Mosterøy is a former municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county,

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

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 the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The island municipality included the islands of

Mosterøy Mosterøy is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The ...

Klosterøy Klosterøy is an island in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Boknafjorden in the Rennesøy island group. It lies immediately north of the island of Fjøløy and immediately west of the ...

, Fjøløy, Sokn, Bru, and the western half of

Åmøy Åmøy is an island in Stavanger Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies just north of the Stavanger (city), city of Stavanger in a group of islands. The islands of Sokn and Bru, Rogaland, Bru both lie to the west of Åmøy an ...

. Today, Mosterøy is part of the municipality of

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

. The

Utstein Abbey Utstein Abbey () is Norway's best-preserved medieval monastery. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Klosterøy in Stavanger municipality, Rogaland county. It was built in the late 1200s. Utstein Church is located on the grounds ...

, the best-preserved medieval monastery in Norway, is located on the island of Klosterøy. It was one of the most notable historic sites in the municipality.

History

The municipality of Mosterøy was established on 1 July 1884 when it was split off from the large island municipality of

Rennesøy Rennesøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was merged into Stavanger municipality on 1 January 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of ...

. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 1,309. On 1 January 1923, the westernmost group of outlying islands of

Kvitsøy Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative cen ...

were separated from Mosterøy to form a separate municipality

. The split left Mosterøy with 745 inhabitants. On 1 January 1965, many municipal mergers took place in Norway due to the recommendations 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 that date, Mosterøy was merged back into the municipality of Rennesøy. Prior to the merger, Mosterøy had a population of 817.

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 the island of

( or ) since the first Utstein Church was built there. The meaning of the first element of the name is uncertain. One possibility is that it is a shortened version of the Latin word which means "

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

", since the

is located on the northwest end of the island. Another possibility is that it comes from the word which means "mane". A third possibility is that it comes from the word which means "ridge", likely referring to the tall Mastravarden, the highest point on the island. The last element of the name 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 ''Mosterø''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Mosterøy''. The letter ''y'' was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name ( is the Danish word for "island" and is the Norwegian word).

Government

While it existed, this 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,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

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. During its existence, this municipality was 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 ...

was

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.

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 Mosterøy (incomplete list): *1925-1931: Kristian Edland ( V) *1931-1941: Lars Ramndal ( V) *1945-1945: Lars Ramndal ( V)

Municipal council

The

of Mosterøy was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

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 ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References