Skodje (''pronunciation'': kɔʏəor køʏə is a former 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 the ...

county, Norway. It was part of the

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal ...

region. 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, Lu ...

was the village of Skodje. The other main village in the municipality was

Valle Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...

. The

European Route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eu ...

/ E136 highway runs through the municipality, connecting it to the nearby cities of Ålesund and

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 365th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Skodje is the 211th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,680. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 24.8% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Skodje was established in 1849 when it was separated from the large Borgund municipality. The initial population of Skodje was 2,170. On 1 January 1902, the northern district of Skodje was separated to form the new

Vatne Municipality Vatne is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1902 until its dissolution in 1965. The municipality included land and islands surrounding the Midfjorden and Vatnefjorden in what is now part of � ...

. This left Skodje with 1,551 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, there was a merger between Stordal Municipality, Ørskog Municipality, and Skodje Municipality, creating a new, large Ørskog Municipality. This was merger was short-lived. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed all three municipalities were separated once again. This left the newly reconstituted Skodje Municipality with a population of 2,634. On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Skodje was merged with Haram Municipality, Ørskog Municipality, Sandøy Municipality, and Ålesund Municipality to form one large municipality of Ålesund.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old ''Skodje'' farm ( non, Sköðvin), since the first Skodje Church was built there. The meaning of the first element is unknown, but the last element is ''vin'' which means " meadow" or " pasture". Before 1879, the name was written ''Skoue''.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 19 June 1987. The arms show the local Skodje Bridge, a very old bridge which crosses over the Straumen river, a major architectural feat at its time.

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 evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...

had one parish () within the municipality of Skodje. It is part of the Austre Sunnmøre 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 residenc ...

) in the Diocese of Møre.

Geography

The municipality of Skodje shares land borders with Haram Municipality to the north, Vestnes Municipality to the northeast, Ørskog Municipality to the southeast, and Ålesund Municipality to the west. Across the Storfjorden to the south is

Sykkylven Municipality Sykkylven is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Aure. Other villages in the municipality include Ikornnes, Straumgjerde, and Tusvik. The municipal ...

. Skodje municipality is located on the mainland and also on part of the island of Oksenøya, plus many small surrounding islands. The Ellingsøyfjorden cuts into the municipality from the west.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Skodje, are responsible for

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

(through 10th grade), outpatient

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

, senior citizen services, unemployment 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. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the

Sunnmøre District Court Sunnmøre District Court ( no, Sunnmøre tingrett) was a district court in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The court was based in the town of Ålesund. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over approximately the southern third of t ...

and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Skodje is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows:

Economy

Skodje's economy is mostly based on agriculture and forestry, but there is also industry, lumber, and

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

-industry located there. Some industries have relocated from Ålesund to Skodje. Skodje has a young population, where 60% of the people are under the age of 40.

References

External links

* *
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, 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 yea ...

{{authority control Ålesund Former municipalities of Norway 1849 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway 1977 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway Populated places disestablished in 2020