Osterøy is an island municipality in Vestlandcounty, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The municipality encompasses most of the island of Osterøy. The administrative centre of Osterøy is the village of Lonevåg in the central part of the island. The largest settlement is the village of Valestrandfossen with 1,219 inhabitants as of 1 January 2016. Osterøy municipality and Vaksdal Municipality are both located on the island of Osterøy. Osterøy municipality covers most of the island with the mostly uninhabited northeastern part of the island belonging to Vaksdal municipality. Osterøy is located a short distance northeast of the city ofBergen. It is surrounded by the Osterfjorden, Sørfjorden, and Veafjorden. The 19th-century musician and composer Ole Bull had a summer home in Valestrandfossen in Osterøy. The historic Havrå farm is a cluster farm which represents the traditional way of living for farmers. Havrå is located on the southeastern part of the municipality. The municipality is the 283rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Osterøy is the 129th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,098. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 9.1% over the previous 10-year period.
Geography
The municipality sits on the island of Osterøy, and it is surrounded by several fjords: Osterfjorden-Romarheimsfjorden, Sørfjorden, and Veafjorden. The highest mountain in the municipality is the tall Høgafjellet on the municipal border with Vaksdal. The Lonevågen fjord cuts in the center of the island, with the village of Lonevåg sitting at the end of the fjord.
The municipality of Osterøy was created on 1 January 1964 as part of a major municipal merger that was proposed by the Schei Committee. Osterøy was created from parts of four different municipalities that were all dissolved in the merger. The following areas were merged to form the new municipality of Osterøy:
all of Haus municipality that was located on Osterøy island
the Bruvikbygda area of Bruvik municipality that was located on Osterøy island
all of Hosanger municipality that was located on Osterøy island
all of Hamre municipality that was located on Osterøy island
Name
The municipality was named after the island on which it is located. The Old Norse form of the name was "Ostr". The last element "øy" which means "island" in Norwegian was added later. The meaning of the name is unknown. It is possible that it comes from the word"óstr" which means "east".
Culture
Coat of arms
The coat of arms for Osterøy municipality is a relatively new creation; it was granted on 20 December 1985. It shows three blue broad axes pointing downwards on a field of white, with two axes at the top and one beneath. Broad axes are used in the construction of timber houses, which has long traditions in the municipality. The designer was Egil Korsnes who based his design on the idea of Magnus Hardeland.
The municipal council of Osterøy is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:
Mayor
The mayors of Osterøy :
2019–present: Lars Fjeldstad
2015-2019: Jarle Skeidsvoll
2003-2015: Kari Foseid Aakre
Transport
Osterøy is connected to the mainland by a ferry from Breistein to Valestrand, and by a bridge on the far southern end of the island. The ferry named "Ole Bull" is sailing every half-hour from Breistein and Valestrand from early morning to late in the evening. The Osterøy Bridge, finished in 1997, provides Osterøy with its only permanent road connection to the mainland in Bergen municipality. The bridge has a main span of, the third longest suspension bridge main span in Norway, for a total length of. Since 2015, the bridge has been toll-free. There are no road connections from Osterøy municipality to the Vaksdal municipality part of Osterøy island. That part of the island has the Kallestadsundet Bridge connecting it to the rest of Vaksdal municipality from the east.
