Tromøy (historic: ''Tromø'') is a former municipality in the old

Aust-Agder Aust-Agder (, ) was a county (''fylke'') in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Vest-Agder to form Agder county. In 2002, there were 102,945 inhabitants, which was 2.2% of Norway's population. Its area was . ...

county in

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 1878 until its dissolution in 1992. The municipal area is now part of the municipality of

Arendal Arendal () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder counties of Norway, county in southeastern Norway. Arendal belongs to the Districts of Norway, region of Southern Norway, Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Agder Agder is a counties of Norway, county () and districts of Norway, traditional region in the southern part of Norway and is coextensive with the Southern Norway region. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Au ...

county. 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 ...

was the village of Brekka, where the historic

Tromøy Church Tromøy Church () is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Arendal Municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the village of Brekka on the east coast of the island of Tromøy (island), Tromøy. It is one of the churches for the Tr ...

is located. The municipality encompassed all of the island of

Tromøya Tromøya () or Tromøy () (historic: ''Tromø'') is the largest island in Southern Norway. The island is entirely located in the municipality of Arendal in Agder county, Norway. The island has about 5,300 residents (in 2015) which gives it a p ...

as well as many smaller surrounding islands such as

Merdø Merdø is an island in Arendal municipality in Agder county, Norway. The island lies along the Skagerrak coast, near the entrance to the Galtesundet, the main shipping channel leading to the town of Arendal on the mainland. The islands of Tro ...

, Gjesøya, Skilsøy, and Tromlingene. The municipality had two churches: the centuries-old

and the relatively new Færvik Church. Some of the main villages in Tromøy were Færvik, Brekka, Brattekleiv, Sandnes, Revesand, and Pusnes. The municipality was connected to the mainland by the Tromøy Bridge, the only road connection to

. The other islands of Tromøy were only accessible by boat.

History

The municipality of Tromøy was established on 1 May 1878 when the municipality of Østre Moland was divided into three municipalities: Tromøy (population: 2,320), Barbu (population: 4,874), and Østre Moland (population: 2,524). On 1 January 1992 there was a major municipal merger where the following municipalities were merged into the municipality of

: Tromøy (population: 4,711), Moland (population: 8,148),

Øyestad Øyestad is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Aust-Agder Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1992, when it was merged into the present-day municipality of Arenda ...

(population: 8,679),

Hisøy Hisøy (historically: ''Hisø'') is a former municipality in the old Aust-Agder county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1881 until 1992 when it was merged into the municipality of Arendal in what is now Agder county. At the time of i ...

(population: 4,026), and the town of Arendal (population: 12,478).

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

) is named after the island of

(). The first element is likely derived from the word which means "rim", "edge", or "border". The last element is which means "

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 ...

". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Tromø''. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Tromøy''. The letter ''y'' was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name ( is the Danish word for "island" and is the Norwegian word).

Coat of arms

The

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 on 23 August 1985 and in use until the municipal merger on 1 January 1992. The official

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 ...

is ''" Per fess nebuly

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 ...

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

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) that is divided in half horizontally with a nebuly line. The top part has 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 bottom part is colored blue. The design is meant to mimic the coastline near the village of Brekka, which is characterised by large rounded boulders protruding out into the sea. This landscape dates back to the

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

and was used to model the division line in the coat of arms. The arms are also canting since the name of the municipality is derived from the word "Trom" () which means "edge" or "rim", referring to the division line on the arms and the boulders along the sea. The arms were designed by Anne Marie Falck.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for the

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,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

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. During its existence, this municipality was 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 ...

was

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.

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 Tromøy (incomplete list): *1919-1931: Søren Hans Smith Sørensen ( H) *1932-1934:

Christian Stray Christian Stray (14 January 1894 – 31 July 1981) was a Norway, Norwegian lawyer and politician for the Liberal Party of Norway, Liberal Party. He was born in Kristiansand, Christianssand as a son of timber merchant and shipowner Thorkild Marthi ...

( V) *1934-1941: Søren Hans Smith Sørensen ( H) *1945-1945: Søren Hans Smith Sørensen ( H) *1956-1959:

( V)

Municipal council

The

of Tromøy was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the 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 ...

Media gallery

Arendal Tromøy Spornes b.JPG, Spornes headland on Tromøya Arendal Færvik kirke.JPG, Færvik Church Arendal_Galtesund_z.JPG, Lighthouse Hoveskogen.JPG, Hove Forest Tromøybro1.jpg, Tromøy bridge

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tromoy Arendal Populated places established in 1878 Populated places disestablished in 1992 Former municipalities of Norway 1878 establishments in Norway 1992 disestablishments in Norway