Askvoll

is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Askvoll. Other villages in the municipality include Holmedal, Kvammen, and Stongfjorden. The most important industries in Askvoll today are Helle Knivfabrikk (a knife factory), Bulandet Fiskeindustri (fish industry), and Sigurd Løkeland Hermetikkfabrikk (a producer of crabs). The municipality is the 255th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Askvoll is the 227th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,951. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 2% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality stretches from the Bulandet islands in the west and Sunnfjord Municipality in east. The highest peak is the high mountain Blegja. Alden Mountain (known as the "Norwegian Horse") is located on the island of Alden in Askvoll. It rises almost vertically out of the sea to a height of above sea level and is visible from more than out at sea. In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Askvoll be closed. Askvoll was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the Askvoll parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Askvoll, Vilnes, Øn, and Hyllestad. In 1862, the two southernmost sub-parishes of Øn and Hyllestad (population: 2,475) were separated from Askvoll and (along with the Bø sub-parish from Lavik municipality) formed the new municipality of Hyllestad. This left Askvoll with 2 sub-parishes and a population of 3,065. On 1 January 1888, several farms in the Hersvikbygda area on the northern part of the island of Sula and the smaller surrounding islands (population: 317) were transferred from Askvoll municipality to the neighboring municipality of Utvær. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee.