Austevoll

This article is about the municipality in Norway. For the seafood company, see Austevoll Seafood.
Austevoll kommune
Municipality

Bekkjarvik harbour

Coat of arms
Hordaland within
Norway

Austevoll within Hordaland
Coordinates: 60°02′16″N 05°16′06″E / 60.03778°N 5.26833°E / 60.03778; 5.26833Coordinates: 60°02′16″N 05°16′06″E / 60.03778°N 5.26833°E / 60.03778; 5.26833
Country Norway
County Hordaland
District Midhordland
Administrative centre Storebø
Government
 • Mayor (2013) Renate Møgster Klepsvik (Frp)
Area
 • Total 117.18 km2 (45.24 sq mi)
 • Land 114.23 km2 (44.10 sq mi)
 • Water 2.95 km2 (1.14 sq mi)
Area rank 373 in Norway
Population (2013)
 • Total 4,924
 • Rank 206 in Norway
 • Density 43.1/km2 (112/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 9.7 %
Demonym(s) Austevolling[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1244
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.austevoll.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Hordaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other villages include Årland, Austevollshella, Bakkasund, Bekkjarvik, Birkeland, Haukanes, Husavik, Kolbeinsvik, Otterå, Våge, and Vinnes.

The municipality consists of several islands located southwest of the city of Bergen. The municipality is considered to be among the ports in the world with the largest ocean-going fishing trawler fleet. Since the 1980s, the offshore oil industry and fish farming industry have both grown to be important industries in Austevoll.

General information

Flag of Austevoll.
Aerial view of northern Austevoll

The municipality of Austevoll was established on 1 January 1886 when it was separated from the municipality of Sund. The initial population for the new municipality of Austevoll was 2,396. On 1 January 1964, the southern part of the islands of Selbjørn and Huftarøy (population: 696) was transferred from the municipality of Fitjar to Austevoll. This put the whole Austevoll archipelago in the municipality of Austevoll.[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the old Austevoll farm (Old Norse: Austrvǫllr), since this was the old site of the Austevoll Church. The farm is now part of the village of Austevollshella. The first element is austr which means "east" and the last element is vǫllr which means "meadow". The municipality has changed the spelling of its name three times. Before 1889 the name was written "Østevold" or "Østervold". From 1889-1917, it was spelled "Austevold", and since 1918 it has been spelled "Austevoll".[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms were granted on 30 November 1984. The arms are blue with four silver-colored fish swimming up to the left. The shoal of herring was chosen for the arms since herring fishing is a very important part of the local economy.[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Austevoll. It is part of the Fana deanery in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Churches in Austevoll
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
AustevollAustevoll ChurchStorebø1890
Bekkjarvik ChurchBekkjarvik1895
Hundvåkøy ChurchAustevollshella1990
Møkster ChurchStolmen1892
Store-Kalsøy ChapelBakkasund1975

Geography

Sildajento

Austevoll consists of 667 islands off the west coast of Western Norway. The municipality has a total land area of 114.23 square kilometres (44.10 sq mi) and a costal line of 337 kilometres (209 mi). It lies south of the Korsfjorden, west of the Bjørnafjorden, and north of the Selbjørnsfjorden.[5] The highest point in Austevoll is the mountain Loddo, reaching 244 metres (801 ft) above sea level. The Marstein Lighthouse lies in the northwestern part of the municipality.

Largest islands

  1. Huftarøy
  2. Selbjørn
  3. Hundvåko
  4. Stolmen
  5. Storekalsøy
  6. Møkster

Neighbours

The island municipality shares water borders with the municipality of Sund to the north, Bergen and Os municipalities to the northeast, Tysnes municipality to the east, and Fitjar and Bømlo municipalities to the south. The North Sea lies to the west of Austevoll.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
18552,057—    
18652,260+9.9%
18752,396+6.0%
18902,332−2.7%
19002,434+4.4%
19102,459+1.0%
19202,760+12.2%
19302,928+6.1%
19463,272+11.7%
19513,231−1.3%
19613,366+4.2%
19713,854+14.5%
19813,912+1.5%
19914,148+6.0%
20014,446+7.2%
20114,680+5.3%
20144,924+5.2%
Source: Statistics Norway.[6][7]

Of the 667 islands, only eight are populated year-round. About 29% of the inhabitants live in densely populated areas. About 28% of the inhabitants are under the age of 17, which is 4.4% over the national average. About 4.7% of the inhabitants are 80 years or older.[5]

Villages

RankVillageVillage Population (2005)[8]District Population (2001)[9]
1Storebø1,0321,341
2Bekkjarvik355489
3Kolbeinsvik 481
4Vinnes 378
5Haukanes 235

Inhabited islands

RankIslandArea (km²)Population [9]Density (/km²)Largest settlementHighest pointElevation (m)
1Huftarøy50.42,43548.3StorebøLoddo244
2Selbjørn2595638.24BekkjarvikKongsafjellet185
3Hundvåkøy10.755451.7Austevollshella61
4Stolmen7.920626.0VågeSåta60
5Storekalsøy616727.0BakkasundMjuken57
6Møkster65
7Litlekalsøy26

Gallery

Industry

Fishing is the most important industry in Austevoll, as it has been for centuries. Traditionally, fishing has taken place in coastal areas, not far off shore. After decades of overfishing, the herring disappeared in the 1950s. This forced a restructuring of the fishing fleet. Since the 1960s, the shipping companies built bigger ships, and went further out into the seas, and they began fishing for other fish species, not just herring. The overfishing of herring also forced better research on fishing, resulting in the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Austevoll is the home of the Austevoll Aquaculture Research Station.

Since the early 1980s, the offshore supply industry has emerged in the wake of the offshore Norwegian oil industry. The offshore shipping company DOF, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, has its headquarters at Storebø.

Education

There are five primary schools and one middle school in Austevoll, all run by the municipality. There is also one secondary school, teaching mainly fishing and nautical subjects. This is operated by the Hordaland County Municipality.

Transportation

Austevoll has car ferry connections from Hufthammar on the north tip of Huftarøy to Krokeide in Bergen, and from Husavik on the south tip of Huftarøy to Sandvikvåg in Fitjar. The municipality is also connected by express boats to Bergen in the north, and Stord, Haugesund, and Stavanger in the south. All express boat routes are operated by Norled, and ferry routes are operated by Fosen Namsos.

The islands of Huftarøy and Selbjørn, Selbjørn and Stolmen, and Hundvåkøy and Storekalsøy are connected with bridges. A fourth bridge, connecting Huftarøy and Hundvåkøy, was opened on 17 November 2007. This bridge, which in fact consists of two bridges and two stone fillings, bears the name "Austevollsbrua".

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Austevoll, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Austevoll is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to every four years. Since the 2011 election a coalition of the Progress Party and Center Party has held power in the council, the latter two terms the coalition also consisted of the Christian Democratic Party who broke out after the 2011 local election. In 2011 the coalition won 12 of the 21 seats in the municipal council and has an electoral and political cooperation. The Conservative Party, Labour Party and Christian Democratic Party make up the opposition. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:[10]

Austevoll Kommunestyre 2011–2015
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet2
 Progress PartyFramstegspartiet10
 Conservative PartyHøgre6
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti1
 Centre PartySenterpartiet2
Total number of members:21

In the 2003-2007 election period The Liberal Party was represented in the municipal council and held one seat. In the 1999-2003 election period an all-party female electoral list held one seat in the council. From 1995 to 1999 the Socialist Left Party held one seat.

Executive committee of local council

The executive committee of local council has 9 seats, divided between all parties in the municipal council. Divided like this:

Mayor

The following is a list of mayors of Austevoll:[11][12]

 #  Name Office Political Party Occupation
1
 Ole Olsen Strømme 1886–1901 Church bell ringer
2
 Peder Olai Kleppe 1902–1919 Fisherman
3
 Olai Naustheller 1920–1925 Farmer
4
 Mikkel Nilsen Birkeland 1926–1935 Farmer
5
 Magnus Larssen 1935–1937 School teacher
6
 Salomon O. Fagerbakke 1938–1945 Fisherman
7
 Salomon V. Kalvenes 1946–1959 Fisherman
8
 Rikard S. Storebø 1960–1969 Liberal Party Social security manager
9
 Peder Kalve 1970–1975 Conservative Party Maritime pilot
10
 Magnus Stangeland 1976–1981 Centre Party School principal
11
 Knut K. Kalvenes 1982–1985 Conservative Party[13] Retailer
12
 Hallvard Møgster 1986–1989 Christian Democratic Party Captain
13
 Inge Bjarne Storebø 1990–2001 Conservative Party Bank manager
14
 Olav P. Årland 2001–2003 Christian Democratic Party Shipmaster
15
 Helge André Njåstad 2003–2011 Progress Party Student
16
 Renate Møgster Klepsvik 2011–present Progress Party

Notable residents

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 (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 251–252.
  4. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-01-14.
  5. 1 2 Statistics Norway (2006). "Tall om Austevoll kommune" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 9 September 2006.
  6. ↑ Projected population - Statistics Norway
  7. ↑ Per 1 January 1964, a part of 1222 Fitjar (696 persons) and 1244 Austevoll were merged to one municipality, 1244 Austvoll.
  8. ↑ Statistics Norway (1 January 2006). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality". Archived from the original on 21 August 2006.
  9. 1 2 Statistics Norway. "Folke- og bustadteljing 2001" (PDF) (in Norwegian).
  10. ↑ "Members of the local councils, by party/electoral lists and municipality" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2011.
  11. ↑ "Former mayors of Austevoll municipality" (in Norwegian).
  12. ↑ "Fattigstyret i Møkster sokn" (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 3 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Knut Kalvenes" (in Norwegian). Høyre. 2003. Retrieved 19 December 2007.

External links

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