Frøya, Sør-Trøndelag

For other uses, see Frøya, Norway.
Not to be confused with Faroe Islands.
Frøya kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Sør-Trøndelag within
Norway

Frøya within Sør-Trøndelag
Coordinates: 63°43′32″N 8°44′39″E / 63.72556°N 8.74417°E / 63.72556; 8.74417Coordinates: 63°43′32″N 8°44′39″E / 63.72556°N 8.74417°E / 63.72556; 8.74417
Country Norway
County Sør-Trøndelag
District Fosen
Administrative centre Sistranda
Government
 • Mayor (2011) Berit Flåmo (Ap)
Area
 • Total 241.24 km2 (93.14 sq mi)
 • Land 229.81 km2 (88.73 sq mi)
 • Water 11.43 km2 (4.41 sq mi)
Area rank 309 in Norway
Population (2010)
 • Total 4,314
 • Rank 225 in Norway
 • Density 18.8/km2 (49/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 4.8 %
Demonym(s) Frøyværing[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1620
Official language form Bokmål
Website www.froya.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Frøya is the westernmost municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region and it consists of the island of Frøya which lies north of Hitra, as well several thousand other small islands surrounding the island of Frøya. The village of Sistranda is the administrative center of Frøya. Other villages include Hammarvika, Titran, Sula, and Mausund. The main island of Frøya is connected to neighboring Hitra (and ultimately the mainland of Norway) by the Frøya Tunnel which goes under the Frøyfjorden.[2]

General information

Mausund, Frøya municipality

The municipality of Frøya was established on 1 January 1877 when it was separated from Hitra to become a municipality of its own. Its initial population was 3,949. On 1 January 1906, it was split into two municipalities: Nord-Frøya and Sør-Frøya. That however, was short-lived. On 1 January 1964, Nord-Frøya and Sør-Frøya were merged back together again, forming a new municipality of Frøya.[3]

Name

The name of the island and municipality come from Norse mythology. Although Frøya is a variant of the name of the Norse goddess Freyja, the Old Norse form of the name of the island was Frøy or Frey (the ending -a in the modern form is actually the definite article - so the meaning of Frøya is 'the Frøy'). Therefore, the name of the island probably has the same root as the name of the Norse god Freyr, brother to Freyja. The names originally were titles: "lord" or "lady". The oldest meaning of the common word was "(the one) in front; the foremost, the leading" and here in the sense "the island in front of Hitra". Until 1906 the island and municipality name was spelled Frøien (-en is the definite article in Danish-Norwegian).[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 13 March 1987. The arms show three silver fish hooks made of bone from the Stone Age on a blue background. The hooks symbolize the importance of fishing and trapping to the people of Frøya.[5]

See also: The coats-of-arms of Båtsfjord, Øksnes, and Træna

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) made up of 2 churches and 4 chapels within the municipality of Frøya. It is part of the Deanery (prosti) of Orkdal and the Diocese of Nidaros.

Churches in Frøya
Parish
(Sokn)		Church NameYear BuiltLocation
of the Church
FrøyaSletta kirke1990Nord-Frøya (Berge)
Hallaren kirke1881Storhallaren
Froan kapell1904Froan (Sauøya)
Måøy kapell1939Mausund (Måøya)
Sula kapell1925Sula
Titran kapell1873Titran

Geography

Halten, view from Halten lighthouse

The municipality of Frøya has many small fishing communities on small islands in the ocean such as Mausundvær, Bogøyvær, and Sula, with Mausund being the largest of these with a population of approximately 270. Other small islands such as Froan and Halten, Sør-Trøndelag lay to the northeast of the island of Frøya. Many of these islands are home to lighthouses such as Halten lighthouse, Finnvær lighthouse, Vingleia lighthouse, Sula lighthouse, and Sletringen lighthouse.

The main island of Frøya is fairly open and has no natural forests–mostly covered with marshes and heather. The largest villages on the island are Sistranda in the east and Titran in the west. Frøya is a member of the International Island Games Association. The highest point above sea level is Bremnestua, at 74 metres (243 ft), located in the northwestern part of the island.[6]

Climate

Frøya has a distinct temperate oceanic climate (Cfb), with a year amplitude of only 11 °C (20 °F) from the coldest to the warmest month, and a small diurnal temperature variation. Mean annual precipitation is 1,200 millimetres (47 in). The wettest season is September - January, while May - June is the driest with approximately 60 millimetres (2.4 in) precipitation each month.

Climate data for Frøya (Sør-Trøndelag)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4
(39)		 4
(39)		 4
(39)		 7
(45)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 15
(59)		 15
(59)		 13
(55)		 10
(50)		 7
(45)		 5
(41)		 8.8
(47.9)
Average low °C (°F) 2
(36)		 1
(34)		 2
(36)		 4
(39)		 7
(45)		 10
(50)		 12
(54)		 12
(54)		 11
(52)		 7
(45)		 4
(39)		 3
(37)		 6.3
(43.4)
Source: Storm Weather Center[7]

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. ↑ Morten Haugen. "Frøya – kommune". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
  3. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  4. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1901). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Trondhjems amt (in Norwegian) (14 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 55.
  5. ↑ Store norske leksikon. "Frøya – kommune i Sør-Trøndelag" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2010-12-23.
  6. ↑ "Frøya - The islands against the big ocean!". trondelagskysten.no. Retrieved 2010-11-17.
  7. ↑ "Frøya average conditions-base period 10 last years". Storm Weather Center. Retrieved 5 December 2009.
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