Hisøya or Hisøy (historically: ''Hisøen'') is an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Agder Agder is a county (''fylke'') and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet ("south ...

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 country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The island has been part of the municipality of Arendal since 1992. The main village areas on the island are Kolbjørnsvik,

His His or HIS may refer to: Computing * Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company * Honeywell Information Systems * Hybrid intelligent system * Microsoft Host Integration Server Education * Hangzhou International School, in ...

, Slåbervig, and Sandviga. The village of Kolbjørnsvik is located across the

harbor A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

from the town of Arendal. There are two bridges that connect Hisøya to the mainland: the Strøm Bridge on the northwest side of the island and the Vippa Bridge on the southwest side of the island. In 2015, the island was home to about 4,450 people giving it a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...

of about . Hisøy 2

The island lies along the

Skaggerak The Skagerrak (, , ) is a strait running between the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, the southeast coast of Norway and the west coast of Sweden, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat sea area through the Danish Straits to the Baltic Sea. The ...

coast of southeastern Norway. Hisøya is separated from the mainland to the northwest by the river Nidelv. The island of

Tromøya Tromøya () or Tromøy () (historic: ''Tromø'') is the largest island in Southern Norway. The island is entirely located in the municipality of Arendal in Agder county, Norway. The island has about 5,300 residents (in 2015) which gives it a p ...

lies to the northeast, separated from Hisøya by the Galtesundet strait. The small islands of Ærøya, Havsøya, and

Merdø Merdø is an island in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The island lies along the Skagerrak coast, near the entrance to the Galtesundet, the main shipping channel leading to the town of Arendal on the mainland. The islands of Tro ...

lie just to the southeast of Hisøya. The highest point on Hisøya is the tall hill on the edge of Kolbjørnsvik.

Name

The island (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

) is named ''Hisøy'' (or ''Hisøen'') after the old ''

'' farm (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ''Hís'') since this is where the

Hisøy Church Hisøy Church ( no, Hisøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of His on the island of Hisøya. It is one of the churches for the Hisøy parish which is ...

is located. The first element, ''His'', means "the cut" (probably referring to how the river

Nidelva Nidelva is a river in Trondheim Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The name of the long river translates to "the River Nid" since the suffix ''elva'' or ''elven'' is the Norwegian word for "the river". Location The Nidelva starts at th ...

turns near the island) and the last element is ''øy'' or ''øen'' which means "island".

History

The island was historically part of the large

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a di ...

Øyestad Øyestad is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1992 when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arendal which is now located in Agder county. At the time of its di ...

. The boat "Kolbjørn" provided transportation across the harbor for over 100 years. In 1881, Hisøya and several surrounding islands were separated to form the new municipality of

Hisøy Hisøy (historically: ''Hisø'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1881 until 1992 when it was merged into the municipality of Arendal in what is now Agder county. At the time of its ...

. This municipality existed from 1881 until 1992 when it was merged into the municipality of Arendal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hisoya Arendal Islands of Agder