Herøy is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in the northernmost part of Western Norway, Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the Molde (town), town of M ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is part of the

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. The

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

is the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Fosnavåg is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is the administrative center of the municipality. The town is located on the ...

on the island of Bergsøya. Other settlements in Herøy include the villages of Leikong, Kvalsund, and Moltustranda. The industrial area of Eggesbønes is located south of Fosnavåg on the same island. The Runde Environmental Centre is located in the northern part of the municipality on

Runde Runde is an island in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The island has a population of 113 people (as of 2015), and it is connected by the Runde Bridge to the island of Remøya to th ...

island. The municipality is the 321st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Herøy Municipality is the 123rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,968. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is and its population has increased by 1.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

(parish) of Herøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law). On 1 January 1867, the western district of Herøy was separated to become the new Sande Municipality. This left Herøy Municipality with 1,999 residents. On 1 January 1873, an area of Sande Municipality (population: 362) was transferred back to Herøy Municipality. On 1 January 1889, the Eiksund area and Ekø island (population: 119) were transferred from Sande Municipality to Herøy Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, three farms in the Gurskedalen valley (population: 25) were transferred from Herøy Municipality to Sande Municipality. Also on that date, the Eiksund area and the Eika island (population: 222) were transferred from Herøy Municipality to neighboring

Ulstein Municipality Ulstein is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Møre og Romsdal Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre Districts of Norway, region. The commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein is the town of Ulstei ...

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

of small islands (). The first element is which means "

army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

". The word here is referring to the idea of ''skipaherr'' which means "military fleet", referring to the many islands grouped together. The last element is which means "

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Herø''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Herøy''.

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted on 27 March 1987. The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''" Azure, two ship bows

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

issuant from the flanks"'' (). This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is two

stem Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

s of a ship. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to represent the 7th century Kvalsund boats found in the municipality. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has three parishes () within Herøy Municipality. It is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the 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 residence of ...

) in the Diocese of Møre.

Government

Herøy Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

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. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sunnmøre District Court and the

Frostating Court of Appeal The Frostating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Trondheim. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal. These areas constitute the ...

Mayors

The

() of Herøy Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position: * 1838–1843: Christoffer Mathias Rønneberg * 1844–1845: Peter Wilhelm L'orange * 1846–1849: Aage Schavland * 1850–1851: Knut A. Brekke * 1852–1853: Knut R. Bjørlykke * 1854–1857: Aage Schavland * 1858–1872: Ole Thorseth * 1873–1876: Peter M. Jacobsen * 1877–1886: Ole Thorseth ( H) * 1887–1888: Peter M. Jacobsen * 1889–1892: Annanias Stavøstrand ( MV) * 1893–1894: Gustav Wiig ( H) * 1895–1907: Severin Sundnes ( H) * 1908–1917: Rasmus Moltu ( V) * 1918–1919: Paul Moltu ( V) * 1920–1922: Lars Havåg ( V) * 1923–1931: Abel Berge ( V) * 1932–1934: Hans P.J. Runde * 1935–1941: Ole Garvik ( V) * 1942–1945: Hjalmar Jacobsen ( NS) * 1945–1947: Ole Garvik ( V) * 1948–1955: Ivar Nærø * 1956–1958: Bjarne Rekdal ( Ap) * 1958–1959: Olav Thorseth * 1960–1961: Magnus Berge * 1962–1971: Rolf Ervik * 1972–1975: Knut Nærø * 1976–1979: Einar Leinebø * 1980–1987: Charles Remø ( H) * 1988–1989: Per Rolf Sævik ( KrF) * 1990–1995: Svein Gjelseth ( Ap) * 1995–1999: Leif G. Igesund ( KrF) * 1999–2003: Svein Gjelseth ( Ap) * 2003–2019: Arnulf Goksøyr ( H) * 2019–2023: Bjørn-Halvor Prytz ( Ap) * 2023–present: Tine Storøy ( H)

Municipal council

The

() of Herøy is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

Geography

The main population and

of the municipality is the town of

, located on the island of Bergsøya. The municipality is entirely composed of islands located north of the Rovdefjorden. It includes the main islands of Bergsøya, Leinøya, Nerlandsøya, Remøya,

, Skorpa, Flåværet, and the eastern part of Gurskøya, plus many smaller islands. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Sollia, located on the island of Gurskøya, on the border with Sande Municipality. The island of

is especially notable for its large seabird colonies (and Runde Lighthouse), while Skorpa is famous for its role as a station for the

Shetland bus The Shetland Bus ( Norwegian Bokmål: ''Shetlandsbussene'', def. pl.) was the nickname of a clandestine special operations group that made a permanent link between Mainland Shetland in Scotland and German-occupied Norway from 1941 until t ...

. The islands are connected together via a series of bridges including the

Runde Bridge The Runde Bridge () is a cantilever bridge that crosses the Rundasundet between the islands Remøya and Runde in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. Runde Bridge is located about nort ...

, Remøy Bridge,

Herøy Bridge The Herøy Bridge () is a cantilever bridge that connects the islands of Gurskøya and Leinøya in Herøy Municipality (Møre og Romsdal), Herøy Municipality, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of a bridge network which connects all of ...

, and Nerlandsøy Bridge. The

Herøyfjorden Herøyfjorden is a fjord which bisects Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is about long and about wide, between the islands of Bergsøya and Gurskøya. The fjord has a maximum depth of . The fjord has many isl ...

bisects Herøy Municipality. The half located south of the fjord is referred to as Inner Herøy, while the half located north of the fjord is referred to as Outer Herøy. Inner and Outer Herøy are tied together by the

which connects the islands of Gurskøya and Leinøya. Along this main route of traffic is the islet Notøy and the even smaller Herøya islet, an old trading station (now museum) and the original location of the original Herøy Church. låværet is a group of islets and

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland *Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...

in the Herøyfjorden which is the site of a fishing station. It includes the islets ''Flåvær'', ''Husholmen'', ''Torvholmen'' and ''Varholmen''. The

Flåvær Lighthouse Flåvær fyr is a coastal lighthouse in Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The lighthouse is located on the island of Vardholmen which is in the Flåværet archipelago in the Herøyfjorden. The lighthouse is located southw ...

is located on ''Varholmen''. The

Svinøy Lighthouse Svinøy Lighthouse () is a fully automated lighthouse situated on the island of Svinøy in the sea off the Stad peninsula. It is located within Herøy Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, on the western coast of Norway. The island lies wit ...

is located on the very small island of Svinøy, about west of the island of Skorpa.

Climate

Herøy has a temperate oceanic climate, with mild and windy winters, among the mildest winters in Norway. The weather station at Svinøy Lighthouse has been in operation since June 1955.

Notable people

* Hans Peter L'orange (1835 in Herøy – 1907), a military officer who was the Commanding General in Norway from 1897 to 1903 *

Suzannah Ibsen Suzannah Ibsen (née Thoresen; 26 June 1836 – 3 April 1914) was a Norwegian woman who was the wife of playwright and poet Henrik Ibsen and mother of noted politician Sigurd Ibsen. Biography Suzannah Daae Thoresen was born in Herøy, Norway. He ...

(1836 in Herøy – 1914), the wife of playwright and poet

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

* Aage Skavlan (1847 in Herøy – 1920), a historian and academic * Harald Skavlan (1854 in Herøy – 1908), a railroad engineer * Johannes A. Bøe (1882 at Bøe in Herøy – 1970), a Norwegian politician who was Mayor of

Jevnaker Municipality Jevnaker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Jevnaker with a population of 4,302. The parish of ''Jævnaker'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see form ...

from 1922 to 1925 * Per Rolf Sævik (born 1940 in Herøy), a fisherman, ship-owner, and politician who was Mayor of Herøy from 1987 to 1989 * Synnøve Eriksen (born 1963 in Herøy), a novelist

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, 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 year on its web site. All rele ...

The Bird Island of Runde

Herøy Kommune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heroy Municipality, More Og Romsdal Sunnmøre Municipalities of Møre og Romsdal 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838