Radøy is a former municipality in the

Nordhordland Nordhordland is a traditional district in the western part of Norway. The district consists of the northern portion of the old Hordaland county (now in Vestland county), north of the city of Bergen. It includes the municipalities Alver, Aust ...

district of the old

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Municipal ...

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 municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new municipality of Alver in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, whe ...

county. The municipality included almost all of the island of Radøy plus many small surrounding islands. The

administrative centre An administrative center 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 administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

of the municipality was the village of

Manger __NOTOC__ A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew"). Mangers are mostly used in ...

. Other villages in the municipality included Askeland,

Austmarka Austmarka is a village in Alver Municipality (formerly Radøy Municipality) in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern end of the island of Radøy, about east of the village of Sæbø and about north of the village of Al ...

, Bøvågen, Haugland, Sæbø, and Sletta. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 372nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Radøy is the 199th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,128. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

is and its population has increased by 10.1% over the last decade.

General information

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) 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, often abbreviated as WWI ...

. Radøy was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964. The new municipality was constructed from parts of several different municipalities: *all of the municipality of

(population: 1,344) *all of the municipality of Hordabø (population: 1,679) *the island of Bognøy from

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 area ...

municipality (population: 29) *most of the municipality of Sæbø, except the Titland area on the Lindås peninsula (population: 916) *the Sletta area on the island of Radøy from

Lindås Lindås is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. It existed from 1838 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality. The administrative centre of th ...

municipality (population: 305) *the Straume area on the island of Radøy and the small island of Fesøy from Austrheim municipality (population: 56) On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of

Meland Meland is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1923 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020 when it was merged into the new Alver Municipality in Vestland county. ...

, Radøy, and

were merged into a large, new municipality called Alver.

Name

The municipality was named after the island on which it sits, Radøy. The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

form of the island's name was (just) ''Röð''. (The last element ''øy'' meaning "island" was added later.) The name is identical with the word ''röð'' for "row" or "ridge" (here in the sense "long island" sticking out of the ocean).

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

was granted on 16 June 1991. The arms shows two black oarlocks on a yellow background. Oarlocks are on the

gunwale The gunwale () is the top edge of the hull of a ship or boat. Originally the structure was the "gun wale" on a sailing warship, a horizontal reinforcing band added at and above the level of a gun deck to offset the stresses created by firing ar ...

of a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

and they support the oar and give force to the rower's stroke. Some of these objects have been found in several places in Radøy and the artifacts date back to the first century BC. The designer of the arms was Even Jarl Skoglund.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Radøy. It is part of the Nordhordland prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman 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 reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Bjørgvin The Diocese of Bjørgvin ( no, Bjørgvin bispedømme) 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. The cathedral city is Bergen, Norway's second ...

Government

The

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, rural coun ...

of Radøy was made up of 25 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a 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 often feature ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayor

Prior to its dissolution, the mayor was Jon Askeland, and the deputy mayor was Ann Christin Hoen.Kommunestyret

Geography

The municipality encompassed all of the island of Radøy, except the far southern tip (which belonged to

municipality). The smaller surrounding islands of

Toska Toska is an island in Alver Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies just west of the island of Radøy in the Hjeltefjorden, at the entrance to the Radfjorden. A road connection from the village of Manger on Radøy island to ...

, Bognøy, Fesøy, and others were also part of Radøy municipality. The Radfjorden separated Radøy municipality from the municipality of

to the south. The Radsundet strait separated the municipality of Radøy from the municipality of Lindås to the east. The island of Fosnøyna (in Austrheim) were located to the north. The islands of Øygarden sat across the Hjeltefjorden to the west.

Notable people

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radoey Alver (municipality) Former municipalities of Norway 1964 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway