Rovde is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The 53 km2 municipality existed from 1905 until its dissolution in 1964. Rovde included the area on both the north and south sides of the Rovdefjorden. The northern area on the island of Gurskøya is currently part of Sande Municipality and the southern area is part of Vanylven Municipality. Rovde Church was the main church for the municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Rovdane.

History

The municipality of Rovde was established on 1 January 1905 when the old municipality of Sande was split in two with the eastern part becoming Rovde and the rest remained as Sande. Rovde had an initial population of 610, and included the villages of Larsnes and Rovdane. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Rovde was dissolved. The southern district of Rovde (Rovdestranda—south of the Rovdefjorden) with 436 inhabitants was merged into the neighboring Vanylven Municipality. The rest of Rovde, on Gurskøya island, with 562 inhabitants, was reunited with Sande.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Rovde farm ( or Rǫðvin) since the first Rovde Church was built there. The last element of the name comes from the word which means "meadow" or "pasture". The first element of the name is less certain. It could come from which means "red" or rauði which means "bog iron" or rauð which means "moraine" or "ridge". Another option for the first element is that it comes from the name of a local river, Hrǫð. This name comes from the word which means "fast",.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. 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 (Herredsstyre) of Rovde was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Rovde:

Poem

! colspan="2" |Rovdestranda, by the poet J. Nordhagen, 1928. ! English language !! Norwegian language on a brilliant sunny day, steer with courage from the ocean into the fjord, how calm becomes the sea. Then gaze from the bow rightwards shade your eyes for better to see the cloudfree mountains under heaven, and calm under them all lies Rovdestranden. From Søvdsnes to Kleiven along the brave way north are tended farms, where the people dwell. Yes, a finer place you can hardly find than beautiful Rovdestranda. en strålende solskinsdag, styer fra havet mot indre fjord, hvor sjøen får mindre drag. da sees fra baugen—du stirrer i le og skygger med hånden for bedre å se de skyfrie fjell under himmelranden, og under dem lunt ligger Rovdestranden. Fra Søvdsnes til Kleiven langs veien mot nord er velstelte gårder, hvor folket bor. Ja, skjønnere sted du knapt finne kan enn denne naturskjønne Rovdestranda.