Eide is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the region of Nordmøre. It was located on the Romsdal peninsula, along the Kornstadfjorden and the Kvernesfjorden. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Eide. Other villages included Lyngstad, Vevang, and Visnes. The municipality was known for its traditional and modern limestone (marble) quarries and related crafts industry. The Atlanterhavsveien coastal road connected Eide Municipality to neighboring Averøy Municipality to the east. The municipal border lies at the Storseisundet Bridge on the Atlanterhavsveien road. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the 152 km2 municipality is the 353rd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Eide is the 248th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,440. The municipality's population density is 23.6 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 2.3% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Eide was established on 1 January 1897 when the large Kvernes Municipality was divided into four municipalities: Eide (population: 1,552), Kornstad (population: 1,599), Bremsnes (population: 2,917), and Kvernes (population: 857). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Vevang area (population: 562) was transferred from Kornstad Municipality to Eide Municipality. On 1 January 1983, the uninhabited island of Eldhusøya (now part of the Atlanterhavsveien) was transferred from Eide to Averøy Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Eide and Fræna merged into the new municipality of Hustadvika.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Eide farm since the first Eide Church was built there. The name comes from the dative case of the word which means "isthmus". This name is not referring to a true isthmus, but rather referring to a small valley area between two large hills and between the fjord and a large lake where the main village of Eide is located.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 9 July 1982. The official blazon is "Azure, three swans argent naiant wings displayed, 2 over 1". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus). The swans have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if the arms are made out of metal, then silver is used. The swans are facing dexter in a swimming position. The swans were chosen since they are very common in the many local lakes. Each swan has seven feathers, representing the seven main villages in the municipality. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Eide. It was part of the Ytre Nordmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Geography

The municipality is located on the northern part of the Romsdal Peninsula, just west of the island of Averøya. Kvitholmen Lighthouse lies just off the northern coast of the municipality, in an area with hundreds of small islands and skerries. Fræna Municipality lies to the west of Eide, Gjemnes Municipality lies to the southeast, and Averøy Municipality lies to the east. The open Norwegian Sea lies to the north.

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Eide was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Eide: