Sandøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1867 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now divided between Aukra Municipality and Ålesund Municipality on the border of the traditional districts of Romsdal and Sunnmøre. The administrative centre was the village of Steinshamn. Other villages included Ona and Myklebust.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the 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's population density was and its population had decreased by 5.3% over the previous 10-year period.

The municipality was spread out over many islands in the mouth of the vast Romsdal Fjord. The Flatflesa Lighthouse and Ona Lighthouse protect the boats traveling around the municipality. The Nordøy 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 of Haram Municipality to the mainland.

General information

The new Sandø Municipality was established on 1 January 1867 when the Akerø Municipality was divided into two: the western islands (population: 601) became the new Sandø Municipality and the eastern islands (population: 2,026). The spelling of the name was later changed to Sandøy Municipality.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Myklebust area on Harøya island and some smaller surrounding islands to the west (population: 287) were transferred from Haram Municipality to Sandøy Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, Sandøy Municipality was dissolved. The islands of Orta and Lyngværet (and the small surrounding islands) were merged into Aukra Municipality. The remainder of the old Sandøy Municipality was merged with Haram Municipality, Ørskog Municipality, Skodje Municipality, and Ålesund Municipality to form one large municipality of Ålesund.

Name The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm and small island of Sandøya () since the first Sandøy Church was built there. The first element comes from the word which means "sand". The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sandøen or Sandø. The municipality was also known as Sandø i Romsdal to distinguish it from the nearby Sandø Municipality in Sunnmøre which was known as Sandø i Sunnmøre. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sandøy.

Coat of arms The coat of arms was granted on 12 December 1986 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Azure, three piles conjoined in dexter argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a three triangles conjoined at a point along the left side. 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. The design is meant to mimic the light beams from the Ona Lighthouse. This was chosen since lighthouses play an important role in the safety in the municipality, which consists of 871 islands and skerries. The arms were designed by Astor Furseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches The Church of Norway had one parish () within Sandøy Municipality. It was part of the Molde domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Sandøy MunicipalityParish ()Church nameLocation of the churchYear builtSandøySandøy ChurchSandøya1812Harøy ChurchHarøya1934

Geography 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 were Harøya, Sandøya, Finnøya, Ona, and Orta. Ona is the most famous of the islands and is a popular tourist destination due to its history and the Ona Lighthouse. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Harøyburet on the island of Harøya.

Government Sandøy Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council () 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 political party.

Mayors The mayor () of Sandøy Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:

1867–1871: Paul Knudsen Gaasø 1871–1872: Lars Olsson Sandøy 1872–1876: Rasmus Pedersson Huse 1876–1877: Gunnar Olsson Sandøy 1877–1879: Jonas Knutsson Sandøy 1880–1885: Thor Elias Pedersson Huse 1886–1887: Knut Paulsson Gåsøy 1888–1891: Thor Elias Pedersson Huse 1892–1901: Knut Nilsson Finnøy 1901–1904: Bernt E. Brunvoll 1904–1910: Peder P. Orten 1910–1922: Paul I. Huse 1922–1925: Elias E. Marøy (V) 1925–1928: Peder P. Orten 1928–1934: Paul J. Sandøy 1934–1941: Elias E. Marøy (V) 1941–1943: Nils N. Finnøy 1943–1944: Ole P. Husøy 1945–1945: Elias E. Marøy (V) 1946–1955: Nils K. Finnøy 1956–1964: Olav Skotheim (LL) 1965–1975: Johan P. Sandøy (LL/Sp) 1976–1979: Tor Huse (LL) 1980–1987: Idar Grøtta (Sp) 1988–1991: Paul Edmund Steinshamn (DLF/V) 1991–1995: Runar Myklebust (H) 1995–1999: Oddvar Myklebust (Ap) 1999–2007: Nils Magne Abelseth (H) 2007–2011: Oddvar Myklebust (Ap) 2011–2015: Hans Endre Sæterøy (H) 2015–2019: Oddvar Myklebust (Ap)

See also List of former municipalities of Norway

References