Gimsøy is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 186.5-square-kilometre (72.0 sq mi) municipality existed from 1856 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the northwestern part of what is now Vågan Municipality. The municipality consisted of the island of Gimsøya and the northwestern part of the larger neighboring island of Austvågøya. The municipality also included 407 other small islands as well as hundreds of little islets and skerries, all of which are located in the Lofotenarchipelago. The administrative centre was located at the village of Gimsøysand, where the Gimsøy Church is located.[6][7]
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the 186.5-square-kilometre (72.0 sq mi) municipality was the 386th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Gimsøy Municipality was the 521st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,600. The municipality's population density was 8.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (22/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 10% over the previous 10-year period.[8][9]
General information
The municipality of Gimsøy was established in 1856 when it was split off from the large Vågan Municipality. Initially, Gimsøy had a population of 987. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Gimsøy Municipality (population: 1,551) was merged with the neighboring town of Svolvær (population: 3,952) and Vågan Municipality (population: 4,820) to form the new, larger Vågan Municipality.[10]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Gimsøya (Old Norse: Gimista) since the first Gimsøy Church was built there. The first element is the dative case of the word gimisto which is a contraction of the Old Norse words gimist which means "sheep" and vista which means "place of residence". The island was historical used for sheep farming.[11] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Gimsø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Gimsøy.[12]
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Gimsøy was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:[14][15]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Gimsøy was made up of 15 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.
^ abHelland, Amund (1908). "Gimsø herred". XVIII. Nordlands Amt. Fierde del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 581. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
^Helland, Amund (1908). "Gimsø herred". Norges land og folk: Nordlands amt (in Norwegian). Vol. XVIII. Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 576. Retrieved 11 September 2018.