Askvoll Municipality Askvoll kommune
Municipality
Askvold herred  (historic name)
View of the village of Gjelsvik along the Førdefjorden
Flag Coat of arms
Vestland within Norway
Askvoll within Vestland
Coordinates: 61°24′21″N 05°14′32″E / 61.40583°N 5.24222°E / 61.40583; 5.24222
Country	Norway
County	Vestland
District	Sunnfjord
Established	1 Jan 1838
• Created as	Formannskapsdistrikt
Administrative centre	Askvoll
Government
• Mayor (2017)	Ole André Klausen (H)
Area
• Total	326.24 km2 (125.96 sq mi)
• Land	312.92 km2 (120.82 sq mi)
• Water	13.32 km2 (5.14 sq mi)  4.1%
• Rank	#255 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	2,949
• Rank	#227 in Norway
• Density	9.4/km2 (24/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−2.3%
Demonym	Askvolling[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4645[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

Askvoll^ⓘ is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Askvoll. Other villages in the municipality include Holmedal, Kvammen, and Stongfjorden. The most important industries in Askvoll today are Helle Knivfabrikk (a knife factory), Bulandet Fiskeindustri (fish industry), and Sigurd Løkeland Hermetikkfabrikk (a producer of crabs).

The 326-square-kilometre (126 sq mi) municipality is the 255th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Askvoll is the 227th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,949. The municipality's population density is 9.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (24/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 2.3% over the previous 10-year period.^[4][5]

The municipality stretches from the Bulandet islands in the west and Sunnfjord Municipality in east. The highest peak is the 1,304-metre (4,278 ft) high mountain Blegja. Alden Mountain (known as the "Norwegian Horse") is located on the island of Alden in Askvoll. It rises almost vertically out of the sea to a height of 481 metres (1,578 ft) above sea level and is visible from more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) out at sea.

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Askvoll be closed.^[6]

General information

Askvoll was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). The original municipality was identical to the Askvoll parish (prestegjeld) with the sub-parishes (sokn) of Askvoll, Vilnes, Øn, and Hyllestad.^[7] In 1862, the two southernmost sub-parishes of Øn and Hyllestad (population: 2,475) were separated from Askvoll and (along with the Bø sub-parish from Lavik municipality) formed the new municipality of Hyllestad. This left Askvoll with 2 sub-parishes and a population of 3,065.^[8]

On 1 January 1888, several farms in the Hersvikbygda area on the northern part of the island of Sula and the smaller surrounding islands (population: 317) were transferred from Askvoll municipality to the neighboring municipality of Utvær. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the parts of the municipalities of Vevring (population: 407) and Bru (population: 92) that were located south of the Førdefjorden were merged into Askvoll municipality. This gave Askvoll a population of 3,585. On 1 January 1990, Askvoll and Fjaler did a land trade: the Fjaler farms of Vårdal, Holmedal, Rivedal, and part of Hestad (population: 731) were transferred to Askvoll; and the Askvoll farms of Fure, Folkestad, and Våge (population: 482) were transferred to Fjaler.^[8]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Askvoll farm (Old Norse: Askvǫllr) since the first Askvoll Church was built there. The first element is askr which means "ash tree". The last element is vǫllr which means "meadow" or "field".^[9] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Askvold. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Askvoll.^[10]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 5 January 1990. The official blazon is "Vert, a pierced Latin cross pattée argent" (Norwegian: På grøn grunn ein utskrådd gjennombora sølv kross). This means the arms have a green field (background) and the charge is a latin cross with a cross pattée design and a circular hole in the centre. The cross 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 design was chosen to symbolize the Korssundkrossen, an old medieval stone cross found in the municipality. The old cross is connected to several stories of St. Olav. The arms were designed by Kåre Ness. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[11][12][13]

Local Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Askvoll. It is part of the Sunnfjord prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

Government

Askvoll 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.^[14] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal Council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Askvoll is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.