Nærøysund 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' ...

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; or is a county and coextensive with the Trøndelag region (also known as ''Midt-Norge'' or ''Midt-Noreg,'' "Mid-Norway") in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County (); in 1804 the county was ...

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 ...

. It is located in the traditional district of

Namdalen Namdalen () is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the central part of Norway, consisting of the municipalities of Namsos Municipality, Namsos, Grong Municipality, Grong, Overhalla Municipality, Overhalla, Røyrvik Municipality, Røyr ...

. The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 after the merger of the old

Vikna Municipality Vikna is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1869 until its dissolution in 2020. It is now part of Nærøysund Municipality in the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipalit ...

and

Nærøy Municipality Nærøy () is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality of Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. It is now part of Nærøysund Municipality in the Nam ...

. The municipality is unique in that it has two equal

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 ...

Kolvereid Kolvereid is a town in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town of Kolvereid is located at the west end of the Kolvereidvågen bay, off of the inner part of the Foldafjord. The Norwegian County Road 770 runs through the t ...

and

Rørvik Rørvik is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and administrative centre in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is on the eastern side of the Vikna archipelago on the island of Inner-Vikna. The town has a population ...

. The other main population centres of Nærøysund include Abelvær,

Foldereid Foldereid is a village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located near the inner part of the Folda, Trøndelag, Folda fjord, the ''Innerfolda'', just south of the border with Nordland county. The Norwegian ...

, Gravvika, Ottersøya,

Salsbruket Salsbruket is a village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located at the end of the Oppløyfjorden, at the mouth of the river Oppløyelva. A sawmill lies in the eastern part of the village, the Oplø area in ...

, Steine, Torstad,

Austafjord Austafjord is a small village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the island of Ytter-Vikna, approximately west of the municipal center, Rørvik. Austafjord sits about half-way between the nearby villages o ...

, Ramstad,

Garstad Garstad is a village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the island of Mellom-Vikna, about west of the municipal centre, Rørvik. Garstad Church is located in this village. Just to the west of the village ...

, and

Valøya Valøya is a village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located on the western edge of the island of Ytter-Vikna, about west of the municipal centre, Rørvik. Valøy Chapel Valøy Church () is a chapel of the Chur ...

. The municipality is the 70th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Nærøysund is the 114th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,968. 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 6.2% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

Municipal history

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the neighboring

and

were merged. The small

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

area of Nærøy Municipality was not part of the merger, it instead was merged with the large

Namsos Municipality (Norwegian language, Norwegian) or is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is t ...

to the south on the same date. The merger came about because on 8 June 2017, the Norwegian Parliament, the

Storting The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The Unicameralism, unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list propo ...

, voted to merge

Leka Municipality Leka is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Leknes, Trøndelag, ...

, and

Bindal Municipality Bindal is a municipality in the Helgeland region in the extreme southwest part of Nordland county, Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Terråk. Other villages include Bindalseidet, Holm, Vassås, Horsfjord and Åbygda. The ...

to form one, large municipality effective 1 January 2020. Leka Municipality and Bindal Municipality both rejected the merger, but Vikna Municipality and Nærøy Municipality agreed to the merger so it was carried out in 2020.

Name

The municipality is named after the

Nærøysundet Nærøysundet is a strait in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village of Rørvik, is located along the Nærøysundet, on the northwestern side. The strait is crossed by the Nærøysund Bridge which connects the mainlan ...

strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...

which is located in the municipality. The strait is named after the nearby island

Nærøya Nærøya is an island in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island lies along the southern entrance to the Nærøysundet strait, about south of the town of Rørvik. The Old Nærøy Church is located on the island, which ...

(). The first element is maybe the stem form of the name of the

Norse god In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, ...

'' Njord'' (but it is suspicious that it is not in 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 ...

). 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 ...

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 approved for use starting on 1 January 2020. The

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 ''"Argent, two bars wavy intertwined vert and azure"''. This means the arms have a

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) that 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 ...

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 ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. 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 intertwined stripes, one green and one blue. The green symbolizes the land and agriculture while the blue symbolizes the sea and fishing industry. Both are intertwined like a rope to symbolize unity and the two old municipalities becoming one. 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 ...

had two parishes () within Nærøysund Municipality. It is part of the

Namdal prosti This list of churches in Nidaros is a list of the Church of Norway churches in the Diocese of Nidaros in Norway. It includes all of the parishes in Trøndelag county. The diocese is based at the Nidaros Cathedral in the city of Trondheim (city), T ...

(

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 Nidaros Nidaros is a diocese in the Lutheran Church of Norway. It covers Trøndelag county in Central Norway and its cathedral city is Trondheim, which houses the well-known Nidaros Cathedral. Since 10 September 2017, the Bishop of Nidaros is Herborg ...

Government

Nærøysund 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

Trøndelag District Court Trøndelag District Court () is a district court located in Trøndelag county, Norway. This court is based at four different courthouses which are located in Brekstad, Namsos, Steinkjer, and Trondheim. The court is subordinate to the Frostating C ...

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 Nærøysund 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: *2020–present: Amund Hellesø ( Ap)

Municipal council

The

of Nærøysund is made up of 27 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 and climate

Nærøysund is named after the

strait between the islands of

Inner-Vikna Inner-Vikna is the largest of the three major islands in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is located in the western part of the municipality and it includes the town of Rørvik, the administrative centre of Nær ...

, Marøya,

and the mainland. This has been an important strait for sea travel along the coast at least since the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. The western part of the municipality consists of an archipelago with almost 6,000 islands and islets going west into the

Norwegian Sea The Norwegian Sea (; ; ) is a marginal sea, grouped with either the Atlantic Ocean or the Arctic Ocean, northwest of Norway between the North Sea and the Greenland Sea, adjoining the Barents Sea to the northeast. In the southwest, it is separate ...

, with many straits between the islands. There are three main islands,

Mellom-Vikna Mellom-Vikna is the smallest of the three major islands in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island is the site of Vikna Wind Farm near Garstad. The island is the middle island of the three main islands in the Vikna ar ...

and

Ytter-Vikna Ytter-Vikna is one of the three major islands in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the western part of the municipality. Norwegian County Road 770 crosses the island. The villages of Austafjord and Valøya ...

, which all three are connected to the mainland by bridges. The largest town,

, with the main harbor, is situated on Inner-Vikna facing the mainland. The mainland part of the municipality is more rugged, with mountains up to 873 meter ASL, but also of some lowland areas around the town of

. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Fuglstadfjellet, on the border with

. The

Sør-Gjæslingan Sør-Gjæslingan is an archipelago in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island group is located in at the entrance to the Folda fjord, about to the southwest of the town of Rørvik and about to the southeast of the Nord ...

islands were once home to thriving

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

that was abandoned in the 1970s. The

Nordøyan Nordøyan is an archipelago and abandoned fishing village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The island group is located at the western end of the Folda fjord, about to the southwest of the island of Ytter-Vikna and abou ...

islands and the

Nordøyan Lighthouse Nordøyan Lighthouse () is a coastal lighthouse in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag, Norway. It was established in 1890 and automated in 1989. The light is powered on all year except from May 12 until July 25 due to the midnight sun in this ...

are located at the western end of the

Folda Folda may refer to: Places * Folda, Angus, a hamlet in Angus, Scotland * Folda, Nordland, a fjord in Nordland county, Norway * Folda (Rindal), a river in Møre og Romsdal and Trøndelag counties in Norway * Folda, Trøndelag Folda is a firth ...

fjord. Coastal areas in Nærøysund has an

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

(Cfb) as autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, even if the winter temperature is close to a humid continental climate. There are two official weather stations recording temperature in the municipality, one at Rørvik Airport at Inner-Vikna island, the other at

further southwest on a smaller island.

is warmer in winter with coldest monthly mean , but is cooler in summer compared to Rørvik. The all-time low at Rørvik Airport was recorded in January 2010, and the all-time high was recorded July 27, 2019.

Notable people

* Jens Schanche (1717 in Ytter-Vikna – 1787), a Norwegian postmaster and postal inspector *

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll Manor in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parlia ...

(1770 in

Laugen Lauga is a fishing village in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arcti ...

– 1850), a statesman and a president of the

Norwegian Constituent Assembly The Norwegian Constituent Assembly ( or ) is the name given to the 1814 constitutional assembly that adopted the Norwegian Constitution and formalised the dissolution of the union with Denmark. The meetings took place at the Eidsvoll Manor in th ...

in Eidsvoll * Jacob Liv Borch Sverdrup (1775 in Laugen – 1841), an educator and farmer * James M. Wahl (1846 at Storvahl - 1939), a pioneer Norwegian-American settler in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

* Axel Collett (1880 in Kolvereid – 1968), a landowner, timber merchant, and sawmill owner * Magnhild Haalke (1885 in Vikna – 1984), a novelist * Ivar Skjånes (1888 in Kolvereid – 1975), a politician, Mayor of Trondheim, and County Governor of Sør-Trøndelag * Birger Brandtzæg (1893 in Abelvær – 1971), a merchant and owner of a fishing station * Brita Collett Paus (1917 in Salsbruket – 1998), a humanitarian and the founder of Fransiskushjelpen *

Paal Bog Paal Bog (born 5 December 1919 in Nærøy Municipality, died 19 September 2002 in Nedstrand Municipality) was a Norwegian economist, civil servant and diplomat. He served as Chairman of UNICEF from 1980 to 1981. Bog earned the cand.oecon. degree ...

(born 1919 in Nærøy - 2002), an economist, civil servant, diplomat and Chairman of

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

* Gullow Gjeseth (1937 in Nærøy – 2017), a military officer, commander of the land-based military forces *

Børre Rønningen Børre Rønningen (born 11 May 1949 in Vikna Municipality) is a Norwegian politician for the Labour Party. He previously represented the Socialist Left Party. For this party he was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Telemark in 1989, and w ...

(born 1949 in Vikna), a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Vikna 1999-2003 * Lars Peder Brekk (born 1955 in Vikna), a Norwegian businessman and politician * Hilde Stavik (1962 in Kolvereid – 2015), a long-distance runner

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nærøysund Nærøy Vikna Municipalities of Trøndelag 2020 establishments in Norway Populated places established in 2020