Austevoll

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Austevoll kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Hordaland within Norway
Austevoll within Hordaland
Coordinates: 60°2′16″N 5°16′6″E / 60.03778, 5.26833
Country	Norway
County	Hordaland
District	Midhordland
Municipality ID	NO-1244
Administrative centre	Storebø
Government
- Mayor (2007)	Helge André Njåstad (Frp)
Area (Nr. 376 in Norway)
- Total	117 km² (45.2 sq mi)
- Land	114 km² (44 sq mi)
Population (2004)
- Total	4,487
- Density	39/km² (101/sq mi)
- Change (10 years)	6.6 %
- Rank in Norway	215
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Official language form	Nynorsk
Demonym	Austevolling [1]
Data from Statistics Norway
Website: www.austevoll.kommune.no

Austevoll is a municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Austevoll was separated from Sund on 1 January 1886.

The municipality consists of several islands, located south-west of Bergen. The municipality is considered to be among the ports in the world with the largest ocean-going fish trawler fleet.

General information

Name

The municipality is named after the Austevoll farm (Old Norse Austrvöllr), since this was the old church site. The first element is austr which means "east" and the last element is völlr which means "meadow".

The municipality has changed the spelling of its name three times. Before 1889 the name was written "Østervold". From 1889-1917, it was spelled "Austevold", and since 1918 it has been spelled "Austevoll".

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms were granted on 30 November 1984. The arms show a shoal of herring, since herring fishing is of great local importance for the municipality.^[2]

Geography

Austevoll consists of 667 islands off the west coast of West Norway. The municipality has a total land area of 114,0 km² and a costal line of 337 km.^[3] The tallest point in Austevoll is the mountain Loddo, 244 meters above sea level.

Largest islands

• Møkster
• Selbjørn
• Hundvåkøy
• Stolmen
• Storekalsøy
• Huftarøy

Neighbours

The municipality borders on Sund, Bergen, and Os municipalities to the north and northeast, Tysnes municipality to the east, and Fitjar and Bømlo municipalities to the south. The North Sea lies to the west of Austevoll.

Demographics

Of the 667 islands, only eight are populated year-round. 29 percent of the inhabitants live in densely-populated areas. 28 percent of the inhabitants are under the age of 17, which is 4.4 percent over the national average. 4.7 percent of the inhabitants are 80 years or older. ^[3]

Villages

Inhabited islands

Industry

Fishing is the most important industry in Austevoll, and has been for centuries. Traditionally fishing has taken place in coastal near areas. After decades of overfishing, the herring, which was the most important fish, disappeared in the 1950s. This forced a restructuring of the fishing fleet. From the 1960s the shipping companies built bigger ships, and went further out seas, fishing other fish species. The overfishing of herring also forced better research on fishing, resulting in the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research.

Since the early 1980s the offshore industry has emerged in the prolongation from the offshore Norwegian oil industry. The offshore shipping company DOF, which is enlisted on the Oslo Stock Exchange, has its headquarters at Storebø.

Education

There are five primary schools and one middle school in Austevoll, all municipal. There is also one secondary school, teaching mainly fishing and nautical subjects. This is operated by the county authority.

Communication

Austevoll has car ferry communications from Hufthammar on the north tip of Huftarøy to Krokeide, Bergen, and Husavik, south on Huftarøy, to Sandvikvåg in Fitjar. The municipality is also connected by express boats to Bergen in north, and Stord, Haugesund and Stavanger in the south.

The islands of Huftarøy and Selbjørn, Selbjørn and Stolmen, and Hundvåkøy and Storekalsøy are connected with bridges. A fourth bridge, connection Huftarøy and Hundvåkøy, was opened on November 17th, 2007. This bridge, which in fact consists of two bridges and two stone fillings, bears the name of the municipality, "Austevollsbrua", and symbolizes the fact that the largest islands in the municipality are connected.

All ferry and boat routes are operated by Tide. The lighthouse at Marstein is also in the municipality.

Politics

Austevoll is governed by the municipal council, consisting of 21 seats, elected every fourth year. Since the 2003 election a coalition consisting of The Progress Party, Center Party and Christian Democratic Party has held power in the council. In the 2007 election they won 13 of the 21 seats in the municipal council and has an electoral and political cooperation. The Conservative Party and Labour Party make up the opposition.

The council has the following composition:

• The Progress Party (9 seats)
• The Conservative Party (5 seats)
• Labour Party (3 seats)
• Center Party (2 seats)
• Christian Democratic Party (2 seats)

In the 2003-2007 election period The Liberal Party was represented in the municipal council and held one seat. In the 1999-2003 election period an all-party female electoral list held one seat in the council. From 1995 to 1999 the Socialist Left Party held one seat.

Executive committee of local council

The executive committee of local council consits of 9 seats, divided between all parties in the municipal council. Divided like this:

• The Progress Party (4 seats)
• The Conservative Party (2 seats)
• Labour Party (1 seat)
• Center Party (1 seat)
• Christian Democratic Party (1 seat)

Mayors

The following is a list of mayors of Austevoll:^{[6] [7]}

Famous people

• Halvor Olai Birkeland, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Rasmus Ingvald Birkeland, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Knut Fagerbakke, Deputy Mayor of Trondheim.
• Claus Lundekvam, professional footballer.
• Abelone Møgster, merchant and resistance fighter during World War II.
• Halvor O. Larsen Møgster, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Magnus Stangeland, member of parliament, mayor and entrepreneur.
• Henrik Olsen Østervold, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Jan Bertin Østervold, known as Jan Thomas, stylist and actor.
• Jan Olsen Østervold, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Kristian Olsen Østervold, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.
• Ole Olsen Østervold, gold medalist in 1920 Summer Olympics.

References

Municipalities of Hordaland 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