At the time of its dissolution in 2017, the 60.56-square-kilometre (23.38 sq mi) municipality was the 410th largest by area out of the 426 municipalities in Norway. Tjøme was the 15th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 21,748. The municipality's population density was 359 inhabitants per square kilometre (930/sq mi) and its population had increased by 7.1% over the previous 10-year period.[5][6]
General information
The parish of Nøtterø (later spelled Nøtterøy) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1877, an area on the north end of the island of Nøtterøy (population: 102) was transferred into the city of Tønsberg. On 1 January 1901, the island of Håøya (population: 70) was transferred from Stokke Municipality to Nøtterøy Municipality. On 1 July 1915, an area of northern Nøtterøy (population: 12) was transferred to Sem Municipality.[7]
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the island of Veierland (population: 165) was transferred from Stokke Municipality to Nøtterøy Municipality.[7] On 1 January 2018, Tjøme Municipality (population: 4,928) and Nøtterøy Municipality (population: 21,748) were merged to form the new Færder Municipality.[8]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the island of Nøtterøy (Old Norse: Njótarøy) since the first Nøtterøy Church was built there. The first element is the verb njóta which means "to enjoy" or "to receive benefit from". The last element is øy which means "island".[9][10] Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Nøtterø, using the Riksmal spelling. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Nøtterøy. The letter y was added to the end of the word to "Norwegianize" the name (ø is the Danish word for "island" and øy is the Norwegian word).[11]
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 24 October 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, an anchor argentin bend" (Norwegian: I blått et skråstilt sølv anker). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is an anchor that is displayed diagonally. The anchor 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 blue color and the anchor were both chosen to emphasize the importance of fishing and sailing in this island municipality. The anchor was used as the municipal symbol since the 17th century. The arms were designed by Truls Nygaard. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.[12][13][14]
The whole municipality was made up of a group of islands located to the south of Tønsberg Municipality and between the Tønsbergfjorden and the Ytre Oslofjord. The municipality included almost all of the island of Nøtterøy plus the smaller islands of Føynland, Veierland, Bolærne, Bjerkøy, Nordre Årøy, and Søndre Årøy. In addition to this, there were also about 175 smaller islands and skerries. The island of Nøtterøy is the largest island in Vestfold County.[15] The highest point in the municipality was Vetan on the island of Nøtterøy, which reached an elevation of 99.7 metres (327 ft). The mountain was controlled by the Norwegian Armed Forces since 1897. The military operated a radio station at Vetan.[16] The Fulehuk Lighthouse was located in Nøtterøy municipality.
The municipal council(Kommunestyre) of Nøtterøy is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
^"Godkjenning av våpen og flagg". Lovdata.no (in Norwegian). Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet. 7 November 1986. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
^Bertelsen, Hans Kristian (1998). Bli kjent med Vestfold [Become acquainted with Vestfold] (in Norwegian). Stavanger Offset AS. p. 191. ISBN9788290636017.
^Larsen, Erlend (2011). På Tur i Vestfold del 2 (in Norwegian). E-forlag. p. 186. ISBN9788293057222.
