The 97.2-square-kilometre (37.5 sq mi) municipality is the 331st largest by area out of the 357 municipalities in Norway. Ulstein Municipality is the 125th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 8,861. The municipality's population density is 91.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (236/sq mi) and its population has increased by 9.5% over the previous 10-year period.
The municipality of Ulstein (originally spelled Ulfsteen) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It originally included most of the island of Hareidlandet (except the Eiksund area) and the Vartdalsstrand area southeast of the Vartdalsfjorden on the mainland. On 1 January 1895, Ulstein Municipality was divided into two separate municipalities: the area southeast of the Vartdalsfjorden (population: 736) became the new Vartdalsstranden Municipality and the rest of the old municipality (population: 2,996) remained as a smaller Ulstein Municipality. Then on 1 January 1917, the municipality was divided again. The eastern half of the island of Hareidlandet (population: 2,310) became the new Hareid Municipality and the western half (population: 2,336) remained as a smaller Ulstein Municipality.
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 Eika, the village of Eiksund, and the surrounding area (population: 222) were transferred from Herøy Municipality to Ulstein Municipality.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Ulstein farm (Old Norse: Ulfsteinn) since the first Ulstein Church was built there. The first element is ulfr which means "wolf" (possibly an old name for the local river Ulva or referring to the male name Ulfr). The last element is steinn which means "stonemountain", probably referring to a small mountain (now called Ulsteinhetta) which is located behind the farm. Before 1879, the name was written Ulfsten or Ulfsteen, then between 1879 and 1888 it was spelled Ulvsten, and since 1889 it has been spelled Ulstein.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 30 May 1986. The official blazon is "Azure, a fessindentedOr" (Norwegian: På blå grunn ein gull bjelke laga med ulvetannsnitt). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a fess (horizontal bar) with indented edges. The fess has a tincture of Or which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. The arms show a bar that is described as wolf-toothed, which makes the bar a canting since the municipality is named after the Ulva river (a name which sounds like the word for wolf (Norwegian: ulv). The blue colour represents the sea and the gold represents wheat. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth after an idea by Asbjørn Waage. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The municipality is located on the western part of the island of Hareidlandet, plus the island of Dimnøya and many smaller surrounding islands. The highest point in the municipality is the 697.54-metre (2,288.5 ft) tall mountain Blåtinden near the southern tip of the island of Hareidlandet. Hareid Municipality shares the only land border with Ulstein to the east. Herøy Municipality lies to the west, Volda Municipality lies to the south, and Ørsta Municipality lies to the southeast. The Vartdalsfjorden and Rovdefjorden form the southern border of Ulstein.
There are several villages throughout the municipality. The largest is the town of Ulsteinvik and others include the villages of Haddal, Flø, Eiksund, Ringstad, Sundgota, Hasund, and Varleite. The island of Dimnøya is just outside Ulsteinvik, and there are many residents there. There are also several small populated islands surrounding the main island of Hareidlandet: Eika, Vattøya, and Hatløya.
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Ulstein Municipality is made up of 25 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.
The mayor (Nynorsk: ordførar) of Ulstein Municipality is the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. Here is a list of people who have held this position:
The Headquarters of the Ulstein Group, Rolls-Royce Marine, and Kleven Verft are located in Ulstein Municipality. The maritime industry is renowned for its creativity in the ship industry, which currently employs more than 1,000 people in Ulstein.
Ulstein is known as a central community in the maritime cluster that has been created within the Sunnmøre region, Norway. Large shipyards and ship design companies are situated in Ulsteinvik. Technological innovation has played an import role in the recent history of the town. For example, the Ulstein Group has designed a new hull shape with an inverted bow called the Ulstein Group's X-Bow, examples of which are regularly docked in Ulsteinvik, outside the drydocks of Ulstein Verft.
Notable people
Ragnar UlsteinMM (1920–2019), a journalist, writer, and resistance member
