Ørskog Municipality

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Ørskog is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The Script error: No such module "convert". municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020. The area is now part of Ålesund Municipality in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative centre was the village of Sjøholt. The other main village was Vaksvika, about Script error: No such module "convert". south of Sjøholt. The European Route E39/E136 highway ran through the municipality, connecting the towns of Ålesund and Molde. The Rauma Group was the largest company in Ørskog in terms of turnover.

Prior to its dissolution in 2020, the Script error: No such module "convert". municipality was the 363rd largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Ørskog Municipality was the 310th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 2,250. The municipality's population density was Script error: No such module "convert". and its population had increased by 5% over the previous 10-year period.^[1]^[2]

General information

Ørskog was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 August 1883, the southwestern district of Ørskog (most of Ørskog on the southwestern side of the Storfjorden except for the Søvik and Ramstaddalen areas) was separated to form the new Søkelven Municipality (the spelling was later changed to Sykkylven). This left Ørskog Municipality with 1,735 inhabitants. On 1 June 1955, the Søvik and Ramstaddalen areas of Ørskog Municipality (located south of the Storfjorden) were administratively transferred to Sykkylven Municipality.^[3]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, there was a merger between three neighbors: Stordal Municipality (population: 1,052) in the south, Ørskog Municipality (population: 1,664) in the centre, and Skodje Municipality (population: 2,048) in the north, creating a new, larger Ørskog Municipality. This was merger was short-lived. On 1 January 1977, the merger was reversed all three municipalities were separated once again. This left the newly reconstituted Ørskog Municipality with a population of 1,668.^[3]

On 1 January 2020, Ørskog Municipality was merged with Haram Municipality, Skodje Municipality, Sandøy Municipality, and Ålesund Municipality to form a new, larger Ålesund Municipality.^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Ørskog farm (Template:Langx) since the first Ørskog Church was built there. The first element is the plural genitive case of Template:Wikt-lang which means "gravel shoal near the mouth of a river". The last element is Template:Wikt-lang which means "wood" or "forest".^[5]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 11 November 1983. The official blazon is "Ermine, a pale Or" (Template:Langx). This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of ermine which means it is commonly colored white with small black spots. The charge is a pale with a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The pale was chosen to symbolize a tree trunk, as a symbol for forestry. In the 17th century, the municipality exported many tall trees to the Dutch Republic, where they were used for shipbuilding. The ermine background was chosen to symbolize fur farming in the area as well. The ermine is also a canting for the many animals in the forests. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Churches

The Church of Norway had one parish (Script error: No such module "Lang".) within Ørskog Municipality. It was part of the Austre Sunnmøre prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

**Churches in Ørskog Municipality**
Parish (Script error: No such module "Lang".)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Ørskog	Ørskog Church	Sjøholt	1873

Geography

The municipality was located on the north shore of the Storfjorden, and it was bordered by Skodje Municipality to the west, Vestnes Municipality to the north and east, and Stordal Municipality to the south. Most of the population lived along the shore or in the small valleys that stretch inland from the fjord. The eastern part of the municipality was mountainous. The highest point in the municipality was the Script error: No such module "convert". tall mountain Lauparen, a tripoint on the border with Ørskog Municipality, Vestnes Municipality, and Stordal Municipality.^[9]

Landslide

At 10:00 p.m. on 8 January 1731, a landslide with a volume of possibly Script error: No such module "convert". fell from the mountain Skafjell from a height of Script error: No such module "convert". into the Storfjorden opposite Stranda. The slide generated a megatsunami Script error: No such module "convert". in height that struck Stranda, and damaging waves of lesser size traveled as far as Ørskog. It was the first natural disaster to be reported and documented in Norway in historic time.^[10]

Government

Ørskog Municipality was 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[11] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Sunnmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Script error: No such module "Lang".) of Ørskog Municipality is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.