| Nærøysund | |
| Idnumber: | 5060 |
| County: | Trøndelag |
| District: | Namdalen |
| Capital: | Kolvereid and Rørvik |
| Established: | 1 Jan 2020 |
| Preceded: | Vikna and Nærøy |
| Demonyms: | Nærøysunding Nærøysunder |
| Language: | Neutral |
| Coatofarms: | nærøysund komm.svg |
| Webpage: | www.naroysund.kommune.no |
| Mayor: | Amund Hellesø |
| Mayor Party: | Ap |
| Mayor As Of: | 2020 |
| Area Rank: | 70 |
| Area Total Km2: | 1346.18 |
| Area Land Km2: | 1286.34 |
| Area Water Km2: | 59.85 |
| Area Water Percent: | 4.4 |
| Population As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Rank: | 113 |
| Population Total: | 9890 |
| Population Density Km2: | 7.7 |
| Population Increase: | 5.2 |
| Coordinates: | 64.8393°N 11.4608°W |
Nærøysund is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Namdalen. The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 after the merger of the old municipalities of Vikna and Nærøy. The municipality is unique in that it has two equal administrative centre: Kolvereid and Rørvik.[1] The other main population centres of Nærøysund include Abelvær, Foldereid, Gravvik, Ottersøy, Salsbruket, Steine, Torstad, Austafjord, Garstad, and Valøya.
The 1346km2 municipality is the 70th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Nærøysund is the 113th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 9,890. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 5.2% over the previous 10-year period.[2] [3]
The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the neighboring municipalities of Nærøy and Vikna were merged. The small Lund area of Nærøy was not part of the merger, it instead was merged with the large Namsos Municipality to the south on the same date. The merger came about because on 8 June 2017, the Norwegian Parliament, the Storting, voted to merge the municipalities of Leka, Vikna, Nærøy, and Bindal to form one, large municipality effective 1 January 2020.[4] Leka and Bindal municipalities rejected the merger, but Vikna and Nærøy agreed to the merger so it was carried out in 2020.[5]
The municipality is named after the Nærøysundet strait which is located in the municipality. The strait is named after the nearby island Nærøya (Norse, Old: Njarðøy). The first element is maybe the stem form of the name of the Norse god Njord (but it is suspicious that it is not in the genitive case). The last element is Norwegian: øy which means "island".[6] [7]
The coat of arms was approved for use starting on 1 January 2020. The blazon is "Argent, two bars wavy intertwined vert and azure". This means the arms have a field (background) that has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The charge is two intertwined stripes, one green and one blue. The green symbolizes the land and agriculture while the blue symbolizes the sea and fishing industry. Both are intertwined like a rope to symbolize unity and the two old municipalities becoming one. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[8] [9] [10]
The Church of Norway had two parishes (Norwegian: sokn) within the municipality of Nærøysund. It is part of the Namdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.
| Nærøy | Foldereid Church | Foldereid | 1863 |
| Gravvik Church | Gravvik | 1875 | |
| Kolvereid Church | Kolvereid | 1874 | |
| Lundring Church | Lundring | 1885 | |
| Salsbruket Chapel | Salsbruket | 1950 | |
| Steine Chapel | Steine | 1911 | |
| Torstad Chapel | Torstad | 1936 | |
| Vikna | Garstad Church | Garstad | 1856 |
| Rørvik Church | Rørvik | 1896 | |
| Valøy Chapel | Valøya | 1972 |
Nærøysund Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[11] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Namdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.
The municipal council Norwegian: (Kommunestyre) of Nærøysund is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Nærøysund:
Nærøysund is named after the strait between the islands Inner-Vikna, Marøya, Nærøya and the mainland. This has been an important strait for sea travel along the coast at least since the Viking Age. The western part of the municipality consists of an archipelago with almost 6,000 islands and islets going west into the Norwegian Sea, with many straits between the islands. There are three main islands, Inner-Vikna, Mellom-Vikna and Ytter-Vikna, which all three are connected to the mainland by bridges. The largest town Rørvik, with the main harbor, is situated on Inner-Vikna facing the mainland. The mainland part of the municipality is more rugged, with mountains up to 873 meter ASL, but also of some lowland areas around the town Kolvereid.
Coastal areas in Nærøysund has an oceanic climate (Cfb) as autumn and winter are the wettest seasons, even if the winter temperature is close to a humid continental climate. There are two official weather stations recording temperature in the municipality, one at Rørvik Airport at Inner-Vikna island, the other at Nordøyan lighthouse further southwest on a smaller island. Nordøyan is warmer in winter with coldest monthly mean, but is cooler in summer compared to Rørvik. The all-time low at Rørvik Airport was recorded in January 2010, and the all-time high was recorded July 27, 2019.