The 522-square-kilometre (202 sq mi) municipality is the 203rd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Hustadvika is the 92nd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 13,341. The municipality's population density is 26.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (68/sq mi) and its population has increased by 1.9% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
General information
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Eide (population: 3,400) and Fræna (population: 10,900) were merged to form the new municipality of Hustadvika.[6][7]
Name
The municipality is named after the 19-kilometre (12 mi) long Hustadvika coastline, located in the northern part of the municipality. The name is composed of two parts and it is reminiscent of the name for the former municipality, Hustad, which existed from 1918 until its dissolution in 1964. The first part of the current name comes from the old Hustad farm (Old Norse: Húsastadðir) since the first Hustad Church was built there. The first element of the farm name comes from the word hús which means "house". The last element of the farm name is the plural form of stadðr which means "place" or "village". The second part of the municipal name is vika (Old Norse: vík) which means "bay" or "cove".[8]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was approved on 17 October 2019. The official blazon is "Azure, a plow and fish argent". This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is an artistic design reminiscent of an interlocking fish and plow. The charge 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 two main industries of the municipality: fishing and agriculture. The arms were designed by Madelen Behrendt and Øystein Hauge. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[9]
The Frænfjorden cuts into the middle of the municipality. The coastal areas are low and marshy while the interior of the municipality is mountainous. Two of the more notable mountains are Jendemsfjellet and Heiane. The Bjørnsund islands lie off the northwestern coast. They are now uninhabited, but the Bjørnsund Lighthouse is still in operation. Kvitholmen Lighthouse lies just off the northern coast of the municipality, in an area with hundreds of small islands and skerries.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Hustadvika is made up of 33 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
