Sandøy is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was part of the Romsdal region. The administrative centre was the village of Steinshamn. Other villages included Ona and Myklebost. The municipality was spread out over many islands in the mouth of the vast Romsdal Fjord. The Flatflesa Lighthouse and Ona Lighthouse protect the boats traveling around the municipality. The Nordøy Fixed Link project was constructed from 2018 until 2023 and it includes three undersea tunnels and several bridges that will connect the main islands of Sandøy Municipality and the islands of Haram Municipality to the mainland.

At the time if its dissolution in 2020, the 21-square-kilometre (8.1 sq mi) municipality is the 416th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Sandøy is the 371st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,263. The municipality's population density is 59.1 inhabitants per square kilometre (153/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 1.4% over the last decade.

General information

The municipality of Sandø i Romsdal was established on 1 January 1867 when it was separated from Akerø Municipality. The initial population was 601. The spelling of the name was later changed to Sandøy. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, the Myklebost area on Harøya island and some smaller islands to the west (population: 287) were transferred from Haram Municipality to Sandøy Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Sandøy was dissolved. The islands of Orta and Lyngværet (and the small surrounding islands) were merged into Aukra Municipality. The remainder of the old Sandøy Municipality was merged with Haram Municipality, Ørskog Municipality, Skodje Municipality, and Ålesund Municipality to form one large municipality of Ålesund.

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the farm and small island of Sandøya (Old Norse: Sandøy) since the first Sandøy Church was built there. The first element comes from the word sandr which means "sand". The last element is øy which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Sandøen or Sandø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sandøy.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 12 December 1986 and they were in use until the municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020. The official blazon is "Azure, three piles conjoined in dexter argent" (Norwegian: I blått tre sølv spissar som møtest i høgre skjoldrand). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a three triangles conjoined at a point along the left side. 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 is meant to mimic the light beams from the Ona Lighthouse. This was chosen since lighthouses play an important role in the safety in the municipality, which consists of 871 islands and skerries. The arms were designed by Astor Furseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Sandøy. It was part of the Molde domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Sandøy

Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Sandøy	Sandøy Church	Sandøya	1812
	Harøy Church	Harøya	1934

Geography

Sandøy was an island municipality. Sandøy consisted of 871 islands, but only five were regularly inhabited by the time the municipality was dissolved. The main inhabited islands were Harøya, Sandøya, Finnøya, Ona, and Orta. Ona is the most famous of the islands and is a popular tourist destination due to its history and the Ona Lighthouse.

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality fell under the Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sandøy is made up of 19 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown for the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors

The mayors of Sandøy:

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway