Editing Vestnes Municipality (section)

==History==
[[File:Tresfjord kyrkje.JPG|thumb|left|View of the [[Tresfjord Church]]]]
[[File:Tresfjorden.JPG|thumb|left|View of the [[Tresfjorden]]]]
The municipality of Vestnes was established in the fall of 1838 when the western district of the large [[Veøy Municipality]] was separated to form its own municipality (see [[formannskapsdistrikt]] law). On 1 January 1899, the southern district of the municipality (population: 1,408) was separated from Vestnes to form the new [[Sylte Municipality]].<ref name="Dag">{{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 |isbn=9788253746845}}</ref>

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the [[Schei Committee]]. On 1 January 1964, Vestnes Municipality (population: 3,895) and [[Tresfjord Municipality]], formerly known as ''Sylte Municipality'', (population: 1,319) were merged to form a new, larger Vestnes Municipality.<ref name="Dag" />

On 1 January 2021, the {{convert|53|km2|adj=on}} [[Vågstranda]] area in the northwestern part of [[Rauma Municipality]] was transferred into Vestnes Municipality.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-21 |title=Vedtak om grensejustering mellom kommunane Rauma og Vestnes, Møre og Romsdal |url=https://lovdata.no/dokument/LF/forskrift/2019-06-20-773 |access-date=2022-10-29 |website=Lovdata.no |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality (originally the [[prestegjeld|parish]]) is named after the old ''[[Vestnes (village)|Vestnes]]'' farm ({{langx|non|Vestnes}}) since the first [[Vestnes Church]] was built there. The first element is {{wikt-lang|non|vestr}} which means "[[west]]". The last element is {{wikt-lang|non|nes}} which means "[[headland]]". Prior to 1889, the name was written ''Vestnæs''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=691LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt |date=1908 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=13 |location=Kristiania, Norge |page=217 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref>

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 11 April 1980. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], two [[Pile (heraldry)|piles]] issuant from [[Dexter and sinister|dexter]] [[Or (heraldry)|Or]]"'' ({{langx|no|I raudt to gull spissar mot venstre}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is two [[Pile (heraldry)|piles]] (triangles) extending from the left to the right. The charge 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. The arms are designed to symbolize the geography of the municipality: a [[headland]] between two [[fjord]]s&mdash;the [[Tresfjorden]] and the [[Tomrefjorden]]. The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Vestnes |access-date=2023-04-15 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vestnes, Møre og Romsdal (Norway) |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-15-35.html |access-date=2023-04-15 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref><ref name="snl">{{Cite SNL|Vestnes|Vestnes|2025-04-13|Thorsnæs|Geir|2024-12-20}}</ref>

===Museums===
A [[Viking]] barrow burial was uncovered at Villa Farm near Vestnes in 1894. Now in the [[British Museum]]'s collection in London, the rich grave finds include a pair of oval brooches and other dress accessories, a comb, remnants of a bucket and a box, a bridle-bit, agricultural tools, a bronze bowl, a [[:de:Tafel aus Walknochen|whalebone plaque]], a weaving batten and a [[Sharpening stone|whetstone]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Museum collection |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x35207}}</ref>

The [[Møre og Romsdal Agricultural Museum]] ({{lang|no|Landbruksmuseet for Møre og Romsdal}}) was established in the municipality at the [[Gjermundnes Farm]] in 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Landbruksmuseet for Møre og Romsdal, Gjermundnes |url=http://mr.kulturnett.no/institusjon/landbruksmuseet-m%C3%B8re-og-romsdal-gjermundnes |access-date=2018-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Gjermundnes |url=https://mrfylke.no/content/download/251568/2025819/version/1/file/Informasjonsplakatar%2B-%2BGjermundnes.pdf |access-date=2018-01-19 |website=Møre og Romsdal fylkeskommune |publisher=Vestnes kommune}}</ref>

===Churches===
[[File:Vestneskirke-HH.jpg|left|thumb|Vestnes Church]]
The [[Church of Norway]] has five parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within Vestnes Municipality. It is part of the [[Indre Romsdal prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Møre]].

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Vestnes'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|Vestnes||[[Vestnes Church]]||[[Vestnes (village)|Vestnes]]||1872
|-
|Fiksdal||[[Fiksdal Church]]||[[Fiksdalen]]||1866
|-
|Tresfjord||[[Tresfjord Church]]||[[Tresfjord (village)|Tresfjord]]||1828
|-
|Vike||[[Vike Church]]||[[Vikebukt]]||1970
|-
|Vågstranda||[[Vågstranda Church]]||[[Vågstranda]]||1870
|}