Hustadvika (municipality)

Hustadvika is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional districts of Nordmøre and Romsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Elnesvågen. Other villages in the municipality include Hustad, Bud, Tornes, Sylte, Malme, Aureosen, Eide, Lyngstad, Vevang, and Visnes.

The 522 km2 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 PD/km2 and its population has increased by 1.9% over the previous 10-year period.

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.

Name
The municipality is named after the 19 km 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 (Húsastadðir) since the first Hustad Church was built there. The first element of the farm name comes from the word which means "house". The last element of the farm name is the plural form of which means "place" or "village". The second part of the municipal name is (vík) which means "bay" or "cove".

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.

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

Geography
The municipality of Hustadvika sits on the northwestern end of the Romsdal Peninsula along the Hustadvika shoreline, just west of the island of Averøya. The Norwegian Sea lies to the north, the Harøyfjorden, Julsundet strait, and Aukra Municipality lie to the west, Molde Municipality and Gjemnes Municipality lie to the south, and Averøy Municipality and the Kornstadfjorden lie to the east.

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.

Government
Hustadvika 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 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.

Mayors
The mayors (ordførar) of Hustadvika:
 * 2020–2023: Tove Henøen (Sp)
 * 2023-present: Nils Christian Harnes (KrF)

Notable people

 * Oluf Gjerset (1848 in Vaagø – 1941), an American politician and mayor of Montevideo, Minnesota
 * Nilmar Janbu (1921 in Bjørnsund – 2013), a Norwegian engineer and geotechnician
 * Arve Hans Otterlei (born 1932), a politician and mayor of Fræna in 2003; lived in Hustad
 * Trond Strande (born 1970), a former footballer with 275 club caps with Molde FK; he was brought up in Elnesvågen
 * Jim Svenøy (born 1972 in Fræna), a retired Norwegian athlete who ran the 3000 m steeplechase
 * Jorun Marie Kvernberg (born 1979 in Fræna), a musician, singer, and composer who plays the hardingfele and violin
 * Ola Kvernberg (born 1981 in Fræna), a jazz musician who plays string swing violin