|
||
 |
||
| County | Møre og Romsdal | |
| District | Nordmøre | |
| Municipality | NO-1556 | |
| Administrative centre | ||
| Mayor (2003) | ||
| Official language form | Neutral | |
| Area - Total - Land - Percentage |
Ranked 65 km² 64 km² 0.02 % |
|
| Population - Total (2004) - Percentage - Change (10 years) - Density |
Ranked 5,274 0.12 % 6.2 % 83/km² |
|
| Demonym | Freiøying[1] | |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: | |
| www.frei.kommune.no |
||
Frei was a municipality in the county of Møre og Romsdal, Norway. The municipality was established January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt) and was merged with Kristiansund January 1, 2008. Frei is also the name of the main island of the former municipality with 62.5 km².
The name
The municipality was named after the island of Frei (Old Norse Freiðr). The meaning of the name is unknown (maybe derived from fríðr 'good, beautiful'). Until 1889 the name was written Fredø.
Coat-of-arms
The coat-of-arms is from modern times (1987). It shows two crowns - to represent the kings Haakon I of Norway and Haakon VII of Norway. (The Battle of Rastarkalv took place in the municiaplity in 955 - and Haakon VII visited the municipality and commemorated the battle in 1955.)
History
The Viking-era Battle of Rastarkalv, between Haakon I of Norway and the sons of Eric I of Norway, took place here in 955 AD. Frei was merged into Kristiansund on January 1, 2008. The new municipality's name, as well as its administrative center, is Kristiansund. Frei's largest and central community is Rensvik, but the municipality administration and health services were located elsewhere.
