Dyrøy

The municipality of Dyrøy was established on 1 September 1886, when it was separated from Tranøy Municipality. The initial population of Dyrøy was 1,281. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the parts of Tranøy Municipality located on the mainland (population: 382) were transferred to Dyrøy.^[7]

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Troms county.^[8] On 1 January 2024, the Troms og Finnmark county was divided and the municipality once again became part of Troms county.^[9]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Dyrøya (Old Norse: Dýrøy) since the first Dyrøy Church was built there. The first element is dýr which means "wild animal", here likely referring to deer or reindeer. The last element is øy which means "island".^[10][11] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Dyrø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Dyrøy, to give the name a more Norwegian and less Danish spelling due to Norwegian language reforms.^[12]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 4 April 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a fox statant argent" (Norwegian: I blått en stående sølv rev). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a locally-bred platinum fox. The fox has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The fur industry has had a long tradition in Dyrøy and in the 1930s, a special sort of arctic fox was bred there which was called the platinum fox. The arms were designed by Svein A. Berntsen.^{[13][14][15][16]}

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Dyrøy. It is part of the Senja prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

The municipality is located on the island of Dyrøya and the mainland area to the east, with the Dyrøy Bridge connecting the island to the mainland. The Vågsfjorden, Tranøyfjorden, and Solbergfjorden flow along the western and northern border of the municipality.

The municipality is mountainous with a narrow beach area along the coast. On the mainland, the Bjørkebakkdalen valley leads south from the municipal center Brøstadbotn. The municipality has several peaks over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft), the highest being the 1,237-metre (4,058 ft) tall Løksetind on the border with Salangen in the south.

Climate

All municipalities in Norway are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), 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.^[18] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Nord-Troms og Senja District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Dyrøy is made up of 15 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 mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Dyrøy (incomplete list):

• 1995-2011: Rolf Espenes (Ap)
• 2011-2015: Randi Lillegård (Ap)
• 2015-2023: Marit Alvig Espenes (Ap)
• 2023-present: Kjell-Sverre Myrvoll (Sp)^[38]

• Media related to Dyrøy at Wikimedia Commons
• The dictionary definition of dyrøy at Wiktionary
• Municipal fact sheet from Statistics Norway
• Troms travel guide from Wikivoyage