Fosnes

Fosnes is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Namsos Municipality. It was part of the Namdalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Dun on the island of Jøa. Other villages include Salsnes and Nufsfjord. At the time of its dissolution in 2020, the municipality was the 199th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Fosnes was the 413th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 618. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 10% over the last decade. Fosnes was established as a municipality in the old Nord-Trøndelag county on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1871, the western district of Fosnes (population: 1,472) was separated to form the new municipality of Flatanger. This left Fosnes with 2,655 residents. On 1 January 1889, a small area of Fosnes (population: 61) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Vikten. Then on 1 January 1913, the western part of Fosnes (population: 1,631) was separated to form the new municipality of Otterøy. This left the much smaller municipality with 1,107 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Finnanger area of Fosnes on the northern part of the island of Otterøya (population: 116) was transferred to the new municipality of Namsos. In 2018, it became part of the new Trøndelag county which replaced the old Nord-Trøndelag county. On 1 January 2020, Fosnes became a part of the neighboring Namsos Municipality. This happened because on 16 June 2016, the municipalities of Fosnes, Namsos, and Namdalseid voted to merge into a new, larger municipality as part of a large municipal reform across Norway. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fosnes farm (Fólgsnnes), since the first Fosnes Church was built there (Fosnes Chapel is now located on the site).