Ørsta Municipality

The municipality of Ørsta was established on 1 August 1883 when it was separated from the large Volda Municipality. The initial population was 2,070. On 1 January 1893, the Ytrestølen farm (population: 13) was transferred from Ørsta Municipality to Volda Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Ørsta Municipality (population: 6,209) was merged with Hjørundfjord Municipality (population: 1,728) and Vartdal Municipality (population: 1,315) to form a new, larger Ørsta Municipality.^[7] On 1 January 2020, the Bjørke and Leira areas of Ørsta Municipality were transferred to the neighboring Volda Municipality.^[8]

Of the total area, 48% (386 square kilometres or 149 square miles) of the municipality is at an altitude of 600 metres (2,000 ft) or more above sea level.

Apart from the mountains, Ørsta's dominant geographical feature is fjords: Storfjorden in the north, Vartdalsfjorden, Ørstafjorden in the west, and Hjørundfjorden in the east. Volda Municipality lies to the south, Hareid Municipality and Ulstein Municipality are both across the fjord to the northwest, Sula Municipality lies across the fjord to the north, Sykkylven Municipality lies to the northeast, and Stranda Municipality lies to the southeast.

The municipality is also the heartland of the Sunnmørsalpene mountains, a particularly rugged and wild area of mountains in the southern part of Møre og Romsdal county. The highest point in the municipality is the 1,630.04-metre (5,347.9 ft) tall mountain Smørskredtindane.^[1] Other prolific peaks include Slogen at 1,564 metres (5,131 ft), Skårasalen at 1,542 metres (5,059 ft), Kolåstinden at 1,432 metres (4,698 ft), Ramoen at 1,419 metres (4,656 ft), Saudehornet at 1,303 metres (4,275 ft), and Romedalstinden at 1,295 metres (4,249 ft).

Important sectors are mechanical industry and furniture manufacturing, agriculture, commercial fishing, and aquaculture. The first two are predominant in the village of Ørsta while agriculture dominates in adjacent valleys like the Follestaddalen, Åmdalen, and Bondalen valleys. On the other hand, the northern part of the municipality has strong maritime traditions, with Vartdal being the home of one of the largest factory trawler fleets in Norway.

Ørsta Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.^[15] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sunnmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Ørsta–Volda Airport (in Hovdebygda) is the regional airport for people living in the municipalities of Ørsta, Volda, Vanylven, Sande, Ulstein, Hareid, and Herøy. European Route E39 transects the municipality in a north–south direction. Ørsta Municipality is linked to Sula Municipality and Sykkylven Municipality by a ferry at Festøy, the northernmost point in Ørsta. It is also linked to Ulstein Municipality (and Hareid, Herøy, and Sande municipalities) by the Eiksund Tunnel, an undersea tunnel that opened on 23 February 2008 that is, currently, the world's deepest at 287 metres (942 ft) below the sea surface.

• Ivar Aasen (1813–1896), a Norwegian language philologist, lexicographer, playwright, and poet.^[38]
• Anders Hovden (1860–1943), a Church of Norway clergyman, hymnwriter, poet, and author
• Njål Hole (1914–1988), a chemical engineer and nuclear physicist
• Torbjørn Digernes (born 1947), a physicist and professor of marine systems design
• Kari Sørbø (born 1955), a radio personality who was brought up in Ørsta
• Eldar Sætre (born 1956), a businessman and CEO of Equinor
• Bjarte Engeset (born 1958), a classical conductor
• Odd Magne Gridseth (1959–2025), a jazz musician and composer
• Yngve Sætre (born 1962), a record producer, musician on vocals, and keyboard
• Marit Velle Kile (born 1978), an actress in film and on TV ^[39]
• Audun Ellingsen (born 1979), a jazz musician who plays upright bass
• Torgeir Standal (born 1990), a jazz guitarist
• Vassendgutane (formed 1996), a band that plays country and danseband music