Fedje

Historie

Fedje is an island municipality in the Nordhordland region of Hordaland county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Fedje. The other main population centre is the village of Fedje.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. Fedje island covers a total area of about out of the total in the municipality. The municipality has 561 residents in 2014. The traditional economic activity of the inhabitants is fishing.In 2016 the chief of police formally suggested that the police station in Austrheim og Fedje, be closed down.General informationHistorically, the islands of Fedje belonged to the prestegjeld of Lindås. In 1910, the northwestern part of Lindås was separated to become the new municipality of Austrheim (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.NameThe Old Norse form of the name was Feðjar, closely related to Gothic word "faþa" 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.