Vigra Municipality
Vigra is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1890 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Giske Municipality in the traditional district of Sunnmøre. The administrative centre was the village of Roald and Vigra Church was the main church for the municipality.
Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 627th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Vigra Municipality was the 528th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 1,571. The municipality's population density was and its population had increased by 15.5% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
On 1 January 1890, the large Haram Municipality was divided. The western island district was established as the new Roald Municipality and the rest remained as Haram Municipality. In 1911, the name was changed to Vigra Municipality.During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Vigra Municipality was merged with the neighboring Giske Municipality to create a new, larger Giske Municipality.
Name
The municipality was originally named Roald Municipality, after the old Roald farm which was likely the original name of the island as well. The meaning of the name is unknown. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the name to Vigra Municipality. The new name was chosen since it is the name of the main island in the municipality, Vigra. 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.Churches
The Church of Norway had one parish within Vigra Municipality. At the time of the municipal dissolution, it was part of the Haram prestegjeld and the Nordre Sunnmøre prosti in the Diocese of Bjørgvin.| Parish | Church name | Location of the church | Year built |
| Vigra | Vigra Church | Vigra | 1894 |
Geography
The municipality included the island of Vigra along with many smaller islets surrounding it. The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Molnesfjellet. The island municipality was surrounded by Giske Municipality to the south and Haram Municipality to the north and east.Government
Vigra Municipality was 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 was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Frostating Court of Appeal.Municipal council
The municipal council of Vigra Municipality was made up of 13 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.Mayors
The mayor of Vigra Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:- 1890–1891: Johannes O. Rørvik
- 1892–1897: Hans Roald
- 1898–1901: Johan O. Synnes
- 1902–1919: Ole N. Blindheim
- 1920–1922: Johan Roald
- 1923–1928: Olav M. Synnes
- 1929–1931: Ole Jakob Blindheim
- 1932–1935: Olav M. Synnes
- 1935–1941: Andreas K. Roald
- 1941–1945: Knut Gamlem
- 1945–1948: Salamon H. Røsvik
- 1948–1955: Oskar Stinessen
- 1956–1959: Johan J. Roaldsand
- 1959–1963: Karl O. Blindheim