The 289-square-kilometre (112 sq mi) municipality is the 270th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Dyrøy is the 328th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 1,056. The municipality's population density is 3.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.8/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 11.3% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]
The municipality is named after the island of Dyrøya, which is connected with the mainland with the modern Dyrøy Bridge. Most people, however, don't live on the island, but live in Brøstadbotn on the mainland.[6]
General information
View of a farm in 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 statantargent" (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]
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 Municipality in the south.
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.
