The 64-square-kilometre (25 sq mi) municipality is the 344th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Herøy is the 291st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,842. The municipality's population density is 28.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (74/sq mi) and its population has increased by 6.3% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
Restroom with a view
The municipality of Herøy was established in 1864 when it was separated from Alstahaug Municipality. Initially the population of Herøy was 2,438. On 1 July 1917, the northern district of Herøy (population: 1,530) was separated from Herøy to become the new Nordvik Municipality. This left Herøy with 2,555 residents.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1962 the part of Herøy Municipality on the island of Dønna (population: 19) was transferred to the new Dønna Municipality. On 1 January 1965 the Husvær/Sandværet island groups (population: 461) were transferred from Alstahaug Municipality to Herøy Municipality.[7]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the islands of Søndre Herøya and Nordre Herøya (Old Norse: Herøyjar). The first element is herr which means "army" (here in the sense of skipaherr which means "militaryfleet"). The last element is the definite form of øy which means "island". The sound between the islands was probably a meeting place for the Leidang fleet of the district.[8][9] Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Herø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Herøy.[10]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 3 July 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, three oars Orissuant from the base, the central one abased" (Norwegian: I blått tre oppvoksende gull årer, den midterste nedsenket). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three vertical oars arranged in a horizontal row, with the middle oar, slightly lower. The oars have a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the ocean for the island municipality. The oar was chosen to represent the importance of boats. The municipal name comes from the Old Norse word "herr" which means a military meeting place, i.e. the place where fleet gathers. Thus the arms are canting. The arms were designed by Jarle E. Henriksen.[11][12][8]
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Herøy is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Herøy is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position (incomplete list):[34][35]
The main industries in the municipality is fishing, fish farming and processing activities associated with this. Other important industries are agriculture, transportation, service industries, and tourism.
Notable people
Petter Dass (ca.1647 – 1707), a Lutheran priest and the foremost Norwegian poet of his generation[43]
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