The municipality of �lesund occupies seven of the outer islands in the county of M�re og Romsdal: Hessa, Asp�ya, N�rv�ya, Oksn�ya, Ellings�ya, Humla, and T�rla. The town centre is located on the islands Asp�ya and N�rv�y, while Heissa and Oksn�ya contain residential areas.
The second largest island, Elings�ya, used to be accessible only by boat or by road via Skodje municipality, but an undersea tunnel was built in 1987 to make travelling between the island and the town centre more convenient. The tunnel is 3,481 metres (11,421 ft) long, and was upgraded in 2009.
Situated 236 km north northeast of Bergen, �lesund is adjacent to the Hj�rund and Geiranger fjords, the latter being on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites.
The municipality covers an area of 93 square kilometres (36 sq mi). The population (2010) is 42,982, making the population density of 460.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,193 /sq mi). The population of the agglomeration, which includes parts of the neighbouring municipality of Sula, is 45,299. The municipality also contains three smaller separate urban areas on the island of Ellings�ya: Hoffland, �rset, and Myklebost with a total population of 1,204. Other villages include L�vika and Spjelkavik, both on Oksen�ya
