Åkra

This article is about the former municipality in Rogaland, Norway. For other uses, see Åkra (disambiguation).

Åkra Municipality Åkra herred
Former municipality
Aakra herred  (historic name) Aakre herred  (historic name)
View of the Åkra coastline
Rogaland within Norway
Åkra within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°15′30″N 05°10′55″E
Country	Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Haugaland
Established	1 Jan 1892
• Preceded by	Skudenes Municipality
Disestablished	1 Jan 1965
• Succeeded by	Karmøy Municipality
Administrative centre	Åkrehamn
Area  (upon dissolution)
• Total	33 km^2 (13 sq mi)
Population  (1965)
• Total	6,008
• Density	180/km^2 (470/sq mi)
Demonym	Åkrabu[1]
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1149[2]
Data from Statistics Norway

Åkra is a former municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway. The 33-square-kilometre (13 sq mi) municipality existed from 1892 until 1965 and it encompassed the central part of the western coast of the island of Karmøy. The administrative centre was the village of Åkrehamn.^[3]

History

The municipality of Aakra was established on 1 January 1892 when it was split off from the municipality of Skudenes. Initially, the new municipality had a population of 1,962. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Åkra was dissolved due to recommendations by the Schei Committee. Åkra was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Avaldsnes, Skudenes, Stangaland, and Torvastad and with the towns of Kopervik and Skudeneshavn to form the new, larger municipality of Karmøy. Before the merger Åkra had a population of 6,008.^[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Aakre farm (Old Norse: Akrar) since the first Åkra Church was built there. The name comes from the plural form of akr which means "field" or "acre".^[5] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Aakre. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Aakra.^[6] On 21 December 1917, a royal resolution enacted the 1917 Norwegian language reforms. Prior to this change, the name was spelled Aakra with the digraph "Aa", and after this reform, the name was spelled Åkra, using the letter Å instead.^[7][8]

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.^[9]

Municipal council

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

Åkra herredsstyre 1964–1965 ^[10]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	25
Total number of members:		25

Åkra herredsstyre 1960–1963 ^[11]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	8
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	17
Total number of members:		25

Åkra herredsstyre 1956–1959 ^[12]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	4
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	21
Total number of members:		25

Åkra herredsstyre 1952–1955 ^[13]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	10
Total number of members:		16

Åkra herredsstyre 1948–1951 ^[14]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	8
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	2
Total number of members:		16

Åkra herredsstyre 1945–1947 ^[15]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	10
Total number of members:		16

Åkra herredsstyre 1938–1941* ^[16]  

Party name (in Norwegian)		Number of representatives
	Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet)	6
	Joint List(s) of Non-Socialist Parties (Borgerlige Felleslister)	9
	Local List(s) (Lokale lister)	1
Total number of members:		16
Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945.

Attractions

The Old Åkra Church (Åkra gamle kyrkje) dates back to 1821. It was built of wood and has 320 seats. The church was restored in 1852 and 1899. Rogaland Fishery Museum (Rogaland Fiskerimuseum) is situated on the harbor in Åkrahamn. It contains a restored herring works with a collection of artifacts and equipment associated with the local fishing and shipping industries.^[17][18]

Notable residents

• Jostein Grindhaug football manager

See also

• List of former municipalities of Norway

References

1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
2. Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
3. Thorsnæs, Geir (21 August 2020). Lauritzen, Per Roger (ed.). "Åkra – tidligere kommune" [Åkra - former municipality]. Store norke leksikon (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 May 2023.
4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
5. Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri.
6. "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1057–1065. 1917.
7. "Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m". Norsk Lovtidend (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri: 1000. 1917.
8. Den Nye rettskrivning : regler og ordlister (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norge: Den Mallingske Boktrykkeri. 1918.
9. Hansen, Tore; Vabo, Signy Irene, eds. (20 September 2022). "kommunestyre". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
10. "Kommunevalgene 1963" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1964. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
11. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1959" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1960. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
12. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1955" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1957. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
13. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1951" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1952. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
14. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1947" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1948. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
15. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1945" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1947. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
16. "Kommunevalgene og Ordførervalgene 1937" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Oslo: Statistisk sentralbyrå. 1938. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
17. "Karmøy". GoNorway.com.
18. Falkeid, Kolbein (1999). Haugalandet: Ferd i folk og natur. Wigestrand Forlag.

External links

• Åkrehamn Veksts website