Sandøy

Sandøy kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms

Møre og Romsdal within
Norway

Sandøy within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 62°45′40″N 6°27′5″E / 62.76111°N 6.45139°E / 62.76111; 6.45139Coordinates: 62°45′40″N 6°27′5″E / 62.76111°N 6.45139°E / 62.76111; 6.45139
Country Norway
County Møre og Romsdal
District Romsdal
Administrative centre Steinshamn
Government
  Mayor (2011) Hans Endre Sæterøy (H)
Area
  Total 20.42 km2 (7.88 sq mi)
  Land 20.35 km2 (7.86 sq mi)
  Water 0.07 km2 (0.03 sq mi)
Area rank 427 in Norway
Population (2013)
  Total 1,291
  Rank 388 in Norway
  Density 63.4/km2 (164/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -0.003 %
Demonym(s) Sandøying[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1546
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.sandoy.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Sandøy is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Steinshamn. Other villages include Ona and Myklebost. The municipality is spread out over many islands in the mouth of the Romsdalsfjorden. The Flatflesa Lighthouse and Ona Lighthouse protect the boats traveling around the municipality.

General information

View of the island of Ona
View of the island of Orta
View of the island of Orta

The municipality of Sandø i Romsdal was established on 1 January 1867 when it was separated from Akerø Municipality. The initial population was 601. The spelling of the name was later changed to Sandøy. On 1 January 1965, the Myklebost area on Harøya island and some smaller islands to the west (population: 287) were transferred from Haram Municipality to Sandøy Municipality.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm and the small island, Sandøya (Old Norse: Sandøy), since the first church (Sandøy Church) was built there. The first element is sandr which means "sand" and the last element is øy which means "island". The name was historically spelled Sandø or Sandøen.[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1986. The arms show the light beams from the Ona Lighthouse, since lighthouses play an important role in the safety in the municipality, which consists of 871 islands and skerries.[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sandøy. It is part of the Molde arch-deanery in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Sandøy
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
SandøySandøy ChurchSandøya1812
Harøy ChurchHarøya1934

Geography

Sandøy is an island municipality. Sandøy consists of 871 islands, but only five are regularly inhabited. The main inhabited islands are Harøya, Sandøya, Finnøya, Ona, and Orta. Ona is the most famous of the islands and is a popular tourist destination due to its history and the Ona Lighthouse.

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1908). Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt (in Norwegian) (13 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 311.
  4. Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". Retrieved 19 October 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.