Radøy is a former municipality in the Nordhordland district of the old Hordaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1964 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into the new municipality of Alver. The municipality included almost all of the island of Radøy plus many small surrounding islands. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Manger. Other villages in the municipality included Askeland, Austmarka, Bøvågen, Haugland, Sæbø, and Sletta. Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the municipality is the 372nd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Radøy is the 199th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,128. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 10.1% over the last decade.
General information
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. Radøy was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964. The new municipality was constructed from parts of several different municipalities:
most of the municipality of Sæbø, except the Titland area on the Lindås peninsula
the Sletta area on the island of Radøy from Lindås municipality
the Straume area on the island of Radøy and the small island of Fesøy from Austrheim municipality
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Meland, Radøy, and Lindås were merged into a large, new municipality called Alver.
Name
The municipality was named after the island on which it sits, Radøy. The Old Norse form of the island's name was Röð. The name is identical with the wordröð for "row" or "ridge".
The coat of arms was granted on 16 June 1991. The arms shows two black oarlocks on a yellow background. Oarlocks are on the gunwale of a boat and they support the oar and give force to the rower's stroke. Some of these objects have been found in several places in Radøy and the artifacts date back to the first century BC. The designer of the arms was Even Jarl Skoglund.
The municipal council of Radøy is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Mayor
Prior to its dissolution, the mayor was Jon Askeland, and the deputy mayor was Ann Christin Hoen.
Geography
The municipality encompassed all of the island of Radøy, except the far southern tip. The smaller surrounding islands of Toska, Bognøy, Fesøy, and others were also part of Radøy municipality. The Radfjorden separated Radøy municipality from the municipality of Meland to the south. The Radsundet strait separated the municipality of Radøy from the municipality of Lindås to the east. The island of Fosnøyna were located to the north. The islands of Øygarden sat across the Hjeltefjorden to the west.
