Midsund is a former 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 was part of the Romsdal region. 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 ...

was the village of Midsund on

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 ...

island. Other settlements on the island included Uglvik and Raknes in the north and

Nord-Heggdal Nord-Heggdal is a village in Molde 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 northernmos ...

in the southeast. The municipality consisted of many islands. The main islands were

Midøya Midøya (sometimes called ''Mia'') is an island in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island sits at the entrance to the Romsdalsfjorden between the islands of Dryna and Otrøya. Until 1965, the island was divided bet ...

, and

Dryna Dryna is an island in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is the westernmost of the main islands in the municipality. The island sits between the Harøyfjorden and the Midfjorden, at the entrance to the great Romsdalsfjor ...

, as well as the smaller populated islands of Magerøya and Tautra—both are less than . There were also many tiny uninhabited islands and skerries. The islands all sit at the mouth of the great

Romsdalsfjord Romsdalsfjord or Romsdal Fjord ( no, Romsdalsfjorden) is the ninth-longest fjord in Norway. It is long and located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county. It flows through the municipalities of Molde, Ålesund, Vestnes, and Rauma. ...

. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 384th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Midsund is the 323rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,049. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 7.8% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Midsund was established on 1 January 1965 when the old 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 ...

(population: 1,912) was merged with part of

island and the neighboring island of

(population: 334) which were part of the old

Vatne Municipality Vatne is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included land and islands surrounding the Midfjorden and Vatnefjorden in what is now part of � ...

. On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Midsund was merged into the neighboring

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 ...

, along with the municipality of Nesset. Together, the new Molde Municipality is significantly larger.

Name

The municipality is named after the

strait A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean channe ...

that flows between the islands of

and

, the ''Midsundet'' ( non, Miðjusund). The first element of the name ''Miðja'' means "middle" and the second element ''sund'' means "strait" or "sound".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 15 May 1987. The arms show two silver triangles on a blue background, representing Otrøya and Midøya islands in the ocean. These two main islands in the municipality are separated by a small strait, the Midsund. The geographical situation is symbolised in the arms.

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 ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Midsund. 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 ...

Geography

The islands of Midsund Municipality are separated from the mainland by the wide Julsundet strait to the east and the wide Midfjorden to the south. To the north are many smaller islands including Gossa (in

Aukra Municipality 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 ...

) and

Harøya Harøya is a swampy island in Ålesund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. At , it is the largest island in the municipality. The island is located between the islands of Finnøya (to the northeast) and Fjørtofta (to the southwest ...

, Sandøya, and

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 ...

(in Sandøy Municipality). To the west lie the islands of Fjørtofta, Skuløya, and Haramsøya (in Haram Municipality). The three largest islands of the community lie in a line from ENE to WSW (

, and

). The island of

Magerøya Magerøya ( sme, Máhkarávju) is a large island in Troms og Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of Norway. The island lies along the Barents Sea in Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of Porsangerfj ...

lies between Midøya and Otrøya and a bridge connects it to the latter. Tautra lies in the

Moldefjorden The Moldefjorden is a fjord in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is a long branch off of the main Romsdal Fjord. The fjord begins at the Julsundet strait (in the west) and heads east, past the city of Molde, then it cont ...

, southeast of Otrøya. Otrøya is the main island of the community, measuring about from east to west. The southern coasts of Otrøya, Midøya, and Dryna rise from the fjord as sheer tall cliffs. At Oppstad, the cliff is feared to collapse, which would cause a small tsunami in the Moldefjorden. On the southern coast of Otrøya the following small villages can be found: (from east to west) Solholmen,

, Oppstad, Sør-Heggdal, and Klauset. The north has the following villages: (east to west) Ræstad, Rakvåg, Tangen, Raknes, and Uglvik. On the western side of Otrøya, facing the bay that separates it from Midøya, lies the village of Midsund, the largest settlement in the community. The

Midsund Bridge The Midsund Bridge ( no, Midsundbrua) is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that crosses the Midsundet strait between the islands of Otrøya and Midøya in Molde Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The bridge runs between the village of ...

connects it with Midøya. Dryna and Midøya are also connected with a bridge. Ferries run between the islands and the mainland. There is a ferry from Solholmen across the Julsundet to

and from the island of Dryna to the village of Brattvåg (in Haram Municipality). The larger three islands' interior is wilderness, but the rims are used for keeping cattle and small farming.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Midsund, 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

Romsdal District Court Romsdal District Court ( no, Romsdal tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Molde. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the central part of the county which inclu ...

and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

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

Demographics

The municipality had 1,939 inhabitants (January 2005), with 50.3% male. The percentage of people older than 67 is 18.3%. Unemployment is 2.3%. Population growth is stable. Most inhabitants are fishers or small farmers.

Media

The newspaper ''

Øyavis ''Øyavis'' (the Island Gazette) was a local Norwegian newspaper published in Midsund in Møre og Romsdal county. History The first issue of the paper appeared in March 1983, after which the paper was published once a month with local material fr ...

'' was published in Midsund from 1983 to 2016.Bjerkeland, Øystein. 2016. Øyavis legges trolig ned. ''Romsdals Budstikke'' (March 9).
/ref>

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 ...

{{authority control Molde Former municipalities of Norway 1965 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020