Aukra

Aukra is municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdalen. The administrative centre is the village of Falkhytta, which is part of the Aukrasanden urban area.

The municipality is made up of the island of Gossa as well as many small surrounding islands, plus a small area around the village of Hollingen across the Julsundet strait on the mainland Romsdal peninsula. Some of the main population centers include the villages of Hollingen, Aukrasanden, Varhaugvika, and Røssøyvågen. Nyhamna is a major industrial area in Aukra.

The 61 km2 municipality is the 345th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Aukra is the 211th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,654. The municipality's population density is 60.3 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 9.4% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Akerø was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1840, most of Akerø on the Romsdal peninsula was separated to form the municipality of Frænen. On 1 January 1867, the islands that are located to the west of Gossa (population: 601) were separated to become the new Sandøy Municipality. On 1 January 1924, the southern part of the municipality (Otrøya and several other islands) were separated to form the new municipality of Sør-Aukra, and the remainder of the municipality was renamed Nord-Aukra.

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the Mordal area of Nord-Aukra (population: 77) was transferred to Molde Municipality. On 1 January 1965, Nord- was dropped from the name of the municipality, so it was then just called Aukra.

On 1 January 2020, the uninhabited islands of Lyngværet and the island of Orta (population: 11) were transferred from Sandøy Municipality to Aukra.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Aukra farm (Aukrin) since the first Aukra Church was built there. The first element is which means "field" or "acre". The last element is which means "field" or "acre". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Agerø or Akerø. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Aukra.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 22 May 1987. The official blazon is "Azure, two bracelets Or" (På blå grunn to gull ringar, 1-1). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two Bronze Age bracelets. The charge has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The bracelets are based on an archaeological finding of two bracelets in Aukra in 1936. The rings date back to the year 1000 BC, during the Bronze Age. There are no other such pairs found in Norway and only one somewhat similar in southern Sweden. The rings are 8 cm in diameter and each one is made of 65 g of gold. The rings thus symbolize the long tradition of habitation in the area. The fact that there are two, also symbolizes one for the island part of the municipality and the other for the mainland part. The blue and gold colors symbolize the sunset over the ocean. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth who based it off an idea by Knut Rød. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Aukra. It is part of the Molde domprosti (arch-deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

History
Aukra is the site of a shipwreck and rescue operation, when the cargo ship SS Rokta on 4 April 1938. The monument of Rokta is situated on Rindarøy island with a view of Galleskjæra where the Rokta sank.

Government
Aukra 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. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Aukra 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordførar) of Aukra (incomplete list):


 * 1945–1947: Ivar Kornelius Eikrem (Ap)
 * 1992-1999: Andreas Horrem (Sp)
 * 1999-2007: Aud Mork (KrF)
 * 2007-2019: Bernhard Riksfjord (Ap)
 * 2019–2023: Odd Jørgen Nilssen (H)
 * 2023-present: Helge Kjøll (KrF)

Economy
The Nyhamna industrial area on the northeastern part of the island of Gossa in Aukra is the location from where the Langeled pipeline, transporting natural gas from the enormous Ormen Lange gas field to the United Kingdom, came onstream in 2007.

Aukra Auto runs the bus service on the island of Gossa.

Notable people

 * Jonas Danilssønn Ramus (1649 in Aukra - 1718), a Norwegian priest, author, and historian
 * Anton Beinset (1894 in Aukra – 1963), a journalist, newspaper editor, short story writer, crime fiction writer, and politician
 * Iver Horrem (born 1977 in Aukra), a Norwegian professional beach volleyball player
 * Emilie Nautnes (born 1999 in Aukra), a footballer who plays for the Norway women's national football team