Herøy is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the town of Fosnavåg on the island of Bergsøya. The industrial area of Eggesbønes is located south of Fosnavåg on the same island. The Runde Environmental Centre is located in the northern part of the municipality on Runde island. Other population centres in Herøy include the villages of Leikong, Kvalsund, or Moltustranda. The 120 km2 municipality is the 320th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Herøy is the 123rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,842. The municipality's population density is 74.9 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The prestegjeld (parish) of Herøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1867, the western district of Herøy was separated to become the new Sande Municipality. This left Herøy municipality with 1,999 residents. On 1 January 1873, an area of Sande (population: 362) was transferred back to Herøy. On 1 January 1889, the Eiksund area and Ekø island (population: 119) were transferred from Sande to Herøy. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, three farms in the Gurskedalen valley (population: 25) were transferred from Herøy to Sande. Also on that date, the Eiksund area and the Eika island (population: 222) were transferred from Herøy to neighboring Ulstein Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after an archipelago of small islands. The first element is which means "army". The word here is referring to the idea of skipaherr which means "military fleet", referring to the many islands grouped together. The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Herø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herøy.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 27 March 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, two ship bows argent issuant from the flanks". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two stems of a ship. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to represent the 7th century Kvalsund boats found in the municipality. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Herøy. It is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Government

Herøy Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayors of Herøy:

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Herøy is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Geography

The main population and administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Fosnavåg, located on the island of Bergsøya. The municipality is entirely composed of islands located north of the Rovdefjorden. It includes the main islands of Bergsøya, Leinøya, Nerlandsøya, Remøya, Runde, Skorpa, Flåvær, and the eastern part of Gurskøya, plus many smaller islands. The island of Runde is especially notable for its large seabird colonies (and Runde Lighthouse), while Skorpa is famous for its role as a station for the Shetland bus. The islands are connected together via a series of bridges including the Runde Bridge, Remøy Bridge, Herøy Bridge, and Nerlandsøy Bridge. The Herøyfjorden bisects Herøy municipality. The half located south of the fjord is referred to as Inner Herøy, while the half located north of the fjord is referred to as Outer Herøy. Inner and Outer Herøy are tied together by the Herøy Bridge which connects the islands of Gurskøy and Leinøya. Along this main route of traffic is the islet Notøy and the even smaller Herøya islet, an old trading station (now museum) and the original location of the original Herøy Church. The fishing station Flåvær is located on a group of islets and skerries in the Herøyfjord, It includes the islets Flåvær, Husholmen, Torvholmen and Varholmen. The Flåvær Lighthouse is located on Varholmen. The Svinøy Lighthouse is located on the very small island of Svinøy, about 12 km west of the island of Skorpa.

Climate

Herøy has a temperate oceanic climate, with mild and windy winters, among the mildest winters in Norway. The weather station at Svinøy Lighthouse has been in operation since June 1955.

Notable people