Måsøy

Måsøy kommune
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms Finnmark within Norway
Måsøy within Finnmark
Coordinates: 70°55′32″N 24°41′9″E / 70.92556°N 24.68583°E / 70.92556; 24.68583Coordinates: 70°55′32″N 24°41′9″E / 70.92556°N 24.68583°E / 70.92556; 24.68583
Country	Norway
County	Finnmark
Administrative centre	Havøysund
Government
– Mayor (2003)	Ingalill Olsen (Ap)
Area
– Total	1,134 km2 (437.8 sq mi)
– Land	1,066 km2 (411.6 sq mi)
Area rank	88 in Norway
Population (2004)
– Total	1,399
– Rank	380 in Norway
– Density	1/km2 (2.6/sq mi)
– Change (10 years)	-21.3 %
Demonym	Måsøying[1]
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	NO-2018
Official language form	Bokmål
Website	masoy.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Måsøy is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund.

Måsøy was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The western part of the island of Magerøya was transferred from Måsøy to the municipality of Nordkapp on 1 January 1984.

The municipality is located on the coast of Western Finnmark, comprising parts of the mainland and many islands of various sizes. Most people live in the village of Havøysund, but there are also small hamlets spread around the islands and in the fjord areas, notably Snefjord, Kokelv, Ingøy, Rolvsøy, and Måsøy. The Fruholmen lighthouse is the northernmost in Norway.

The hurtigruten boat stops at Havøysund daily, and there is a road connection, albeit often blocked by snow in the winter.

At Måsøy, there is the tallest construction of Scandinavia, the 362-meter (1,188 ft) tall Ingoy radio transmitter.

General information

Name

The first element is måse which means "seagull" and the last element is øy which means "island". Previously, the village of Måsøy was the administratice centre, hence the name of the municipality. Prior to 1918, the name was written Maasø.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 7 September 1984. The arms show a fishing gaff which has been used for many centuries in the municipality to haul in large fish into the boat. The devise is made of a large piece of wood with a bone or metal hook. The tool was chosen as a symbol for the importance of fishing to the municipality.^[2]

Birdlife

Lying northwest in the county, Måsøy has a selection of habitats and a varied birdlife. Once again, some of the counties largest seabird colonies can be found in the municipality with the island of Hjelmsøy being one of the more interesting. White-tailed Eagles can be seen as well as both Arctic Skuas and Great Skuas.

References

1. ^ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. http://www.sprakrad.no/nb-no/Sprakhjelp/Rettskrivning_Ordboeker/Innbyggjarnamn/. 
2. ^ Norske Kommunevåpen (1990). "Nye kommunevåbener i Norden". http://www.ngw.nl/int/nor/m/masoy.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 

External links

• Media related to Måsøy at Wikimedia Commons