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 municipality included almost all of the island of Radøy plus many small surrounding islands. 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 was the village of Manger. Other villages in the municipality included Askeland,

Austmarka Austmarka is a village in Alver Municipality (formerly Radøy Municipality) in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern end of the island of Radøy, about east of the village of Sæbø and about north of the village of Al ...

Bøvågen Bøvågen is a small village in Alver municipality, Vestland county, Norway. It's located on the northern part of the island of Radøy. From 1924 until 1964, it was the administrative centre of the former municipality of Hordabø. Hordabø Chu ...

, Haugland, Sæbø, and Sletta. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 372nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Radøy is the 199th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,128. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 10.1% over the last decade.

General information

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. Radøy was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964. The new municipality was constructed from parts of several different municipalities: *all of the municipality of Manger (population: 1,344) *all of the municipality of

Hordabø Hordabø is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality, which existed from 1924 until 1964, was located on the northern part of the island of Radøy in the present-day Alver Municipality. The administrative c ...

(population: 1,679) *the island of Bognøy from Herdla municipality (population: 29) *most of the municipality of Sæbø, except the Titland area on the Lindås peninsula (population: 916) *the Sletta area on the island of Radøy from

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 (population: 305) *the Straume area on the island of Radøy and the small island of Fesøy from

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 ...

municipality (population: 56) On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of

Meland Meland is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality in Vestland county. ...

, Radøy, and

were merged into a large, new municipality called Alver.

Name

The municipality was named after the island on which it sits, Radøy. The Old Norse form of the island's name was (just) ''Röð''. (The last element ''øy'' meaning "island" was added later.) The name is identical with the word ''röð'' for "row" or "ridge" (here in the sense "long island" sticking out of the ocean).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 16 June 1991. The arms shows two black

oarlock A rowlock , sometimes spur (due to the similarity in shape and size), oarlock (USA) or gate, is a brace that attaches an oar to a boat. When a boat is rowed, the rowlock acts as a fulcrum for the oar. On ordinary rowing craft, the rowlocks are ...

s on a yellow background. Oarlocks are on the gunwale of a boat and they support the oar and give force to the rower's stroke. Some of these objects have been found in several places in Radøy and the artifacts date back to the first century BC. The designer of the arms was Even Jarl Skoglund.

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 Radøy. 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

The municipal council of Radøy was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayor

Prior to its dissolution, the mayor was Jon Askeland, and the deputy mayor was Ann Christin Hoen.Kommunestyret

Geography

The municipality encompassed all of the island of Radøy, except the far southern tip (which belonged to

municipality). The smaller surrounding islands of

Toska Toska is an island in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies just west of the island of Radøy in the Hjeltefjorden, at the entrance to the Radfjorden. A road connection from the village of Manger on Radøy island to ...

, Bognøy, Fesøy, and others were also part of Radøy municipality. The Radfjorden separated Radøy municipality from the municipality of

to the south. The Radsundet strait separated the municipality of Radøy from the municipality of Lindås to the east. 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 ...

(in

) were located to the north. The islands of

Øygarden Øygarden is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is an island municipality located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Midhordland, stretching along the west coast of the cou ...

sat across the

Hjeltefjorden Hjeltefjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs north–south between many islands leading from the open ocean to the city of Bergen. It passes through the municipalities of Fedje, Øygarden, Alver, and Askøy. Its name ...

to the west.

Notable people

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radoey Alver (municipality) Former municipalities of Norway 1964 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway