Fræna 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 t ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

. It was part of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Romsdal 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 municipality was located on the

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 ...

surrounding the Frænfjorden, the eastern shore of the Julsundet strait, and includes most of the Hustadvika area. It also included the now-abandoned Bjørnsund islands. The main village and

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 ...

in Fræna was

Elnesvågen Elnesvågen is the administrative centre of Hustadvika Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is located along the Frænafjorden about north of the town of Molde, east of the village of Tornes, and northwest of the vill ...

with over 2,300 inhabitants.

Moxy Engineering Moxy Engineering is a Norwegian manufacturer of articulated haulers (dump trucks) for off-road use in the earth moving and construction industries. Moxy was founded by the industrialist Birger Hatlebakk, who had previously founded the Glamox f ...

, Hustad Marmor, and Tine Meierier are all factories located in Elnesvågen. Other villages in Fræna included Hustad, Bud, Tornes, Sylte,

Malme Malme or Malmefjorden is a village at the end of the Malmefjorden (an arm of the Frænfjorden) in Hustadvika Municipality Hustadvika is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Nordmøre ...

, and Aureosen. The area is nice for hiking, including the mountains are Heiane/ Lågheiane and Jendemsfjellet. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 250th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Fræna is the 115th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,775. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

is and its population has increased by 6.4% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Fræna was established in 1840 when it was separated from the municipality of Akerø. The original municipality was named ''Vaagø'' and it surrounded the Frænfjorden. Later the name was changed to ''Fræna''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post- World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Munici ...

. On 1 January 1964,

Bud Municipality Bud is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into Fræna Municipality (now part of the present-day Hustadvika Municipality). The municipal ...

(population: 1,610), Hustad Municipality (population: 2,196), and Fræna Municipality (population: 3,430) were merged to form a new, larger municipality of Fræna. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Eide and Fræna merged into the new Hustadvika Municipality.

Name

The municipality was named after the Frænfjorden ( non, Fræni). The meaning of the name is unknown, but it might be derived from ''frænn'' which means "bright" or "shiny". Before 1865, the parish and municipality were named ''Vaagø'' (and the main church was Vågøy Church, which also was historically spelled Vaagø). From 1865 to 1918, the name was written ''Frænen'', and since 1918 it has had its current spelling, ''Fræna''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted on 15 May 1995. The arms show three blue

waves Waves most often refers to: * Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass. * Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water. Waves may also refer to: Music *Waves (ban ...

on a gold background. The arms were chosen to symbolize the municipality's connection to the sea.

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 ...

had four parishes () within the municipality of Fræna. 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 the ...

(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 reside ...

) in the Diocese of Møre.

Geography

The municipality of Fræna sits on the northwestern end of the

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 ...

. The Norwegian Sea lies to the north, the Harøyfjorden, Julsundet strait, and

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 of ...

lie to the west, Molde Municipality lies to the south, and

Gjemnes Municipality Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and it is a former st ...

and Eide Municipality lie to the east. The Frænfjorden cuts into the middle of the municipality. The coastal areas are low and marshy while the interior of the municipality is mountainous. Two of the more notable mountains are Jendemsfjellet and Heiane. The Bjørnsund islands lie off the northwestern coast of Fræna. They are now uninhabited, but the Bjørnsund Lighthouse is still in operation.

Government

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

() of Fræna was made up of 31 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows:

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 ye ...

*http://www.frena.net - Homepage edited by a local enthusiast
Romsdals Budstikke

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraena Hustadvika (municipality) Former municipalities of Norway 1840 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020