Måsøy Municipality

Måsøy (Moseija) is a municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Havøysund. Other villages include Bakfjord, Gunnarnes, Ingøy, Måsøy, Slåtten, and Snefjord. The municipality is located on the mainland as well as several islands.

The 1137 km2 municipality is the 96th largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Måsøy is the 328th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,113. The municipality's population density is 1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 10.3% over the previous 10-year period.

The municipality includes the Fruholmen Lighthouse, the northernmost lighthouse in Norway as well as the Havøysund Bridge, the northernmost bridge in the world. The tallest tower in Scandinavia, the 362 m tall Ingøy radio transmitter is located on Ingøya island.

The Hurtigruten coastal express boat stops at the village of Havøysund daily. There is also a road connection to Havøysund, albeit often blocked by snow in the winter at the pass between Snefjord and Bakfjord. Norwegian County Road 889 connects the mainland to Havøysund. Bus services between Havøysund and Olderfjord (bus hub), operates twice a day. The nearest airport is Lakselv Banak Airport.

General information
The town of Hammerfest and the vast surrounding "rural district of Hammerfest" was established as the municipality of Hammerfest by og landdistrikt on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). Soon after (the same year), the northern district (population: 498) was separated to become the new Maasøe Municipality, named after the village on the island of Måsøya where the local Måsøy Church is located. The spelling was later changed to Måsøy.

On 1 January 1963, a small area of southern Måsøy, north of Kokelv, (population: 34) was transferred to the neighboring Kvalsund Municipality. On 1 January 1984, the western part of the island of Magerøya (population: 240) was transferred from Måsøy to the neighboring Nordkapp Municipality.

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Finnmark county. On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Finnmark county.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Måsøya (Másøy) since the first Måsøy Church was built there. The first element is mási, the diminuitive form of the genitive case of the word which means "little seagull". The last element is which means "island". Historically, the name of the municiaplity was spelled Maasø or Maasøe. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Maasøy. On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Maasøy with the digraph "aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Måsøy, using the letter å instead.

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 7 September 1984. The official blazon is "Gules, a gaff bendwise Or" (I rødt en gull klepp skrått oppad). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a fishing gaff. The gaff has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. A gaff is a stick with a metal hook or a barbed spear (historically it was made of bone). It is used for pulling large fish onto a boat. These fishing gaffs have been used for many centuries in the municipality. The tool was chosen as a symbol for the importance of fishing to the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.

Churches
The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Måsøy. It is part of the Hammerfest prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

Government
Måsøy 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 Vestre Finnmark District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Måsøy is made up of 15 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 (ordfører) of Måsøy (incomplete list):


 * 1838-18??: Hans Sommer Ulich
 * 1873-1874: Reinholdt Fredrik Tønder Larsen
 * 1893-1895: Enok Johnsen
 * 1895-1901: Sivert Lauritz Aasen (H)
 * 1902-1904: William Dahl Ulich
 * 1905-1907: Simon Edvard Sørensen
 * 1908-1909: Sivert Sveen
 * 1914-1920: William Dahl Ulich
 * 1920-1929: Carl Rebek Olsen (H)
 * 1928-1941: Johannes Olai Olsen (Ap)
 * 1941-1945: S. Ansteensen (NS)
 * 1945-1946: Johannes Olai Olsen (Ap)
 * 1946-1956: Karl Sigfred Gregersen
 * 1957-1968: Magnar Pettersen (Ap)
 * 1968-1971: Trygve Olsen (Sp)
 * 1971-1979: Bjørgvin Jenssen (Ap)
 * 1979-1981: Oddvar J. Majala (Ap)
 * 1981-1995: Arvid Mathisen (Ap)
 * 1995-2009: Ingalill Olsen (Ap)
 * 2009-2011: John Aase (Ap)
 * 2011-2014: Anne Karin Olli (H)
 * 2014-2017: Gudleif Kristiansen (Sp)
 * 2017-2019: Reidun Helene Mortensen (Sp)
 * 2019–2023: Bernth Sjursen (Ap)
 * 2023-present: Ingrid Majala (LL)

Geography
The municipality is located on the northern coast of western Finnmark, comprising parts of the mainland (located on the Porsanger Peninsula) and many islands of various sizes. The main islands include Måsøya, Hjelmsøya, Havøya, Ingøya, and Rolvsøya. 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, Slåtten, Ingøy, Gunnarnes, and Måsøy. The large lake Havvatnet lies in the southern part of the municipality. The highest point in the municipality is the 633.7 m tall mountain Gárdevárri.

Birdlife
Lying in the northwest part of the county, Måsøy has a selection of habitats and a varied birdlife. Once again, some of the county's largest seabird colonies can be found in the municipality with the island of Hjelmsøya being one of the more interesting. White-tailed eagles can be seen as well as both Arctic skuas and great skuas.

Climate
Måsøy has a subpolar oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfc), due to the relatively mild winter, but also due to the precipitation pattern with drier summer and wetter winter, which is opposite of the subarctic climate. Fruholmen was earlier a tundra climate, and is close to tundra with 1991-2020 normals. As the weather station is located at an exposed lighthouse, the inhabited areas of the municipality such as Havøysund will be slightly warmer in summer and slightly colder in winter than Fruholmen.

Notable people

 * Johannes Olai Olsen (1895 in Måsøy – 1974), a fisherman and mayor of Måsøy from 1928-1940
 * Lorentz Eldjarn (1920 in Måsøy – 2007), a biochemist and medical doctor
 * Selmer Nilsen (1931 in Bakfjord – 1991), a fisherman who spied for the GRU during the Cold War
 * Aagot Vinterbo-Hohr (born 1936 in Måsøy), a Norwegian-Sami physician and writer
 * Markus Svendsen (born 1941 in Havøysund), a skier who competed at the 1968 Winter Olympics
 * Hanne Grete Einarsen (born 1966), a Norwegian-Sami artist who lives in Snefjord