 | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Møre og Romsdal,Norway |
| Coordinates | 58°11′22″N8°18′44″E / 58.18952°N 8.31222°E /58.18952; 8.31222 |
| Administration | |
| County | Agder |
| Municipality | Lillesand Municipality |
Ågerøya[1] is an island in the middle of theBlindleia strait inLillesand Municipality inAgder county,Norway. The island is located offKjøpmannsvik, between the islands ofJustøy to the east andFurøya to the west. Ågerøya attracts many summer tourists, and the population multiplies during the summer months. The island is car-free.[2][3]
The island is first mentioned in two letters from 1467 in theDiplomatarium Norvegicum, when it, along withKalvøya andSandøya, was sold byHerleik Kolbjørnsson toLord Alv Knutsson of the Norwegian-Swedish noble family Tre Roser. Later (after 1678), it belonged to theGyldenløve Family and the County ofJarlsberg.[4]
Ågerøya was an important island during the age of sail, with its own school, library, two shops, a navigation school, shoemaker, and several shipping companies. It was established around 1800 and developed rapidly throughout the 19th century with ships sailing to Denmark and other foreign destinations. Ågerøya had a post office (postal code 4782) from 1890 to 1978. The island's outer harbor is calledStranda orÅgerøyhavn and it was the main population centre of the island during the sailing era.[5]
The island's heyday was at the end of the 19th century when nearly 400 people lived there. Today, around 40 people reside on the island.
Fishing was the main livelihood for the residents of Ågerøya from the 1930s until the 1980s. The island gradually became depopulated during this period as life in the cities (Kristiansand andLillesand) offered more job opportunities. The school was closed in the 1950s. In the 1980s, several people with connections to the island moved away, primarily to work on the mainland, mainly inKristiansand andLillesand.[6]
For a long time, Ågerøya was the only island inLillesand Municipality with a permanent population that did not have a bridge connecting it to the mainland. The discussion about the obligation to reside resurfaced in the winter of 2010 when the ice set in, and residents had significant difficulties reaching the mainland (Kjøpmannsvik). In 2012, the residency requirement was lifted.
At the onset of the attack on Norway in 1940, the German vessel 'Rio de Janeiro' was torpedoed off Ågerøya on 8 April 1940, by the Polish submarineORP 'Orzeł.[7][8]