Frøya, Trøndelag


Frøya is the westernmost municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region and consists of the island of Frøya, which lies north of the island of Hitra, as well several thousand other small islands surrounding the island of Frøya. The village of Sistranda is the administrative center of Frøya. Other villages include Hammarvika, Titran, Sula, and Mausund. The main island of Frøya is connected to the neighboring island of Hitra by the Frøya Tunnel which goes under the Frøyfjorden.
The municipality is the 291st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Frøya is the 179th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,151. The municipality's population density is, and its population has increased by 19.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Frøya was established as a municipality on 1 January 1877 when it was separated from the municipality of Hitra. Its initial population was 3,949. On 1 January 1906, it was split into two municipalities: Nord-Frøya in the north and Sør-Frøya in the south. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Nord-Frøya and Sør-Frøya were merged back together again, forming a new municipality of Frøya. On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.

Name

The name of the island and municipality come from Norse mythology. Although Frøya is a variant of the name of the Norse goddess Freyja, the Old Norse form of the name of the island was Frøy or Frey. Therefore, the name of the island probably has the same root as the name of the Norse god Freyr, brother to Freyja. The names originally were titles: "lord" or "lady". The oldest meaning of the common word was " in front; the foremost, the leading" and here in the sense "the island in front of Hitra". Until 1906 the island and municipality name was spelled Frøien.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 13 March 1987. The arms show three silver fish hooks made of bone from the Stone Age on a blue background. The hooks symbolize the importance of fishing and trapping to the people of Frøya.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within the municipality of Frøya. It is part of the Orkdal prosti in the Diocese of Nidaros.
Parish Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
FrøyaSletta ChurchNord-Frøya 1990
FrøyaHallaren ChurchStorhallaren1881
FrøyaFroan ChapelFroan 1904
FrøyaMåøy ChapelMausund 1939
FrøyaSula ChapelSula1925
FrøyaTitran ChapelTitran1873

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Frøya, are responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Fosen District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Frøya is made up of 23 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Frøya :
The municipality of Frøya has many small fishing communities on the large island of Frøya and many small islands in the ocean such as Mausundvær, Bogøyvær, and Sula, with Mausund being the largest of these with a population of approximately 270. Other small islands such as Froan and Halten, Trøndelag lay to the northeast of the island of Frøya. Many of these islands are home to lighthouses such as Halten Lighthouse, Finnvær Lighthouse, Vingleia Lighthouse, Sula Lighthouse, and Sletringen Lighthouse.
The main island of Frøya is fairly open and has no natural forests-mostly covered with marshes and heather. The largest villages on the island are Sistranda in the east and Titran in the west. Frøya is a member of the International Island Games Association. The highest point above sea level is the tall Besselvassheia, and the second highest point is the tall Bremnestua.

Climate

Frøya has a distinct temperate oceanic climate, with a year amplitude of only from the coldest to the warmest month, and a small :wikt:diurnal|diurnal temperature variation. Mean annual precipitation is. The wettest season is September - January, while May - June is the driest with approximately precipitation each month.

Notable residents