Averøy is a 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 Nordmøre. 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 Bruhagen. Other villages in the municipality include Bremsnes,

Kornstad Kornstad is a village in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located on the west side of the island of Averøya Averøya is an island in the municipality of Averøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It ...

Kvernes Kvernes is a village in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the east coast of the island of Averøya Averøya is an island in the municipality of Averøy in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located ...

Kårvåg Kårvåg is a village in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the west side of the island of Averøya near the east end of the Atlanterhavsveien road. The village of Kornstad lies to the south and the villag ...

, Langøy, Sveggen, and Vebenstad. The municipality includes the main island of Averøya and the many small islands surrounding it. The

Kornstadfjorden Kornstadfjorden or Kornstadfjord is a fjord that runs between Averøy Municipality and Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the Romsdal peninsula and the island of Averøya. The villages of Visn ...

Kvernesfjorden Kvernesfjorden or Kvernesfjord is a fjord between the municipalities of Gjemnes, Kristiansund, Averøy, and Hustadvika in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is about long. The fjord begins at the end of the Kornstadfjorden near the vill ...

, and Bremsnesfjorden surround the municipality on three sides and the open ocean on the fourth side. The

Hestskjær Lighthouse Hestskjær Lighthouse ( no, Hestskjær fyr) is a coastal lighthouse located in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on a small island about north of the village of Langøy. The lighthouse was established in 187 ...

and

Stavnes Lighthouse Stavnes Lighthouse or Stavneset Lighthouse ( no, Stavenes fyr / Stavneset fyr) is a coastal lighthouse in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The lighthouse sits on the ''Stavneset'' peninsula on the northeastern coast of the ...

are located in the northern part of the municipality. The municipality is the 312th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Averøy is the 164th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,828. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Averøy was established on 1 January 1964 when the former municipality of

and most of the municipalities of

and Bremsnes were merged into one large municipality. On 1 January 1983, the small island of Eldhusøya (and the small surrounding islands) was transferred from

Eide Municipality 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 ...

to Averøy Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the island '' Averøya'' (or Averøy) ( non, Afrøy). The meaning of the first element is unknown (maybe ''afr'' which means "great" or "big") and the ending ''-øya'' or ''-øy'' means "island".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The arms show three

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

arrowheads in gold on a red background. The arrowheads refer to actual arrowheads, made of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

, which have been found in the municipality. The arrowheads thus symbolize the long time that the area has been inhabited.

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 three parishes () within the municipality of Averøy. It is part of the Ytre Nordmøre

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

The municipality of Averøy has many historic landmarks, like the Bremsnes cave with

Mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...

findings from the Fosna culture. Langøysund, now a remote fishing community, was once a bustling port along the main coastal route, and the site of the Compromise of 1040 between King Magnus I and the farmers along the coast. Also, the Medieval

Kvernes Stave Church Kvernes Stave Church ( no, Kvernes stavkyrkje) is a former parish church of the Church of Norway in Averøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The old church sits along the Kvernesfjorden in the village of Kvernes, just to the north ...

(built around 1300–1350).

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Averøy, 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 Averøy is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Averøy (incomplete list): *2015–present: Ingrid Ovidie Rangønes ( Ap) *2011-2015: Ann-Kristin Sørvik ( Sp) *2007-2011: Jarle Haga ( V) *2003-2007: Kjell Magne Sandø (Ap) *1997-2003: John Harry Kvalshaug (Sp) *1986-1997:

Leif Helge Kongshaug Leif Helge Kongshaug (born 31 July 1949 in Averøy) is a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Møre og Romsdal in 1997, but not re-elected in 2001. During the second cabinet Bondevik, Kon ...

(V) *1984-1985: Eilif Aae (Sp) *1979-1983: Jarle Haga (V)

Transportation

The tourist attraction

Atlanterhavsveien The Atlantic Ocean Road or the Atlantic Road ( no, Atlanterhavsvegen / Atlanterhavsveien) is an long section of County Road 64 that runs through an archipelago in Hustadvika and Averøy municipalities in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It pa ...

(Atlantic Ocean Road) connects the island and municipality of Averøy to the neighboring

, which is on the mainland to the west. The

Storseisundet Bridge The Storseisundet Bridge ( no, Storseisundbrua) is the longest of the eight bridges that make up the Atlanterhavsveien ("The Atlantic Road"), the road connection from the mainland Romsdal peninsula to the island of Averøya in Møre og Romsdal cou ...

crosses the municipal boundary. In 2005, it was awarded the "Building of the Century" prize by the Norwegian Construction Industry. On the other side of the island near the village of Sveggen, Averøy is connected to Kristiansund Municipality via the

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry li ...

. This tunnel, known as Atlanterhavstunnelen (Atlantic Tunnel), was completed in December 2009, replacing the

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 ...

from Bremsnes on Averøya to the city of Kristiansund.

Notable people

Erling Kristvik Erling Kristvik (30 August 1882 – 9 January 1969) was a Norwegian educationalist. Kristvik was born in Kornstad. He served as rector at the School of education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; e ...

(1882 in Kornstad – 1969) a Norwegian educationalist *

Aud Inger Aure Aud Inger Aure (born 12 November 1942) is a Norwegian politician for the Christian Democratic Party. Born in Averøy, Møre og Romsdal, she was awarded a Candidate of Law degree in 1993. From 1989 to 1990 she represented her county in the Stor ...

(born 1942 in Averøy) a Norwegian politician and Mayor of Kristiansund * Gunnar Kjønnøy (born 1947 in Averøy) an economist and County Governor of Finnmark, 1998 to 2016 *

(born 1949 in Averøy) a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Averøy, 1986 to 1997 *

Magne Hoseth Magne Hoseth (born Magne Hoset on 13 October 1980) is a Norwegian football coach and former footballer who played for Averøykameratene, Molde (two times), Copenhagen, Viking, Aalesund, Stabæk, Notodden and Kristiansund. On 21. November 2022 ...

(born 1980 in Averøy) a coach and former footballer with 423 club caps and 22 for Norway

Gallery

File:Averøy kommunehus.jpg, Averøy kommunehus File:Atlantic Ocean Road (177685737).jpeg, Atlantic Ocean Road File:Averøy, Norway - panoramio (3).jpg, Averøy

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Averoy Nordmøre Municipalities of Møre og Romsdal 1964 establishments in Norway