Vigra

Vigra is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county on the west coast of Norway. The 20 km2 municipality existed from 1890 until its dissolution in 1964 when it was merged into the present-day Giske Municipality. The former municipality was made up of the island of Vigra along with many smaller islets surrounding it. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Roald, and Vigra Church was the main church for the municipality.

History
On 1 January 1890, the western islands in Haram Municipality were separated from Haram and established as Roald Municipality. The initial population was 794. In 1911, the name of the municipality was changed to Vigra. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the whole municipality of Vigra was merged into the neighboring Giske Municipality. Prior to the merger, the population of the municipality was 1,569.

Name
The municipality was originally named Roald, after the old Roald farm (Róǫld) which was likely the original name of the island as well (later the island became known as Vigra). The meaning of the name is unknown. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the name of the municipality to Vigra. The new name was chosen since it's the name of the main island in the municipality, Vigra (Vigr). The name is derived from the word which means "spear". It is likely that a peninsula of the island was being compared to the shape of a spear blade.

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 (Heradsstyre) of Vigra was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

Mayors
The mayors of Vigra:


 * 1890–1891: Johannes O. Rørvik (V)
 * 1892–1897: Hans Roald (MV)
 * 1898–1901: Johan O. Synnes (MV/H)
 * 1902–1919: Ole N. Blindheim
 * 1920–1922: Johan Roald
 * 1923–1928: Olav M. Synnes
 * 1929–1931: Ole Jakob Blindheim (V)
 * 1932–1935: Olav M. Synnes
 * 1935–1941: Andreas K. Roald
 * 1941-1945: Knut Gamlem (NS)
 * 1945-1948: Salamon H. Røsvik
 * 1948–1955: Oskar Stinessen (Ap)