Vigra is a former municipality in

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

county,

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 ...

. The municipality existed from 1890 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Giske Municipality in the traditional district of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

. The

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was the village of Roald and Vigra Church was the main church for the municipality. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 627th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Vigra Municipality was the 528th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,571. 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 ...

was and its population had increased by 15.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

On 1 January 1890, the large Haram Municipality was divided. The western island district (population: 794) was established as the new ''Roald Municipality'' and the rest remained as Haram Municipality (population: 1,956). In 1911, the name was changed to ''Vigra Municipality''. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of 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 ...

. On 1 January 1964, Vigra Municipality (population: 1,569) was merged with the neighboring Giske Municipality (population: 3,075) to create a new, larger Giske Municipality.

Name

The municipality was originally named ''Roald Municipality'', after the old '' Roald'' farm () which was likely the original name of the island as well (later the island became known as Vigra). The meaning of the name is unknown. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the name to ''Vigra Municipality''. The new name was chosen since it is the name of the main island in the municipality, Vigra (). The name is derived from the word which means "

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

". It is likely that a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

of the island was being compared to the shape of a spear blade.

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 ...

had one parish () within Vigra Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Haram

prestegjeld A ''prestegjeld'' was a geographic and administrative area within the Church of Norway (''Den Norske Kirke'') roughly equivalent to a parish. This traditional designation was in use for centuries to divide the kingdom into ecclesiastical areas tha ...

and the Nordre Sunnmøre 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.

Geography

The municipality included the island of Vigra along with many smaller islets surrounding it. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Molnesfjellet. The island municipality was surrounded by Giske Municipality to the south and Haram Municipality to the north and east.

Government

Vigra Municipality was responsible for

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(through 10th grade), outpatient

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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 and other

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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

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s and utilities. The municipality was governed by a

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of directly elected representatives. The

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was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Vigra was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political

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Mayors

The

() of Vigra was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position: * 1890–1891: Johannes O. Rørvik ( V) * 1892–1897: Hans Roald ( MV) * 1898–1901: Johan O. Synnes ( MV/ H) * 1902–1919: Ole N. Blindheim * 1920–1922: Johan Roald * 1923–1928: Olav M. Synnes * 1929–1931: Ole Jakob Blindheim ( V) * 1932–1935: Olav M. Synnes * 1935–1941: Andreas K. Roald * 1941–1945: Knut Gamlem ( NS) * 1945–1948: Salamon H. Røsvik * 1948–1955: Oskar Stinessen ( Ap) * 1956–1959: Johan J. Roaldsand * 1959–1963: Karl O. Blindheim ( LL)

References

{{Authority control Giske Former municipalities of Norway 1890 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway Populated places established in 1890 Populated places disestablished in 1964