Herøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Silvalen. The island municipality is located about west of the town of Sandnessjøen.

The municipality is the 344th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Herøy Municipality is the 291st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,842. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 6.3% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

thumb|left|Restroom with a view

The municipality of Herøy was established in 1864 when it was separated from Alstahaug Municipality. Initially the population of Herøy was 2,438. On 1 July 1917, the northern district of Herøy (population: 1,530) was separated from Herøy to become the new Nordvik Municipality. This left Herøy with 2,555 residents.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962 the part of Herøy Municipality on the island of Dønna (population: 19) was transferred to the new Dønna Municipality. On 1 January 1965 the Husvær/Sandværet island groups (population: 461) were transferred from Alstahaug Municipality to Herøy Municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the islands of Søndre Herøya and Nordre Herøya (). The first element is which means "army" (here in the sense of which means "military fleet"). The last element is the definite form of which means "island". The sound between the islands was probably a meeting place for the Leidang fleet of the district. Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Herø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herøy.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 3 July 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, three oars Or issuant from the base, the central one abased" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three vertical oars arranged in a horizontal row, with the middle oar, slightly lower. The oars have a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the ocean for the island municipality. The oar was chosen to represent the importance of boats. The municipal name comes from the Old Norse word "herr" which means a military meeting place, i.e. the place where fleet gathers. Thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by Jarle E. Henriksen.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish () within Herøy Municipality. It is part of the Nord-Helgeland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+ style="font-size:medium"|Churches in Herøy Municipality

!Parish ()!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built

|-

|rowspan="4"|Herøy||Herøy Church||Silvalen||12th century

|-

|Gåsvær Chapel||Gåsvær||1951

|-

|Husvær Chapel||Husvær||1936

|-

|Sandvær Chapel||Sandværet||1947

|}

Geography

thumb|left|View of Gåsvær

The municipality of Herøy consists of about 1,700 little islands and islets. The main islands are Nord-Herøy, Sør-Herøy, Tenna, Ytre Øksningan, Indre Øksningan, Seløya, and Staulen— all of which are connected by bridges including Åkviksundet Bridge, Hoholmen Bridge, Kalvøyrevet Bridge. Most islands are low and close to the sea surface. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Vardøyfjellet on the island of Vardøya. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Helgeland District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council () of Herøy Municipality is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayor () of Herøy Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:

  • 1864–1864: Andreas Christian Bech
  • 1865–1876: Paul Smith
  • 1876–1878: Evert Johannessen
  • 1879–1880: Hans Herman Hansen
  • 1881–1886: Hans Mørk Smith
  • 1887–1910: Hans J. Mørk
  • 1911–1912: Sigvard Nielsen
  • 1913–1913: Helmer Tømmervik
  • 1914–1915: Marius Sørensen
  • 1915–1917: Hans Johnsen
  • 1918–1919: Helmer Tømmervik
  • 1920–1920: Marius Sørensen
  • 1937–1938: Ivar Helbekkmo
  • 1938–1942: Norvald Lundestad
  • 1942–1943: Hjalmar Jacobsen
  • 1943–1944: Asbjørn Mo
  • 1945–1945: Gudolf Havig
  • 1946–1946: Jon Holmefjord
  • 1946–1952: Henning Edvardsen
  • 1952–1954: Birger Bjerkelo
  • 1954–1956: Torbjørn Grønbech
  • 1957–1959: Harald Zahl Braseth
  • 1960–1971: Helge N. Olsen
  • 1971–1987: Steinar Furu (Ap)
  • 1987–1999: Arnt Frode Jensen (Ap)
  • 1999–2003: Unni Hansen (Sp)
  • 2003–2019: Arnt Frode Jensen (Ap)
  • 2019–present: Elbjørg Larsen (Ap)

Economy

The main industries in the municipality is fishing, fish farming and processing activities associated with this. Other important industries are agriculture, transportation, service industries, and tourism.

Notable people

  • Petter Dass (ca.1647 – 1707), a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation
  • Benjamin Dass (1706 at Skar farm in Alstahaug, Herøy – 1775), an educator, scholar, and Rector of Trondheim Cathedral School

References

  • Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway