Editing Måsøy Municipality (section)

==General information==
[[File:Masoy.jpg|thumb|left|View of the village of Måsøy]]
The [[Hammerfest (town)|town of Hammerfest]] and the vast surrounding "rural district of Hammerfest" was established as the municipality of ''[[Hammerfest Municipality|Hammerfest by og landdistrikt]]'' on 1 January 1838 (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). Soon after (the same year), the northern district (population: 498) was separated to become the new ''Maasøe Municipality'', named after the village on the island of [[Måsøya]] where the local [[Måsøy Church]] is located. The spelling was later changed to Måsøy.

On 1 January 1963, a small area of southern Måsøy, north of [[Kokelv]], (population: 34) was transferred to the neighboring [[Kvalsund Municipality]]. On 1 January 1984, the western part of the island of [[Magerøya]] (population: 240) was transferred from Måsøy to the neighboring [[Nordkapp Municipality]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |year=1999 |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |language=no}}</ref>

On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed [[Troms og Finnmark]] county. Previously, it had been part of the old [[Finnmark]] county.<ref name="snl5">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Troms og Finnmark |encyclopedia=[[Store norske leksikon]] |publisher=[[Kunnskapsforlaget]] |url=https://snl.no/Troms_og_Finnmark |access-date=2019-12-26 |date=2019-12-24 |editor-last=Mæhlum |editor-first=Lars |language=no}}</ref> On 1 January 2024, the [[Troms og Finnmark]] county was divided and the municipality once again became part of [[Finnmark]] county.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-05 |title=Fylkesinndelingen fra 2024 |url=https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunestruktur/fylkesinndelingen-fra-2024/id2922222/ |publisher=Regjeringen.no |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the island of [[Måsøya]] ({{langx|non|Másøy}}) since the first [[Måsøy Church]] was built there. The first element is {{lang|non|mási}}, the diminutive form of the [[genitive case]] of the word {{wikt-lang|non|már}} which means "little [[seagull]]". The last element is {{wikt-lang|no|øy}} which means "[[island]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qolBAAAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Finmarkens amt |date=1924 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=18 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=150–151 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Maasø'' or ''Maasøe''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Maasøy''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref> On 21 December 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] enacted the [[Norwegian language conflict|1917 Norwegian language reforms]]. Prior to this change, the name was spelled ''Maasøy'' with the [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]] "[[Aa (digraph)|aa]]", and after this reform, the name was spelled ''Måsøy'', using the letter [[å]] instead.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Oslo, Norway |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |page=1000}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.nb.no/items/7c810cb2510e5454433266c698b8808e |title=Den Nye rettskrivning : regler og ordlister |publisher=Den Mallingske Boktrykkeri |year=1918 |location=Kristiania, Norge |language=no}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 7 September 1984. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], a gaff [[bendwise]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I rødt en gull klepp skrått oppad}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is a [[fishing gaff]]. The gaff has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[Or (heraldry)|Or]] which means it is commonly colored yellow, but if it is made out of metal, then gold is used. A gaff is a stick with a metal hook or a barbed spear (historically it was made of bone). It is used for pulling large [[fish]] onto a boat. These fishing gaffs have been used for many centuries in the municipality. The tool was chosen as a symbol for the importance of [[fishing]] to the municipality. The arms were designed by Arvid Sveen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=M%C3%A5s%C3%B8y |access-date=2023-01-22 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Masoy, Finmark (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-20-18.html |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=1984-11-23 |title=Godkjenning av våpen og flagg |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/1984-09-07-1690?q=flagg |access-date=2023-01-22 |website=Lovdata.no |publisher=Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet |language=no}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has one parish ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Måsøy. It is part of the [[Hammerfest prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Måsøy'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="5"|Måsøy||[[Gunnarnes Chapel]]||[[Rolvsøya]]||1986
|-
|[[Havøysund Church]]||[[Havøysund]]||1961
|-
|[[Ingøy Church]]||[[Ingøy]]||1957
|-
|[[Måsøy Church]]||[[Måsøya]]||1953
|-
|[[Slotten Chapel]]||[[Slåtten]]||1963
|}