Alver, Vestland County, Norway

🇳🇴 Alver is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Knarvik. Other villages include Alversund, Alver, Isdalstø, Lindås, Ostereidet, Seim, Manger, Askeland, Austmarka, Bøvågen, Haugland, Sæbø, Sletta, Frekhaug, Hjartås, Holme, Io, Krossneset, Meland, and Rossland.

The 679-square-kilometre (262 sq mi) municipality is the 168th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Alver is the 37th most populous municipality in Norway. The municipality's population density is 45.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (118/sq mi) and its population has increased by 11% over the previous 10-year period.

General information The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the three neighboring municipalities of Lindås, Radøy, and Meland were merged into one large municipality.

Name The municipality is named after the old Alver farm (Old Norse: Alviðra). The first element is allr which means "whole" or "entire". The last element is the genitive case of the word veðr which means "weather". Thus it is probably referring to the location which is exposed to the weather from all directions. It is the same root as the other local names like Alversund and Alverstraumen.

Government 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. The municipality falls under the Hordaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Alver is made up of 47 representatives that are elected to four year terms.

Economy Nordhordland has many well-developed islands, with much more undeveloped, rural inland areas. The largest urban areas are Knarvik (5013 inhabitants), Frekhaug (2335 inhabitants), Dale (1174 inhabitants), and Lindås (1263 inhabitants). The largest industry in the district is the large oil refinery at Mongstad in Lindås and Austrheim. Manufacturing is the largest industry as a whole, but farming and fishing are most common in the more rural areas both inland and along the coast. There are several large fish farming operations in the coastal areas. Considerable hydro-electric power is produced in the inner parts of the district, especially in Vaksdal, Modalen, and Masfjorden.