Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 21.43-square-kilometre (8.27 sq mi) municipality was the 416th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Sandøy Municipality was the 373rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,238. The municipality'spopulation density was 57.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (150/sq mi) and its population had decreased by 5.3% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
The municipality was spread out over many islands in the mouth of the vastRomsdal Fjord. TheFlatflesa Lighthouse andOna Lighthouse protect the boats traveling around the municipality. TheNordøy Fixed Link project was constructed from 2018 until 2023 and it included three undersea tunnels and several bridges that connected the main islands of Sandøy Municipality and the islands ofHaram Municipality to the mainland.[7]
View of the island ofOnaView of the island ofOrtaView of the island of Orta
The newSandø Municipality was established on 1 January 1867 when theAkerø Municipality was divided into two: the western islands (population: 601) became the newSandø Municipality and the eastern islands (population: 2,026). The spelling of the name was later changed to Sandøy Municipality.[8]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of theSchei Committee. On 1 January 1965, theMyklebust area onHarøya island and some smaller surrounding islands to the west (population: 287) were transferred fromHaram Municipality to Sandøy Municipality.[8]
The municipality (originally theparish) is named after the farm and small island ofSandøya (Old Norse:Sandøy) since the firstSandøy Church was built there. The first element comes from the wordsandr which means "sand". The last element isøy which means "island".[11] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelledSandøen orSandø. The municipality was also known asSandø i Romsdal to distinguish it from the nearbySandø Municipality inSunnmøre which was known asSandø i Sunnmøre. On 3 November 1917, aroyal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality toSandøy.[12]
Thecoat of arms was granted on 12 December 1986 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The officialblazon is"Azure, threepiles conjoined indexterargent" (Norwegian:I blått tre sølv spissar som møtest i høgre skjoldrand). This means the arms have a bluefield (background) and thecharge is a three triangles conjoined at a point along the left side. The charge has atincture ofargent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design is meant to mimic thelight beams from theOna Lighthouse. This was chosen sincelighthouses play an important role in the safety in the municipality, which consists of 871 islands andskerries. The arms were designed by Astor Furseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[13][14][15]
Sandøy was an island municipality. Sandøy consisted of 871 islands, but only five were regularly inhabited by the time the municipality was dissolved. The main inhabited islands wereHarøya,Sandøya,Finnøya,Ona, andOrta. Ona is the most famous of the islands and is a popular tourist destination due to its history and theOna Lighthouse. The highest point in the municipality was the 156.2-metre (512 ft) tall mountain Harøyburet on the island ofHarøya.[1]
Themunicipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sandøy Municipality is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by politicalparty.
Themayor (Nynorsk:ordførar) of Sandøy Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:[34][35]
^"Godkjenning av våpen og flagg".Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 12 December 1986. Retrieved5 April 2023.
^Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (25 November 2024)."kommunestyre".Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Foreningen Store norske leksikon. Retrieved31 December 2024.