Sandøy

Sandøy kommune
—  Municipality  —

Coat of arms
Sandøy within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates:
Country Norway
County Møre og Romsdal
District Romsdal
Administrative centre Steinshamn
Government
 • Mayor (2007) Oddvar Myklebust (Ap)
Area
 • Total 20.42 km2 (7.9 sq mi)
 • Land 20.35 km2 (7.9 sq mi)
 • Water 0.07 km2 (0 sq mi)
Area rank 427 in Norway
Population (2010)
 • Total 1,320
 • Rank 388 in Norway
 • Density 64.9/km2 (168.1/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) -0.9 %
Demonym Sandøying[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1546
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.sandoy.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Sandøy is an island municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre is the village of Steinshamn. Other villages include Ona and Myklebost. The municipality is spread out over many islands in the mouth of the Romsdalsfjord.

Contents

General information

The municipality of Sandø i Romsdal was established on 1 January 1867 when it was separated from the municipality of Akerø. The initial population was 601. The spelling of the name was later changed to Sandøy. On 1 January 1965, the Myklebost area on Harøya and some smaller islands to the west (population: 287) were transferred from Haram to Sandøy.[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm and the small island, Sandøya (Old Norse: Sandøy), since the first church was built there. The first element is sandr which means "sand" and the last element is øy which means "island". The name was historically spelled Sandø or Sandøen.[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 12 December 1986. The arms show the light beams from the Ona lighthouse, since lighthouses play an important role in the safety in the municipality, which consists of 871 islands and skerries.[4]

See also: The Coat-of-arms of Utsira

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sandøy. It is part of the Diocese of Møre and the Molde domprosti (Deanery).

Churches in Sandøy
Parish
(Sokn)
Church Name Year Built Location
of the Church
Sandøy Sandøy kyrkje 1812 Sandøya
Harøy kyrkje 1934 Harøya

Geography

Sandøy is an island municipality. Sandøy consists of 871 islands, but only five are regularly inhabited. The main inhabited islands are Harøya, Sandøya, Finnøya, Ona, and Orta. Ona is the most famous of the islands and is a popular tourist destination due to its history and the Ona lighthouse.

References

External links