Måsøy (; ) 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' ...

Finnmark Finnmark (; ; ; ; ) is a counties of Norway, county in northern Norway. By land, it borders Troms county to the west, Finland's Lapland (Finland), Lapland region to the south, and Russia's Murmansk Oblast to the east, and by water, the Norweg ...

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

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 ...

of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, and Snefjord. The municipality is located on the mainland as well as several islands. The municipality is the 96th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Måsøy is the 328th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,113. 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 decreased by 10.3% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality includes the Fruholmen Lighthouse, the northernmost lighthouse in Norway as well as the Havøysund Bridge, the northernmost bridge in the world. The tallest tower in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, the tall

Ingøy radio transmitter Ingøy or Inga is a small fishing village on the island of Ingøya in Måsøy Municipality, Finnmark county, Norway. The village lies on the northern coast of the island of Ingøya, facing the open Arctic Ocean. The village of Ingøy lies about ...

is located on

Ingøya or is an island on the edge of the Arctic Ocean in Måsøy Municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The island lies just north of the island of Rolvsøya and west of the island of Hjelmsøya. The sparsely populated island is only accessibl ...

island. The Hurtigruten coastal express boat stops at the village of Havøysund daily. There is also a road connection to Havøysund, albeit often blocked by

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

in the winter at the pass between Snefjord and Bakfjord. Norwegian County Road 889 connects the mainland to Havøysund. Bus services between Havøysund and Olderfjord (bus hub), operates twice a day. The nearest airport is Lakselv Banak Airport.

General information

The town of Hammerfest and the vast surrounding "rural district of Hammerfest" was established as the municipality of '' Hammerfest by og landdistrikt'' 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). Soon after (the same year), the northern district (population: 498) was separated to become the new ''Maasøe Municipality'', named after the village on the island of Måsøya where the local Måsøy Church is located. The spelling was later changed to Måsøy. On 1 January 1963, a small area of southern Måsøy, north of Kokelv, (population: 34) was transferred to the neighboring Kvalsund Municipality. On 1 January 1984, the western part of the island of

Magerøya or is a large island in Finnmark county, in the extreme northern part of Norway. The island lies along the Barents Sea in Nordkapp Municipality, just north of the Porsanger Peninsula. The mouth of Porsangerfjorden lies off the east coast of t ...

(population: 240) was transferred from Måsøy to the neighboring

Nordkapp Municipality Nordkapp (; or ; or ) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Honningsvåg, where most residents live. Other settlements in Nordkapp include the villages of Gjesvær, Kåfjor ...

. On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed

Troms og Finnmark Troms og Finnmark (; ; ; ) was a county in northern Norway that existed from 2020 to 2023. The county was established on 1 January 2020 as the result of a regional reform. It was the largest county by area in Norway, encompassing about , and w ...

county. Previously, it had been part of the old

county. On 1 January 2024, the

county was divided and the municipality once again became part of

county.

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 Måsøya () since the first Måsøy Church was built there. The first element is , the diminutive form of the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the word which means "little

seagull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

". 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 ''Maasø'' or ''Maasøe''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Maasøy''. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Maasøy'' with the digraph " aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Måsøy'', using the letter å instead.

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 7 September 1984. 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 ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, a gaff bendwise Or"'' (). This means the arms have a red field (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 a

fishing gaff In fishing, a gaff is a handheld pole with a sharp hook or sideway spike on the distal end, which is used to swing and stab into the body of a large fish like a pickaxe (ideally, the tip of the hook/spike is placed under the fish's backbone) an ...

. The gaff 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 ...

of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. A gaff is a stick with a metal hook or a barbed spear (historically it was made of bone). It is used for pulling large

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

onto a boat. These fishing gaffs have been used for many centuries in the municipality. The tool was chosen as a symbol for the importance of

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

to the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

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 one parish () within the municipality of Måsøy. It is part of the Hammerfest 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 Nord-Hålogaland.

Government

Måsøy 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 Vestre Finnmark District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Måsøy is made up of 15 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 ...

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 Måsøy (incomplete list): *1838-18??: Hans Sommer Ulich *1873-1874: Reinholdt Fredrik Tønder Larsen *1893-1895: Enok Johnsen *1895-1901: Sivert Lauritz Aasen ( H) *1902-1904: William Dahl Ulich *1905-1907: Simon Edvard Sørensen *1908-1909: Sivert Sveen *1914-1920: William Dahl Ulich *1920-1929: Carl Rebek Olsen ( H) *1928-1941: Johannes Olai Olsen ( Ap) *1941-1945: S. Ansteensen ( NS) *1945-1946: Johannes Olai Olsen ( Ap) *1946-1956: Karl Sigfred Gregersen *1957-1968: Magnar Pettersen ( Ap) *1968-1971: Trygve Olsen ( Sp) *1971-1979: Bjørgvin Jenssen ( Ap) *1979-1981: Oddvar J. Majala ( Ap) *1981-1995: Arvid Mathisen ( Ap) *1995-2009: Ingalill Olsen ( Ap) *2009-2011: John Aase ( Ap) *2011-2014: Anne Karin Olli ( H) *2014-2017: Gudleif Kristiansen ( Sp) *2017-2019: Reidun Helene Mortensen ( Sp) *2019–2023: Bernth Sjursen ( Ap) *2023-present: Ingrid Majala ( LL)

Geography

The municipality is located on the northern coast of western

, comprising parts of the mainland (located on the Porsanger Peninsula) and many islands of various sizes. The main islands include Måsøya, Hjelmsøya, Havøya,

, and Rolvsøya. Most people live in the village of Havøysund, but there are also small hamlets spread around the islands and in the

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 ...

areas, notably Snefjord, Slåtten, Ingøy, Gunnarnes, and Måsøy. The large lake Havvatnet lies in the southern part of the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Gárdevárri.

Birdlife

Lying in the northwest part of the county, Måsøy has a selection of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s and a varied birdlife. Once again, some of the county's largest

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

colonies can be found in the municipality with the island of Hjelmsøya being one of the more interesting.

White-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), sometimes known as the 'sea eagle', is a large bird of prey, widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which also ...

s can be seen as well as both Arctic skuas and great skuas.

Climate

Måsøy has a

subpolar oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: Cfc), due to the relatively mild winter, but also due to the precipitation pattern with drier summer and wetter winter, which is opposite of the subarctic climate. Fruholmen was earlier a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

, and is close to tundra with 1991-2020 normals. As the weather station is located at an exposed lighthouse, the inhabited areas of the municipality such as Havøysund will be slightly warmer in summer and slightly colder in winter than Fruholmen.

Notable people

* Johannes Olai Olsen (1895 in Måsøy – 1974), a fisherman and mayor of Måsøy from 1928 to 1940 * Lorentz Eldjarn (1920 in Måsøy – 2007), a biochemist and medical doctor * Selmer Nilsen (1931 in Bakfjord – 1991), a fisherman who spied for the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

during the Cold War * Aagot Vinterbo-Hohr (born 1936 in Måsøy), a Norwegian-Sami physician and writer * Markus Svendsen (born 1941 in Havøysund), a skier who competed at the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. The 1968 Winter Games marked the first time ...

* Hanne Grete Einarsen (born 1966), a Norwegian-Sami artist who lives in Snefjord

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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maasoy Municipalities of Finnmark Populated places of Arctic Norway 1838 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 1838