Osterøy is an

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 ...

situated northeast of the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 ...

. With a total area of , it is the largest Norwegian island not located directly adjacent to the

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

, and the second largest such island in

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

. Osterøy is covered by two municipalities: the majority () by

Osterøy Osterøy is an List of islands of Norway, island Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses ...

municipality, and the rest () by

Vaksdal is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Dalekvam. Other villages in Vaksdal include Dalegarden, Flatkvål, Helle, Nesheim ...

municipality. The vast majority of the island's population lives in Osterøy municipality (7,305 inhabitants as of 2008). The island is surrounded by

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 ...

s with mainland Norway on all sides of those fjords. The

Osterfjorden Osterfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord is one of three fjords surrounding the island of Osterøy. The fjord runs along the municipal border of Alver and Osterøy municipalities. The fjord begins at the Romarheimsfjorde ...

Romarheimsfjorden Romarheimsfjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The fjord flows through the municipalities of Modalen, Alver, and Osterøy. The western end of the fjord lies near the island of Hokøy where the fjord flows in to the Osterfjorden on it ...

flows along the north side, the Sørfjorden flows along the southern and western sides, and the

Veafjorden Veafjorden (historically, the Vedåfjorden) is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord flows between the mainland and the island of Osterøy in Vaksdal municipality. There is one bridge across the fjord, the Kallestadsundet Bridge ...

flows along the eastern side. The highest mountain on Osterøy is the tall

Høgafjellet Høgafjellet is a mountain on the island of Osterøy in Vestland county, Norway. Høgafjellet sits on the border between the municipalities of Osterøy and Vaksdal, about east of the village of Fotlandsvåg and about west of the Veafjorden. ...

. There are two road bridges that connect the island to the rest of the road network in Norway. The first is the

Osterøy Bridge The Osterøy Bridge () is a suspension bridge in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge connects the Kvisti farm area on the island of Osterøy in Osterøy Municipality with the Herland farm area on the mainland in Bergen Municipality east of the ...

, built in 1997 on the southwestern tip of the island. That bridge is the only road connection to the mainland for most residents of Osterøy. The other is the

Kallestadsundet Bridge The Kallestadsundet Bridge is a bridge over the Veafjorden in Vaksdal municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The bridge links the mainland part of Vaksdal municipality to the part that lies on the island of Osterøy. The bridge lies about no ...

which connects the northeastern tip of the island to the mainland. The northeastern part of Osterøy only has one road, and it is not connected to the rest of the roads on the island, so to get from the northeastern part of the island to the rest of the island, one would have to cross the Kallestadsundet Bridge to leave the island, drive along the mainland to the opposite side of the island, then cross the Osterøy Bridge to get back onto the island. This is why the northeastern part of the island is part of Vaksdal municipality and the rest of the island is part of Osterøy municipality.

Media gallery

File:Osteröysbrua IMG 3730.JPG, Southwestern tip of the island with the

File:Osteröy Sörfjorden Trengereid IMG 3726.JPG, Western part of the island, surrounded by the Sørfjorden File:Haus1.JPG, View of Hausvik, on the western coast File:Veafjorden.JPG, View of the

with Osterøy to the left File:Havratunet.jpg,

Havrå Havrå or Havre (sometimes Havretunet or Havråtunet) is a cluster farm along the southern shore of the island of Osterøy in Osterøy municipality, Vestland county, Norway. Havrå is one of the last and best preserved of the common farm clust ...

, a

cluster farm A cluster farm () is a traditional western Norwegian farm settlement with multiple individual farms and with the houses of the various farms located close together, more or less irregularly in relation to one another, and so that it is difficult t ...

on the southern coast of the island

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osteroey Osterøy Vaksdal Islands of Vestland