east of the Fedjefjorden and south of the Fensfjorden. The ...

, where the municipal centre is located.

Gulen Municipality is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sogn. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Eivindvik. Other villages in Gulen include Brekke, Byrknes ...

is located to the north (across the fjord),

is located on islands to the west,

Alver Municipality Alver is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Knarvik. Other villages include Alversund, Alver, Isdalstø, Lindå ...

lies to the south.

Notable people

* Kornelius Bergsvik (1889 in Austrheim – 1975) a Norwegian politician & County Governor of Telemark *

Karsten Solheim Karsten Solheim (September 15, 1911 – February 16, 2000) was an American golf club designer and businessman. He founded Karsten Manufacturing, a golf club maker better known by the name of PING, and the Solheim Cup, the premier international te ...

(1911–2000) golf equipment manufacturer, emigrated to the United States aged 2 * Haakon Austrheim, geology professor in Oslo *

Roger Helland Roger Helland (born 26 September 1973) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who spent the bulk of his career with SK Brann. A midfielder, played two games for the Norway national football team in 1997. Career Helland hails from Austrheim ...

(born 1993 in Austrheim) former football player with over 230 club caps *

Gunnar Norebø Gunnar Norebø (born 28 January 1976) is a Norwegian retired football midfielder. He is from Austrheim. He was regarded as a fine talent in his early days and trained with AFC Ajax. He made his debut for the Norwegian Premier League team SK B ...

(born 1976 in Austrheim) a retired Norwegian football midfielder

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 Vestland 1910 establishments in Norway