Askøy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| County | Hordaland | |
| District | Midhordland | |
| Municipality | NO-1247 | |
| Administrative centre | Kleppestø | |
| Mayor (2003) | Kari Manger (Ap) | |
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage |
Ranked 386 100 km² 94 km² 0.03 % |
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| Population - Total (2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density |
Ranked 41 21,522 0.47 % 16.2 % 230/km² |
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| Coordinates | ||
| www.askoy.kommune.no |
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Askøy is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. The administrative center is in Kleppestø. Askøy is an island, and has one of the fastest growing populations in Norway due to an influx of new inhabitants from the mainland after the opening of the Askøy Bridge in 1992. North of the main Askøy island lies the island of Herdla, a popular recreational area with an old German airbase dating from the Second World War.
Other main areas on Askøy are Florvåg, Erdal, Ask and Hetlevik.
Every summer a music festival called Lost Weekend is held on the island. The festival attracts music lovers from all over the west coast, in addition to the most popular Norwegian bands and artists.
Askøy is not far from Bergen, the second biggest city in Norway. A typical car trip from Kleppestø to the center of Bergen will take about 20 minutes.
[edit] The name
The municipality is named after the main island Askøyna. The first element is the name of the farm (and old churchsite) Ask (Norse Askr), the last element is øy f 'island'. The name of the farm is identical with the word askr m 'ash tree'.
Until 1918 the name was written "Askøen".
| Municipalities of Hordaland |  |
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Askøy | Austevoll | Austrheim | Bergen | Bømlo | Eidfjord | Etne | Fedje | Fitjar | Fjell | Fusa | Granvin | Jondal | Kvam | Kvinnherad | Lindås | Masfjorden | Meland | Modalen | Odda | Os | Osterøy | Radøy | Samnanger | Stord | Sund | Sveio | Tysnes | Ullensvang | Ulvik | Vaksdal | Voss | Øygarden |
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