Hillesøy is a former municipality in

Troms Troms (; ; ; ) is a Counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. It borders Finnmark county to the northeast and Nordland county in the southwest. Norrbotten Län in Sweden is located to the south and further southeast is a shorter border with ...

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 ...

. The municipality existed from 1855 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located on both sides of the Malangen

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

in what is now

Tromsø Municipality Tromsø Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Other notable settlements in the municipality include the vi ...

and

Senja Municipality Senja is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020 when the municipalities of Berg, Lenvik, Torsken, and Tranøy were merged into one municipality. It is located in the traditional district of Hålogaland. ...

. 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 ...

was located at Brensholmen on the western shore of the island of Kvaløya. Brensholmen is also the location of

Hillesøy Church Hillesøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located in the Brensholmen area on the western part of the island of Kvaløya. It is the church for the Hillesøy parish which ...

, the main church for the municipality. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 214th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Hillesøy Municipality was the 365th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 2,507. 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 ...

was and its population had decreased by 2.6% over the previous 10-year period. Hillesøy Municipality included about of land with on the island of Senja, about on the island of Kvaløya, and about of smaller islands including

Hillesøya or is an island and fishing village in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The island is dominated by a mountain, but the southeastern third of the island is relatively flat and that is where the residents of the island live. In 201 ...

and

Sommarøy Sommarøy or Sommerøya is an old fishing village in the western part of Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located about west of the city of Tromsø and is a popular tourist destination due to its white sand beaches and scene ...

a. On Senja island, Hillesøy Municipality included the larger villages of

Fjordgård Fjordgård or Fjordgard is a small fishing village in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located on the northern part of the island of Senja, the second largest island in Norway. Fjordgård lies on the west side of the fjord ''Ør ...

, Husøy, and

Botnhamn Botnhamn is a village in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The small village is located more than north of the Arctic Circle on the northern part of the large island of Senja. The village lies along the west side of the Stønnesbotn f ...

. On Kvaløya island, it included

Ersfjordbotn Ersfjordbotn is a village in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The village is located on an isthmus between the Ersfjorden and the Kaldfjorden on the island of Kvaløya. It is about west of the city of Tromsø. The villages of K ...

and Brensholmen. The island of

a is connected to the large island of Kvaløya by the

Sommarøy Bridge Sommarøy Bridge () is a cantilever bridge connecting the islands of Kvaløya and Sommarøy in the Hillesøy area of Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The prestressed concrete bridge is long and the longest span on the bridge is . S ...

. Most of the other islands are only accessible by boat.

General information

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 ...

of Hillesøy (originally spelled ''Hillesø'') was established as a municipality in 1855 when it was separated from the large

Lenvik Municipality Lenvik () is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was partly situated on the mainland and partly on the island of Senja in what is now Senja Municipali ...

(or it might have been in 1871–some sources do not concur). The initial population of Hillesøy was around 800 people. 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, Hillesøy Municipality was dissolved and its lands were divided as follows: *The areas of Hillesøy on the island of Kvaløya as well as all of the islands north of the Malangen fjord (with 1,316 inhabitants in total) were merged with the city of Tromsø (population: 12,602), all of

Tromsøysund Municipality Tromsøysund is a Former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed most of what is now Tromsø Muni ...

(population: 16,727), and most of

Ullsfjord Municipality Ullsfjord (historically: ''Sørfjord'') is a Former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in what is now the ...

except the Svensby area (population: 2,019) to form a new, enlarged

. *The areas of Hillesøy on the island of Senja and the little island of Hekkingen (with 1,159 inhabitants in total) merged with

(population: 8,825), the part of

Tranøy Municipality Tranøy () is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The municipality was situated on the southern coast of the large island of Senja. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new Senj ...

along the south shore of the river Lakselva (population: 106), and the part of

Sørreisa Municipality Sørreisa () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa (village), Sørreisa. Other villages include Grunnreisa, Skø ...

on Senja island (population: 129) to form a new, larger

Name

The municipality is named after the old ''Hillesøy'' farm () on the island of

since the first

was originally built there. The meaning of the name is not entirely clear. The first element of the old name may come from the old Norwegian male name . Another possibility is that the name was originally . If this is the case, then the first element would be derived from the word which means "rock slab" or "cave". The last element of the name is not disputed. 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 ''Hillesø''. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Hillesøy'', to give the name a more Norwegian and less Danish spelling due to Norwegian language reforms.

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 ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Hillesøy. It was part of the Hillesøy

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 ...

and the

Trondenes prosti Trondenes is a neighborhood and parish in the town of Harstad in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The area is located on the northern end of the town, on a peninsula in the Vågsfjorden. The village is notable for the Trondenes Fo ...

(

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 Nord-Hålogaland Nord-Hålogaland () is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers the Church of Norway churches in Troms and Finnmark counties as well as in the territory of Svalbard. The diocese is seated in the city of Tromsø at the Tromsø Cathedral, t ...

Geography

The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Keipen on the island of

Senja or is an island in Senja Municipality in Troms county, Norway in northern Europe. With an area of , it is the second largest island in Norway (outside of the Svalbard archipelago). It has a wild, mountainous outer (western) side facing the A ...

Government

While it existed, Hillesøy Municipality was 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 was under the jurisdiction of the

Hålogaland Court of Appeal The Hålogaland Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Tromsø. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Nordland, Troms, and Finnmark as well as the island territor ...

Mayors

The

mayors 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 ...

() of Hillesøy: *1855-1857: Ole Johan Olsen *1857-1859: John Pedersen *1859-1862: Daniel Heitmann Hansen *1863-1874: John Pedersen *1875-1878: Jacob Bolche Matheson *1879-1883: Peder Svendsen *1883-1886: Ole Larsen Aaker *1887-1889: Johannes Næstaas *1889-1904: Ole A. Hanssen *1904-1904: Ingvald Kristoffersen *1905-1907: Samuel O. Kvamme *1907-1913: Carl Bertheussen *1914-1919: Ingvald Kristoffersen *1920-1922: Carl Bertheussen *1923-1925: Kristoffer O. Larsen *1926-1928: Ingvald Kristoffersen *1929-1931: Alfred Olufsen *1932-1942: Thorvald Nordheim *1942-1942: Carl Bersvendsen *1942-1945: Hagerup Paulsen *1945-1945: Alfon Engenes *1946-1963: Edvin O. Haugland

Municipal council

The

of Hillesøy was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the 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 ...

References

External links

*
Weather information for Hillesøy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillesoy Tromsø Senja Former municipalities of Norway 1855 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1855 Populated places disestablished in 1964