Øygarden is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It is an island municipality located in the traditional district of

Midhordland Midhordland or Midthordland is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Vestlandet region of Norway. It consists of the central-west portion of the old Hordaland county (now part of Vestland county), mostly including the islands and coa ...

, stretching along the west coast of the county. The village of Straume is the

administrative centre An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the municipality. Other villages in the municipality include Alveim, Blomvåg,

Vikavågen Vikavågen is a village in Øygarden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies on the southeastern coast of the island of Toftøyna. The village has a population (2019) of 656 and a population density Population density (in ag ...

, Ågotnes, Fjell, Foldnes, Knappskog, Knarrevik, Kolltveit, Landro,

Sekkingstad Sekkingstad is a village in Øygarden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is situated on the west side of the island of Store Sotra. Sekkingstad is the site of the fish factory Vågen Seafood. The tall mountain Saufjellet lies just nort ...

, Skogsvåg, Klokkarvik, Tælavåg, Kausland, and Hammarsland. The municipality consists of a chain of islands to the north and west of the city of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. Øygarden is connected to the mainland by a series of bridges and a single road running across the islands. Some of the major islands include Litlesotra, Store Sotra, Bildøy, Bjorøy,

Misje Misje is an island (and village) in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies just south of the island of Toftøyna and north of the large island of Sotra. Almost all of the 257 inhabitants (as of 2009) live on the eas ...

Turøy Turøyna or Turøy is an island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies just west of the islands of Toftøyna and Misje. Prior to 1964, the island was part of the old municipality of Herdla. Then from 1964 until 2 ...

, Seløyna, Alvøyna, Ona,

Blomøyna Blomøyna, or Blomøy, is an island in the municipality of Øygarden in Vestland county, Norway. The island is the second largest island in the municipality. The island lies north of the island of Rongøyna and south of the island of Ona, Norw ...

, Rongøyna, and

Toftøyna Toftøyna or Toftøy is an island in Øygarden municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island is the southernmost of the main islands of Øygarden. It is connected by bridge to the island of Rongøy (to the north), to the small island of ...

. The municipality is the 260th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Øygarden is the 27th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 39,368. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

is and its population has increased by 14.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Øygarden was established on 1 January 1964. It was created by a merger that was set in motion by the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. The newly created Øygarden was made up of all of the old municipality of Hjelme (population: 956) and almost all of the municipality of

Herdla Herdla is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1871 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality encompassed a large group of about 2,000 islands and skerries covering about of land are ...

(population: 2131) that was located west of the

Hjeltefjorden Hjeltefjorden is a fjord in Vestland county, Norway. The long fjord runs north–south between many islands leading from the open ocean to the city of Bergen. It passes through the municipalities of Fedje, Øygarden, Alver, and Askøy. Its n ...

(except for the islands of

and

which went to the neighboring municipality of Fjell). On 1 January 2020, the three neighboring municipalities of Fjell, Sund, and Øygarden were merged into one large island municipality called ''Øygarden''. The

of Øygarden has changed three times over the years. From 1964 until 2009, it was located at the village of Tjeldstø. From 2009 through 2019, it was located in the village of Rong. In 2020, the

was moved to the large village of Straume after the municipal merger with Fjell and Sund.

Name

The municipality of Øygarden was created in 1964 and the name was created at the same time. The name is the finite form of which means "island group" or more specifically "row (fence) of

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s". The first element is identical to the word which means "

". The last element is which means "the farm".

Coat of arms

The original

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was granted in 1966, shortly after the establishment of the municipality. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

was ''"Azure, a

fess In heraldry, a fess or fesse (from Middle English ', Old French ', and -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ', and charge on a coat of arms">Latin ' ...

engrailed

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

below a

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

sable and argent"''. This means the arms have a blue

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

(background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a reference sea

sitting on an islet rising above a sea wave. The wave and a small stripe on the buoy both have a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The municipality consisted of larger and smaller islands and islets. The design was chosen to symbolize the importance of fishing and sea navigation for the area. Hence the importance of sea cairns,

buoy A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. History The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...

s and

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

s for safety in the municipality. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms. A new

was adopted in 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger where Sund, Fjell, and Øygarden merged to form a new Øygarden municipality. The new municipality decided to use the coat of arms for the old Sund Municipality which had originally been granted to that municipality on 23 March 1988. The official

is ''"

Argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

, a lighthouse

couped The heads of humans and other animals are frequently occurring charges in heraldry. The blazon, or heraldic description, usually states whether an animal's head is couped (as if cut off cleanly at the neck), erased (as if forcibly ripped from th ...

azure"'' (). This means the arms have a

(background) has a

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The

is a

. The lighthouse reflects the municipality's close ties to the sea, and the white colour represents the light emitted from the lighthouse. 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 The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

has four parishes () within the municipality of Øygarden. It is part of the Vesthordland prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin () is one of the 11 dioceses that make up the Church of Norway. It includes all of the churches located in the county of Vestland in Western Norway, and those outside of Norway in the Seamen's Church. The cathedral cit ...

Geography

The municipality is made up of many islands. The main islands are (from north to south): Seløyna (), Alvøyna (), Ona (),

(), Rongøyna (),

(),

, Turøyna

Sotra Sotra or Store Sotra is the name of a large island in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway, located just west of the city of Bergen. It is part of a pair of islands called ' Sotra' and ' Litlesotra' ('small Sotra') that are part of ...

, Litlesotra, Geitung, Bildøyna, Bjorøy, Algrøyna, Lokøyna, Syltøyna, Toftøya, Lerøyna, Bjelkarøyna, Tyssøyna, Risøy, Vardøy, Golten, and Viksøy. Besides these larger islands, the municipality consists of hundreds small islands, islets, and reefs. Some of the other islands include Hernar in the far north and Førehjelmo. The landscape is low and relatively flat. Several smaller lakes are located on the islands. The west side of the islands is an important nesting site for birds. The

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

lies to the west of the islands and the

. Tjeldstø Marka on Alvøyna has been a protected nature reserve since 1995. It is one of the largest wetland reserves in Hordaland. The ''Ormhilleren friluftsområde'' is another nature reserve surrounding the Rongesundet strait.

Population

Government

Øygarden Municipality is responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

welfare Welfare may refer to: Philosophy *Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group * Utility in utilitarianism * Value in value theory Economics * Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision ...

and other

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or economic and social development) is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s and utilities. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal () is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestland and Rogaland plus Sirdal Municipality in Agder county ...

Municipal council

The

() of Øygarden is made up of 45 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

() of Øygarden (incomplete list): *1990–1995: Otto Harkestad ( Ap) *1995–1999: Rolv Svein Rougnø ( H) *2000–2011: Olav Martin Vik ( LL) *2011–2014: Otto Harkestad ( Ap) *2015–2015: Åse Gunn Husebø ( Ap) *2015–2019: Børge Haugetun ( LL) *2019–present: Tom Georg Indrevik ( H)

Economy

The municipality has a significant

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

industry, primarily with salmon, cod, and shellfish.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

is limited in the municipality and is largely a part-time occupation, so most farmers have another profession too. Agriculture in Øygarden is dominated by raising livestock (sheep, cattle, and chickens). Since 1988, petroleum activities have become a major industry in Øygarden. The transportation of oil from the Oseberg oil field through a pipeline to Sture on Alvøyna was the start of the oil boom. In 1996, a

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

processing plant at

Kollsnes Kollsnes is a Natural gas processing, natural gas processing plant operated by Gassco on the southern part of the island of Oøy in Øygarden Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. Equinor is the Technical Service Provider on behalf of Gassco. ...

on the island of Ona was completed. In 2024 the company Norsk Kjernekraft signed an agreement with a landowner in the municipality to purchase , to accommodate up to five SMR nuclear power units.

Notable people

* Martin Rasmussen Hjelmen (1904 in Øygarden – 1944), a Norwegian sailor and communist activistUklart om likvidasjoner
/ref> * John Alvheim (1930 in Øygarden – 2005), a nurse anaesthetist, aid worker, and politician * Lars Arne Nilsen (born 1964 in Sotra), a Norwegian football manager *

Alexander Dale Oen Alexander Dale Oen (; 21 May 198530 April 2012) was a Norwegian competitive swimmer. He was an Olympic silver medallist, World Championships gold medallist, World Championships (25m) bronze medallist, two-time European Championships gold medal ...

(1985 in Øygarden – 2012), a swimmer on the Norwegian national team and silver medallist at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Gallery

File:Spjeld Storelva Norway Travel Landscape Photography (119111997).jpeg, Spjeld Storelva File:Sotra.jpg, Fjord landscape, Sotra File:Nordra Straumsundet Norway Landscape Photography (140004361).jpeg, Nordra Straumsundet File:Bukken.jpg, Bukken

References

External links

Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oygarden Municipalities of Vestland 1964 establishments in Norway Archipelagoes of Norway Landforms of Vestland