Sør-Vågsøy is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane

Sogn og Fjordane

is a county in Norway, bordering Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland. The county administration is in the town of Hermansverk in Leikanger municipality while the largest town is Førde....

 county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. It is located in the southern part of the present-day municipality of Vågsøy

Vågsøy

Vågsøy is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality's administrative center is the town Måløy. Vågsøy is also the name of the main island in the municipality with an area of...

. Today, Sør-Vågsøy refers to the southern part of the island of Vågsøy where the villages Holvik, Vågsvåg

Vågsvåg

Vågsvåg is a village in the municipality of Vågsøy in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located on the southern part of the island of Vågsøy along the Vågsfjord. It is located about northwest of the village of Holvik, and about west of the town of Måløy.The population of Vågsvåg was 214,...

, Torskangerpoll, Færestrand, and Oppedal are located.

Name

The municipality was named Sør-Vågsøy because it encompassed the southern part of Vågsøy

Vågsøy

Vågsøy is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality's administrative center is the town Måløy. Vågsøy is also the name of the main island in the municipality with an area of...

 island (sør means "southern" in Norwegian). The Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 form of the island name was Vágsøy. The first element is the genitive case of vágr which means "bay

Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...

" and the last element is øy which means "island".

History

Sør-Vågsøy was originally a part of the municipality of Selje

Selje

Selje is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje is the administrative center of Selje municipality...

 (see formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). On 1 January 1910, Sør-Vågsøy and Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Vågsøy...

 were separated from Selje

Selje

Selje is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje is the administrative center of Selje municipality...

 to form their own municipalities. Sør-Vågsøy had an initial population of 1,517. On 1 July 1921, the Blesrød farm in Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Vågsøy...

 was transferred to Sør-Vågsøy. Then, on 1 January 1964, the new municipality of Vågsøy

Vågsøy

Vågsøy is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The municipality's administrative center is the town Måløy. Vågsøy is also the name of the main island in the municipality with an area of...

 was created by merging Sør-Vågsøy, Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy

Nord-Vågsøy is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It is located in the northern part of the present-day municipality of Vågsøy...

, and parts of the neighboring municipalities of Davik

Davik

Davik is a village and former municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. The former municipality of Davik was located in parts of the present-day municipalities of Vågsøy, Bremanger, and Eid. The administrative center of the former municipality was...

 and Selje

Selje

Selje is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. The village of Selje is the administrative center of Selje municipality...

. Prior to the merger, Sør-Vågsøy had a population of 3,926.