Godøya or Godøy is an

island An island or isle is a piece of subcontinental land completely surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island in a river or a lake island may be ...

in Giske Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The island is famous for its beautiful nature, dominated by the tall mountain ''Storhornet'' and the large lake ''Alnesvatnet''. The island had 1,117 residents in 2015. Most of the population lives on the southeastern side of the island in the villages of Godøy and Leitebakk, although the small fishing village of Alnes, with the old

Alnes Lighthouse Alnes lighthouse was established in 1852 to guide fishing boats safely to the harbor of the small fishing community of Alnes on Godøy island on the west coast of Norway. It is located on the north side of Godøy island in the municipality of Gi ...

, is located on the north side of the island about away via a tunnel through the tall mountain ''Sloktinden''.

Godøy Chapel Godøy Chapel ( no, Godøy kapell) is a chapel of the Church of Norway in Sunndal Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located on the small island of Godøy. It is an annex chapel in the Giske parish which is part of the Nordre ...

is located on the southern coast of the island. There is a lot of cultivated farm land along the shores.

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

and

fish processing The term fish processing refers to the processes associated with fish and fish products between the time fish are caught or harvested, and the time the final product is delivered to the customer. Although the term refers specifically to fish, in ...

are the main industries for the island. There is an

undersea tunnel An underwater tunnel is a tunnel which is partly or wholly constructed under the sea or a river. They are often used where building a bridge or operating a ferry link is unviable, or to provide competition or relief for existing bridges or ferry li ...

, the Godøy Tunnel, which connects Godøy to the neighboring island of Giske. Tunel was renovated in 2009. There is further ferry-free road transportation (including the Giske Bridge) that connects the island to the town of

Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrative ...

. A variety of wildlife can be found on the island, mammals such as

Red deer The red deer (''Cervus elaphus'') is one of the largest deer species. A male red deer is called a stag or hart, and a female is called a hind. The red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Anatolia, Iran, and parts of wes ...

Roe deer The roe deer (''Capreolus capreolus''), also known as the roe, western roe deer, or European roe, is a species of deer. The male of the species is sometimes referred to as a roebuck. The roe is a small deer, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapt ...

, Otter,

Harbour seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared s ...

and

American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink ...

are predominant. The steep mountain sides of the island also contain a number of nesting

White-tailed eagle The white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla'') is a very large species of sea eagle widely distributed across temperate Eurasia. Like all eagles, it is a member of the family Accipitridae (or accipitrids) which includes other diurnal rapto ...

Name

The name stems back to the

Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period The ...

, and is derived from the name "Gud øy", which translates to "Island of God(s)" in English. The current name, Godøya, can be loosely translated to "the good island".

References

Giske Islands of Møre og Romsdal {{MøreRomsdal-geo-stub

Name

See also

References