Austrheim is a municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årås. Other villages in the municipality include Austrheim and Kaland. The Mongstad industrial area lies along the border of Austrheim and neighboring Lindås municipality. The westernmost point of mainland Norway lies in the municipality at Vardetangen.
The 58-square-kilometre (22 sq mi) municipality is the 347th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Austrheim is the 235th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,856. The municipality's population density is 50.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (130/sq mi) and its population has increased by 0.8% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Austrheim and Fedje be closed.[6]
General information
View of a small fishing village area in AustrheimView of VardetangenAustrheim Church
Historically, Austrheim was a part of the large Lindås Municipality. On 1 January 1910, the northwestern district of Lindås (population: 2,518) was separated from Lindås to form the new municipality of Austrheim. On 1 January 1947, all of the islands located west of the Fedjefjorden (population: 920) were separated to form the new Fedje Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Straume area on the island of Radøy (population: 56) was transferred from Austrheim to the new Radøy Municipality.[7]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Austrheim farm (Old Norse: Austrheimr) since the first Austrheim Church was built there. The first element is austr which means "east". The last element is heimr which means "homestead" or "village". Until 1889, the name was written Østereim. After that the spelling was Austreim, and most recently it is spelled Austrheim.[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 17 February 1989. The official blazon is "Azure, three bars embowed argent" (Norwegian: På blå grunn tre sølv bjelkar bøygde oppover). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the ordinary is a set of three arched bars. The bars 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 three bows represent the many bridges in the island municipality. The color blue was chosen to represent the sea and the white/silver was to represent the land. The arms were designed by Svein Skauge. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Austrheim is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
Economy
The Mongstad industrial complex lies on the border of Austrheim and Lindås. It is the largest oil port and refinery in Norway, is responsible for about 70% of all wet bulk. Many residents of Austrheim work at the facility.
Population
Geography
Austrheim is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county. It is located south of the Fensfjorden, east of the Fedjefjorden, north of the island of Radøy, and west of the Lindås peninsula. The municipality includes the far northwestern tip of the peninsula as well as many islands. The largest island (by far) is the island of Fosnøyna, where the municipal centre is located.
^ a bStatistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
^Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).
^Fjelltveit, Ingvild; Raunholm, Per Vidar (20 December 2016). "Foreslår å legge ned 17 lensmannskontor i Vest politidistrikt". NRK Hordaland (in Norwegian). Retrieved 20 October 2017.
^Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
^Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 423.
^"Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^"Austrheim, Hordaland (Norway)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^"Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 14 April 1989. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
^ a b"Risnes, Knut Johannes" (in Norwegian). Storting. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
^"Morten Sognnes ny ordførar i Austrheim". Austrheim kommune (in Norwegian). Retrieved 21 January 2024.
^"Kommunestyrevalg 2023 - Vestland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
^"Kommunestyrevalg 2019 – Vestland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
^ a b c d"Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway.
^"Kommunestyrevalg 2011 – Hordaland". Valgdirektoratet. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1995" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1996. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1991" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1993. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1987" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1988. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1983" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo-Kongsvinger: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1984. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^"Kommunestyrevalget 1979" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1979. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1975" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1977. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1972" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1973. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1967" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1967. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
^"Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 10 May 2020.