Karlsøy Municipality Karlsøy kommune Gálssa suohkan (Northern Sami)
Municipality
Karlsø herred  (historic name)
View of the Kåja island with Torsvåg Lighthouse off Vanna
Flag Coat of arms
Troms within Norway
Karlsøy within Troms
Coordinates: 70°07′48″N 19°25′51″E / 70.13000°N 19.43083°E / 70.13000; 19.43083
Country	Norway
County	Troms
District	Nord-Troms
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Hansnes
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Mona Benjaminsen (Ap)
Area
• Total	1,091.60 km2 (421.47 sq mi)
• Land	1,050.59 km2 (405.64 sq mi)
• Water	41.01 km2 (15.83 sq mi)  3.8%
• Rank	#103 in Norway
Highest elevation [1]	1,049.3 m (3,442.6 ft)
Population  (2024)
• Total	2,237
• Rank	#268 in Norway
• Density	2/km2 (5/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−4.2%
Demonym	Karlsøyværing[2]
Official language [3]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-5534[4]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Karlsøy (Northern Sami: Gálssa suohkan) is an island municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hansnes. Other villages include Dåfjord, Hessfjord, Karlsøya, Torsvåg, Vannvåg, and Vannareid. The municipality is made up of many islands including Ringvassøya, Reinøya, Vannøya, Karlsøya, and Rebbenesøya plus several uninhabited islands (many of which were formerly inhabited). Some of the currently uninhabited islands include Helgøya, Nordkvaløya, Grøtøya, and Nord-Fugløya.^[5]

The 1,092-square-kilometre (422 sq mi) municipality is the 103rd largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Karlsøy is the 268th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,237. The municipality's population density is 2 inhabitants per square kilometre (5.2/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 4.2% over the previous 10-year period.^[6][7]

General information

Karlsøy has been a Church of Norway parish for many years. Many immigrants, mostly from Finland, resided in Karlsøy as evidenced by the 1801 census.^[8] The analysis of the census data revealed that the family names of these people such as Aderup, Blix and Rosenlund were foreign-sounding.^[8]

The parish of Karlsøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see the formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1867, the southern district of Karlsøy (population: 862) was transferred from Karlsøy to the neighboring Lyngen Municipality (that area later became part of Ullsfjord Municipality). On 1 September 1886, the western island district of Karlsøy (population: 828) was separated from Karlsøy to become the new Helgøy Municipality. This left Karlsøy with 1,334 inhabitants.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Helgøy Municipality was merged back into Karlsøy Municipality. At the same time, all of the mainland areas of Karlsøy (the northern part of the Lyngen peninsula, with 1,001 inhabitants) was transferred from Karlsøy to neighboring Lyngen Municipality. After all the changes, the new Karlsøy had 3,414 residents. On 1 January 2008, the southern part of the island of Reinøya was transferred from Tromsø Municipality to Karlsøy Municipality.^[9][10]

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.^[11] On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.^[12]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the small Karlsøya island (Old Norse: Kalsøe) since the first Karlsøy Church was built there. The first element is the genitive case of the male name Karl. The last element is øy which means "island".^[13] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Karlsø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Karlsøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name (ø is the Danish word for "island" and øy is the Norwegian word). ^[14]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 12 December 1980. The official blazon is "Azure, an eagle head erased argent" (Norwegian: I blått et avrevet sølv ørnehode). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is the head of a white-tailed eagle. The eagle head 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 blue color in the field symbolizes the importance of the sea to the island community. The eagle head was chosen since one of Europe's largest colonies of these birds is found on the island of Nord-Fugløya in the municipality. Furthermore, the eagle symbolizes the importance of fishing for the municipality. The arms were designed by Hallvard Sandvik.^[15][16][17]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Karlsøy. It is part of the Tromsø domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Economy

Karlsøy is among the world's most important exporters of dried and salted cod, with Portugal, Spain, and Brazil among the main markets.^{[citation needed]} The population is almost totally dependent on fishing.^{[citation needed]} There are also goat herding businesses and some musicians that live on the island. There is also some tourism, including a festival that runs in the Summer. There are plans for 50 holiday homes to be built on the isle.^{[citation needed]}

Geography and nature

The municipality consists of islands only. Ringvassøya, Norway's sixth largest island, is the largest island in the municipality. Nordkvaløya, Helgøya, Karlsøya, Vanna (Vannøya), Reinøya, and Rebbenesøya are the other major islands. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,049.3-metre (3,443 ft) tall mountain Soltindan on the island of Ringvassøy.^[1]

The islands of Rebbenesøy and Ringvassøy are split (as was Reinøya before 2008), with the southern part belonging to neighboring Tromsø Municipality. The reason is that the borders were drawn when boat was the only means of transportation; then it made sense that the southern parts of the islands belonged to Tromsø while the northern parts belonged to Karlsøy. Today, when roads have replaced the boats, the situation is awkward,^{[clarification needed]} which is why the Norwegian government transferred all of the island of Reinøy to the Karlsøy Municipality on 1 January 2008.^[10]

Karlsøya, the little island after which the municipality is named, has a village with the 19th century Karlsøy Church. The inhabitants include the original inhabitants, hippies, and Norwegian Muslims.^{[citation needed]}

The island of Helgøya, the former seat of the old Helgøy Municipality, in the western part of Karlsøy Municipality, is today a more or less an abandoned village of wooden houses and the old Helgøy Church. The island can only be reached when services are celebrated in the church, and ferry rides are organized.

Lake Skogsfjordvatn, in the centre of Ringvassøy, is a lake with some fishing, surrounded by sub-Arctic forests. This is Norway's largest lake in an island. The island of Vannøya has several villages, including Burøysund and Torsvåg, the latter offering views of the Atlantic from the Torsvåg Lighthouse.

Climate

Karlsøy mostly has a cool oceanic climate (subpolar oceanic climate). Spring and summer is the driest season, while autumn and winter is much wetter. Torsvåg lighthouse has been recording temperature sine 1933, and is situated on the northwestern tip of Vanna island. The eastern and inland part of the islands will have slightly warmer summers and slightly colder winters. The record low at Torsvåg is −15.1 °C (4.8 °F) recorded January 1979. The record high 27.2 °C (81.0 °F) is from July 1966. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in spring is 6 May^[18] and average date for first freeze in autumn is 25 October^[19] giving a frost-free season of 171 days (1981-2010 average for Torsvåg).

Government

Karlsøy 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.^[23] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Nord-Troms og Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Karlsøy is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.