Hillesøy

Former municipality in Troms, Norway

Hillesøy is a former municipality in Troms county in Norway. The municipality existed from 1855 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located on both sides of the Malangen fjord in what is now Tromsø Municipality and Senja Municipality. The administrative centre was located at Brensholmen on the western shore of the island of Kvaløya. Brensholmen is also the location of Hillesøy Church, the main church for the municipality. Prior to its dissolution in 1964, the municipality was the 214th largest by area out of the 689 municipalities in Norway. Hillesøy Municipality was the 365th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of about 2,507. The municipality's population density was and its population had decreased by 2.6% over the previous 10 year period. Hillesøy Municipality included about of land with on the island of Senja, about on the island of Kvaløya, and about of smaller islands including Hillesøya and Sommarøya. On Senja island, Hillesøy Municipality included the larger villages of Fjordgård, Husøy, and Botnhamn. On Kvaløya island, it included Ersfjordbotn and Brensholmen. The island of Sommarøya is connected to the large island of Kvaløya by the Sommarøy Bridge. Most of the other islands are only accessible by boat.

The parish of Hillesøy (originally spelled Hillesø) was established as a municipality in 1855 when it was separated from the large Lenvik Municipality (or it might have been in 1871–some sources do not concur).

The municipality is named after the old Hillesøy farm on the island of Hillesøya since the first Hillesøy Church was originally built there. The meaning of the name is not entirely clear. The first element of the old name may come from the old Norwegian male name Hildulfr. Another possibility is that the name was originally Hellisøy. If this is the case, then the first element would be derived from the word hellir which means "rock slab" or "cave". The last element of the name is not disputed. The last element is øy which means "island". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Hillesø. On 6 January 1908, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Hillesøy, to give the name a more Norwegian and less Danish spelling due to Norwegian language reforms.

The highest point in the municipality was the tall mountain Keipen on the island of Senja. The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Hillesøy was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.