Austrheim

Austrheim is a municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årås. Other villages in the municipality include Austrheim and Kaland. The Mongstad industrial area lies along the border of Austrheim and neighboring Lindås municipality. The westernmost point of mainland Norway lies in the municipality at Vardetangen. The municipality is the 347th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Austrheim is the 231st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,889. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.1% over the previous 10-year period. In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station for Austrheim and Fedje be closed. Historically, Austrheim was a part of the large Lindås Municipality. On 1 January 1910, the northwestern district of Lindås (population: 2,518) was separated from Lindås to form the new municipality of Austrheim. On 1 January 1947, all of the islands located west of the Fedjefjorden (population: 920) were separated to form the new Fedje Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Straume area on the island of Radøy (population: 56) was transferred from Austrheim to the new Radøy Municipality. The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Austrheim farm (Austrheimr) since the first Austrheim Church was built there. The first element is austr which means "east". The last element is heimr which means "homestead" or "village". Until 1889, the name was written Østereim. After that the spelling was Austreim, and most recently it is spelled Austrheim. The coat of arms was granted on 17 February 1989. The official blazon is "Azure, three bars embowed argent" (På blå grunn tre sølv bjelkar bøygde oppover).