Fedje - Wikiwand

Fedje is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Vestland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fedje. The traditional economic activity of the inhabitants is fishing.

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Fedje Municipality Fedje kommune
Municipality
View of the Hellisøy Lighthouse
Flag Coat of arms
Vestland within Norway
Fedje within Vestland
Coordinates: 60°46′08″N 04°43′50″E
Country	Norway
County	Vestland
District	Nordhordland
Established	1 Jan 1947
• Preceded by	Austrheim Municipality
Administrative centre	Fedje
Government
• Mayor (2015)	Stian Herøy (H)
Area
• Total	9.27 km² (3.58 sq mi)
• Land	8.95 km² (3.46 sq mi)
• Water	0.32 km² (0.12 sq mi) 3.6%
• Rank	#354 in Norway
Population (2023)
• Total	513
• Rank	#350 in Norway
• Density	57.3/km² (148/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−9.8%
Demonym	Fedjing^[1]
Official language ^[2]
• Norwegian form	Nynorsk
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-4633^[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

The 9-square-kilometre (3.5 sq mi) municipality is the 354th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Fedje is the 350th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 513. The municipality's population density is 57.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (148/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 9.8% over the previous 10-year period.^[4]^[5] The municipality consists of the main island of Fedje which is also surrounded by about 125 smaller islands and rocks mostly north of the main island. The name Fedje applies both to the main island, the main village, and to all the islands and rocks as a whole municipality.

In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Fedje be closed.^[6]

General information

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Perspective

Historically, the islands of Fedje belonged to the prestegjeld of Lindås. In 1910, the northwestern part of Lindås was separated to become the new Austrheim Municipality (which included Fedje). On 1 January 1947, all of Austrheim located west of the Fedjefjorden (population: 920) was separated to become the new municipality of Fedje.^[7]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fedje farm (Old Norse: Feðjar) since the first Fedje Church was built there. The name comes from the word faþa (Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌸𐌰) which means "fence" or "wall". The meaning here refers to a row of islands or archipelago, separating the inshore waters (now called the Fedjefjorden) from the ocean.^[8]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 13 July 1990. The official blazon is "Azure, two oars argent in bend issuant from the base sinister" (Norwegian: På blå grunn to skrått framveksande sølv årar). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a pair of oars aligned diagonally one above the other. 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. This symbolizes the rich boating history of this island municipality. The arms were designed by Even Jarl Skoglund. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within Fedje Municipality. It is part of the Nordhordland prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.

More information Parish (sokn), Church name ...

**Churches in Fedje**
Parish (sokn)	Church name	Location of the church	Year built
Fedje	Fedje Church	Fedje	1941

Education

Fedje has an elementary school, and a junior high school, both of which are situated in the center of the island, and in the same building. The school is also used as a movie theater twice a week.

History

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Perspective

There are traces of human activity on Fedje from as long as 4,000 years ago. In the 18th century, the village of Fedje was an important trading place, with the small island of Kræmmerholmen being the location where the trading took place. Kræmmerholmen was reopened in 1991, and was a restaurant/hotel/museum area, but closed in September 2008. Fedje was previously a substantial producer of peat. The peat led to the construction of a railway. The railway was given up together with the peat industry in 1920.

During the Second World War Fedje was occupied by over 300 German soldiers. There are still remains of the German cannons and bunkers all over the island, especially in the western part close to the traffic station, which is actually built on the remains of a German radar station.

In February 1945, the German U-boat U-864 was sunk by the Royal Navy submarine HMS Venturer outside western Fedj, the only instance in history of a submarine being sunk by another submarine while both were submerged. The wreck of the U-boat was discovered in 2003 lying in 150 metres (490 ft) of water, 2 nmi (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) west of Fedje.^[12] Its cargo included 67 short tons (61 t) of mercury which was being shipped to Japan. Contained in 1,857 rusting steel bottles in the vessel's keel, the mercury was discovered to be leaking out and currently poses a severe environmental threat. The rusting mercury bottles, the delicate condition of the wreck, and the presence of live torpedoes aboard it make the raising or salvage of U-864 extremely hazardous, and it has instead been proposed that the wreck be entombed.^[13]

On 12 January 2007, M/V Server sunk outside Fedje. The ship leaked oil and caused major environmental damage. But due to intensive efforts to clean the coves and beaches, very few traces can be found today.

Population

More information Historical population, Year ...

Historical population
Year	1947	1951	1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020	2023
Pop.	920	940	932	873	849	730	682	594	548	513
±% p.a.	—	+0.54%	−0.09%	−0.65%	−0.28%	−1.50%	−0.68%	−1.37%	−0.80%	−2.18%
Source: Statistics Norway^[4]^[14] and Norwegian Historical Data Centre^[15]

Government

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Perspective

Fedje 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.^[16] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Fedje 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.