Straumsnes (municipality)

Straumsnes is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The 124 km2 municipality existed from 1866 until its dissolution in 1964. It included the northern part of the Straumsnes peninsula, the eastern part of the island of Aspøya, and several surrounding islands in the northern part of the present-day Tingvoll Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Straumsnes where the Straumsnes Church is located.

History
On 1 January 1866, the parish of Straumsnes was separated from Tingvoll Municipality to become a new municipality. The initial population of Straumsnes was 1,222. On 1 January 1868, an uninhabited district of Halsa Municipality was transferred to Straumsnes. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Straumsnes Municipality (population: 1,160), the part of Frei Municipality on the island of Aspøya (population: 147), and Tingvoll Municipality (population: 3,356) were merged into a new, larger Tingvoll Municipality.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named Straumsnes. The first element is which means "stream" or "current/tide". This part comes from old Strøm farm (Straumr), now part of the village of Kanestraum. The last element is which means "headland". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Strømsneset. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Straumsnes, changing the vowel spelling and removing the definite form ending -et.

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.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Straumsnes was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: