Åfjord is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Fosen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Årnes. Other villages in the municipality include Revsnes, Roan, Bessaker, Harsvika, and By. Åfjord is located on the northwestern side of the Fosen peninsula, northwest of the city of Trondheim. It is located between the municipalities of Ørland and Osen and to the west of Steinkjer, with Indre Fosen to the south.
The municipality is the 74th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Åfjord is the 196th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,252. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 0.2% over the previous 10-year period.
General information
The municipality of Aafjord was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 26 March 1870, a royal resolution moved a small, unpopulated part to Aafjord to the neighboring municipality of Bjugn. On 1 January 1896, the southwestern coastal area of Aafjord (population: 1,529) was separated to form the new municipality of Jøssund. This left Aafjord with 2,419 residents. On the same date, the name of Aafjord municipality was changed to just Aa. The spelling was later changed to Å. On 13 July 1934, the name of the municipality was changed from "Å" to "Åfjord". After that, the administrative centre in the municipality was referred to as "Å" or "Å i Åfjord".
During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the neighboring municipalities of Stoksund (population: 2,643) and Åfjord (population: 1,515) to form the new, larger municipality of Åfjord. On 1 November 1980, the postal service changed the name of the municipal center from "Å i Åfjord" to "Årnes".
On 1 January 2018, the municipality switched from the old Sør-Trøndelag county to the new Trøndelag county.
On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Roan and Åfjord merged into one large municipality called Åfjord. The new municipality uses the coat of arms of the old Roan municipality.
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Aa farm () since the first Åfjord Church was built there. The local fjord (Åfjorden) is also named after this farm. The name has varied over the years: Aafjord (1838 to 1896), then Aa or Å (1896 to 1934), and finally Åfjord (since 1934). The first element of the current name is the plural form of which means "river", probably since there are two rivers, the Norddalselva and Stordalselva, that run together just south of the farm. The last element of the current name is which means "fjord".
Coat of arms
The current coat of arms was approved for use starting on 1 January 2020 after a municipal merger with Åfjord and Roan municipalities. These arms had previously been used by Roan from 1987 until 2020. The official blazon is "Azure, three terns volant argent" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is a group of three flying terns. The bird design has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. Terns, a very watchful and energetic bird, are intended to symbolize the local inhabitants and the coast with the vast bird life in the area. The arms were initially designed by Solfrid Krogfjord with the final design by Einar H. Skjervold. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.
The previous coat of arms was granted on 18 April 1997 until 1 January 2020 when the municipality was enlarged and the arms were changed. The official blazon is "Azure, two boats argent issuant from sinister" (). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is two boats coming out of the right side of the shield. The boats have a tincture of argent which means they are commonly colored white, but if the arms are made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms show two stems of a boat to represent the special boats that are built in the municipality. These boats had a long, shallow keel and straight masts. The arms were designed by Einar H. Skjervold. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.
Churches
The Church of Norway has three parishes () within the municipality of Åfjord. It is part of the Fosen prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros.