Ulstein Municipality


Ulstein is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region. The commercial and administrative centre of Ulstein is the town of Ulsteinvik. The municipality occupies the western half of the island of Hareidlandet, as well as about 30 smaller islands, four of which are populated.
Ulstein is connected to the mainland of Norway by the Eiksund Bridge and then the Eiksund Tunnel to Ørsta Municipality on the mainland. The Grasøyane Lighthouse is located on a small island in the northwestern part of Ulstein Municipality.
The municipality is the 331st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Ulstein Municipality is the 125th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,861. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 9.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The municipality of Ulstein was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. It originally included most of the island of Hareidlandet and the Vartdalsstrand area southeast of the Vartdalsfjorden on the mainland. On 1 January 1895, Ulstein Municipality was divided into two separate municipalities: the area southeast of the Vartdalsfjorden became the new Vartdalsstranden Municipality and the rest of the old municipality remained as a smaller Ulstein Municipality. Then on 1 January 1917, the municipality was divided again. The eastern half of the island of Hareidlandet became the new Hareid Municipality and the western half remained as a smaller Ulstein Municipality.
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the island of Eika, the village of Eiksund, and the surrounding area were transferred from Herøy Municipality to Ulstein Municipality.

Name

The municipality is named after the old Ulstein farm since the first Ulstein Church was built there. The first element is which means "wolf". The last element is which means "stone mountain", probably referring to a small mountain which is located behind the farm. Before 1879, the name was written Ulfsten or Ulfsteen, then between 1879 and 1888 it was spelled Ulvsten, and since 1889 it has been spelled Ulstein.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 30 May 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a fess indented Or". This means the arms have a blue field and the charge is a fess with indented edges. The fess has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms show a bar that is described as wolf-toothed, which makes the bar a canting since the municipality is named after the Ulva river. The blue colour represents the sea and the gold represents wheat. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth after an idea by Asbjørn Waage. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish within Ulstein Municipality. It is part of the Søre Sunnmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
UlsteinUlstein ChurchUlsteinvik1849

Geography

The municipality is located on the western part of the island of Hareidlandet, plus the island of Dimnøya and many smaller surrounding islands. The highest point in the municipality is the tall mountain Blåtinden near the southern tip of the island of Hareidlandet. Hareid Municipality shares the only land border with Ulstein to the east. Herøy Municipality lies to the west, Volda Municipality lies to the south, and Ørsta Municipality lies to the southeast. The Vartdalsfjorden and Rovdefjorden form the southern border of Ulstein.
There are several villages throughout the municipality. The largest is the town of Ulsteinvik and others include the villages of Haddal, Flø, Eiksund, Ringstad, Sundgota, Hasund, and Varleite. The island of Dimnøya is just outside Ulsteinvik, and there are many residents there. There are also several small populated islands surrounding the main island of Hareidlandet: Eika, Vattøya, and Hatløya.

Government

Ulstein Municipality is responsible for primary education, 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 Sunnmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Ulstein Municipality is made up of 25 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 mayor of Ulstein Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
  • 1838–1841: Andreas Hofgaard Winsnæs
  • 1842–1843: Nils Toresen Nedrelid
  • 1844–1845: Martinus Mortensen Overaae
  • 1846–1849: Hans Nicolai Wraamann
  • 1850–1853: Martinus Mortensen Overaae
  • 1854–1855: Hans Nicolai Wraamann
  • 1855–1855: Jon Pedersen Branda
  • 1856–1859: Martinus Mortensen Overaae
  • 1860–1867: Knut Guliksen Hareide
  • 1868–1871: Johannes Pedersen Scheide
  • 1872–1873: Elling Ellingsen Ulfsteen
  • 1874–1875: Lars Hansen Hareide
  • 1876–1881: Johannes Pedersen Scheide
  • 1882–1883: Ole Johannessen Teigene
  • 1884–1895: Martinus Kolbeinsen Bjørndal
  • 1896–1897: Ole Johannessen Teigene
  • 1898–1901: Martinus Kolbeinsen Bjørndal
  • 1902–1904: Ole Johannessen Teigene
  • 1905–1910: Hans Nilsen Rise
  • 1911–1913: Arne Ingebrigtsen Grimstad
  • 1914–1922: Hans B. Osnes
  • 1923–1928: Knut Andreassen Strand
  • 1929–1931: Sverre J. Lynge
  • 1932–1934: Knut Andreassen Strand
  • 1935–1945: Leif H. Saunes
  • 1946–1947: Knut Andreassen Strand
  • 1948–1948: Martin Ulstein
  • 1948–1959: Knut A. Ertesvåg
  • 1960–1963: Jan Remø
  • 1964–1967: Per A. Dimmen
  • 1967–1967: Peter K. Saunes
  • 1968–1975: Oskar V. Sundgot
  • 1976–1979: Olav B. Urke
  • 1979–1987: Asbjørn Flø
  • 1987–1993: Ottar Kaldhol
  • 1993–1995: Arne Walderhaug
  • 1995–2003: Jan Berset
  • 2003–2011: Hannelore Måseide
  • 2011–2015: Jan Berset
  • 2015–2023: Knut Erik Engh
  • 2023–present: Stian Skorgen Scheide

    Industry

Maritime Cluster

The Headquarters of the Ulstein Group, Rolls-Royce Marine, and Kleven Verft are located in Ulstein Municipality. The maritime industry is renowned for its creativity in the ship industry, which currently employs more than 1,000 people in Ulstein.
Ulstein is known as a central community in the maritime cluster that has been created within the Sunnmøre region, Norway. Large shipyards and ship design companies are situated in Ulsteinvik. Technological innovation has played an import role in the recent history of the town. For example, the Ulstein Group has designed a new hull shape with an inverted bow called the Ulstein Group's X-Bow, examples of which are regularly docked in Ulsteinvik, outside the drydocks of Ulstein Verft.

Notable people