Tromøy

Tromøy kommune
Former Municipality
View of Tromøy

Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The pearl of Southern Norway
Tromøy kommune
Location of the municipality
Tromøy kommune
Tromøy kommune (Norway)
Coordinates: 58°26′59″N 08°51′51″E / 58.44972°N 8.86417°E / 58.44972; 8.86417Coordinates: 58°26′59″N 08°51′51″E / 58.44972°N 8.86417°E / 58.44972; 8.86417
Country Norway
Region Southern Norway
County Aust-Agder
District Østre Agder
Municipality ID NO-0921
Adm. Center Brekka
Area[1]
 • Total 30 km2 (10 sq mi)
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Created from Østre Moland in 1878
Merged into Arendal in 1992

Tromøy (historic: Tromø) is a former municipality in Aust-Agder county, Norway. The 30-square-kilometre (12 sq mi) municipality existed from 1878 until its dissolution in 1992. The municipal area is now part of the municipality of Arendal. The administrative centre was the village of Brekka where the historic Tromøy Church is located. The municipality encompassed all of the island of Tromøya as well as many smaller surrounding islands such as Merdø, Gjesøya, Skilsøy, and Tromlingene.[1]

The municipality had two churches: the centuries-old Tromøy Church and the relatively-new Færvik Church. Some of the main villages in Tromøy were Færvik, Brekka, Brattekleiv, Sandnes, Revesand, and Pusnes. The municipality was connected to the mainland by the Tromøy Bridge, the only road connection to Tromøya. The other islands in Tromøy were only accessible by boat.

History

The municipality of Tromøy was established on 1 May 1878 when the municipality of Østre Moland was divided into three separate municipalities: Tromøy (population: 2,320), Barbu (population: 4,874), and Østre Moland (population: 2,524). On 1 January 1992, there was a major municipal merger where the following municipalities were merged into one large municipality of Arendal: Tromøy (population: 4,711), Moland (population: 8,148), Øyestad (population: 8,679), Hisøy (population: 4,026), and the town of Arendal (population: 12,478).[2]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) was named after the island on which it is located, Tromøya. Historically, it was spelled Tromø, but more recently it has been spelled Tromøy. The name comes from the Old Norse word Þruma which means "rim", "edge", or "border". The suffix -ø or øy mean "island".[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 23 August 1985. The blue and white arms represent the sea and the coastline near the village of Brekka, which is characterised by large rounded boulders protruding out into the sea. This landscape dates back to the ice age and it was used to model the division line in the coat-of-arms.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (2015-06-24). "Tromøy – kommune". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  2. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1905). Norske gaardnavne: Nedenes amt (in Norwegian) (8 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 97.
  4. ↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2017-11-26.
  • Arendal travel guide from Wikivoyage
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.