Ørland is located at the southwestern tip of the Fosen peninsula at the northern shore of the mouth of Trondheimsfjord where the Stjørnfjorden arm begins.

Other larger settlements in Ørland include the town of Brekstad and the villages of Uthaug, Opphaug, Ottersbo, Høybakken, Jøssund, Lysøysundet, Nes, Oksvoll, and Vallersund.

At the same time, the administrative centre of the newly enlarged Ørland was moved from Brekstad to the village of Bjugn.

The first element of the current name is Yrjar which is a plural form of aurr which means "gravel".

[9] On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Ørland, removing the definite form ending -et.

The official blazon is "Party per bend sinister argent and sable" (Norwegian: Venstre skrådelt sølv og svart).

This means the arms have a field (background) that is divided diagonally from the bottom left to the top right.

The left side of the line has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used.

The design is derived from the historic coat of arms of Inger, Lady of Austraat, a noblewoman from the Rømer family who lived at the Austrått manor in Ørland from 1488 to 1555.

Ørland is on the Norwegian mainland, situated on the northern shore of the mouth of the Trondheimsfjord, and is largely flat lowland.

Ørland faces the Norwegian Sea to the west with Trondheimsfjord and the mouth of the Stjørnfjord to the east.

Ørland is one of the northernmost locations to have a mild enough winter and long enough summer to fulfill all criteria as a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb).

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Ørland is made up of 31 representatives that are elected to four year terms.

The largest employer of the Fosen peninsula is the military air force base located in Ørland municipality.

Passenger ferries run between Brekstad and Trondheim eight times each direction on weekdays (reduced service on weekends).

The ferry also connects Garten and Storfosna with Leksa and Værnes in Agdenes municipality across the Trondheim Fjord.

Good electronic communications is available via fiber network to most residents in Brekstad and the towns of Uthaug and Opphaug while ADSL/VDSL is available everywhere else.

The municipality has two recently renovated public primary schools: Opphaug skole (which serves the villages of Opphaug, Ottersbo and Uthaug) and Hårberg skole (which serves the city of Brekstad as well as the villages of Beian, Garten, Grande, Kråkvåg, Rønne, and Storfosna).

Archaeological digs has shown that Ørland has been a regional center at least starting at the Iron Age.

One of the longhouses found has a unique structure, believed to have served a special purpose, for example a court, customs house or assembly hall.

Excavation ongoing as of 2015[update] for expansion of the airport revealed post holes for long houses and a large midden (rubbish pile), giving detailed information about how the inhabitants lived.

Due to Ørlands geographical location at the entrance of the Trondheim fjord it must have been a strategically important place for the exercise of power or to control trade.

His wife was Bergljot (Bergljót Halvdansdóttir), niece of Kings Harald Hardrada and Olaf II of Norway.

Through inheritance, use of force and other methods Lady Inger increased her wealth and controlled vast land areas.

It is believed that Lady Inger and Niels started what later Ove Bjelke completed: the Austrått Manor.

It is a manor with a sense of symmetry and symbols of power and inspired by the builder's time as a student in Italy.

This manor was a royal estate in the 14th century, but was for the next 300 years part of the land holdings of the rulers at Austrått.

The place is today occupied by Museet Uthaugsgården and is unique due to the preservation of many rooms and items in their original condition.

Ørland has had its own cheese and milk factory since 1878 and a grain mill predating written records.

Several prison camps, in places like Austrått, Uthaug and Hovde, made a strong impression on the population leading to Fosen being a key area for Norwegian-Yugoslav relations.