The 120-square-kilometre (46 sq mi) municipality is the 320th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Herøy is the 123rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,842. The municipality's population density is 74.9 inhabitants per square kilometre (194/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 0.1% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
General information
The prestegjeld (parish) of Herøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1867, the western district of Herøy was separated to become the new Sande Municipality. This left Herøy municipality with 1,999 residents. On 1 January 1873, an area of Sande (population: 362) was transferred back to Herøy. On 1 January 1889, the Eiksund area and Ekø island (population: 119) were transferred from Sande to Herøy.[6]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, three farms in the Gurskedalen valley (population: 25) were transferred from Herøy to Sande. Also on that date, the Eiksund area and the Eika island (population: 222) were transferred from Herøy to neighboring Ulstein Municipality.[6]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after an archipelago of small islands (Old Norse: Herøyjar). The first element is herr which means "army". The word here is referring to the idea of skipaherr which means "military fleet", referring to the many islands grouped together. The last element is øy which means "island".[7] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Herø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herøy.[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 27 March 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, two ship bows argent issuant from the flanks" (Norwegian: På blå grunn to motstilte sølv skipsstamnar). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two stems of a ship. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. This design was chosen to represent the 7th century Kvalsund boats found in the municipality. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9][10][11]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Herøy is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The Herøyfjorden bisects Herøy municipality. The half located south of the fjord is referred to as Inner Herøy, while the half located north of the fjord is referred to as Outer Herøy. Inner and Outer Herøy are tied together by the Herøy Bridge which connects the islands of Gurskøy and Leinøya. Along this main route of traffic is the islet Notøy and the even smaller Herøya islet, an old trading station (now museum) and the original location of the original Herøy Church.
The fishing station Flåvær is located on a group of islets and skerries in the Herøyfjord, It includes the islets Flåvær, Husholmen, Torvholmen and Varholmen. The Flåvær Lighthouse is located on Varholmen.
The Svinøy Lighthouse is located on the very small island of Svinøy, about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of the island of Skorpa.
The island of Runde
Climate
Herøy has a temperate oceanic climate, with mild and windy winters, among the mildest winters in Norway. The weather station at Svinøy Lighthouse has been in operation since June 1955.
Climate data for Svinøy lighthouse 1991-2020 (38 m, precipitation 1961-90)