Sotenäs Municipality (''Sotenäs kommun'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of 1 ...

in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of

Kungshamn Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a locality and the seat of Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3071 citizens (in 2011).

, with around 3,500 inhabitants. The present municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of previous units. The name was taken from the old

Sotenäs Hundred A hundred is a geographic division formerly used in northern Germanic countries and related colonies, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions. The equivalent term in Swedish is (in Uppland also ...

Population figures

Approximate inhabitants of the larger population centres in the municipality. Source: Statistics Sweden (2002). They are here ordered after size. *

Hovenäset Hovenäset is a locality in Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County and is located about 3 km north of Kungshamn Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a locality and the seat of Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden ...

200 * Ulebergshamn 300 * Bohus-Malmön 400 * Bovallstrand 500 * Väjern 900 * Smögen 1,400 * Hunnebostrand 2,000 *

Kungshamn Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a locality and the seat of Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3071 citizens (in 2011).

3,000 (seat)

History

has been inhabited for several thousands of years. The province, Bohuslän, is among the internationally most known because of its pre-historical remains. The oldest remains in Sotenäs Municipality are from around 6000 BC. From the

younger Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

are several burial monuments ( dolmens). From the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

are many

rock carving A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s, which the province also otherwise is noted for (especially the northern

Tanum Municipality Tanum Municipality (; ''Tanums kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in southwestern Sweden. Its seat is the town of Tanumshede, with 1,600 inhabitants. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamation of thr ...

). The name Sotenäs is believed to have originated from around 1000 AD, when also the first steps from the historical

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

(or ''Härad'' in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

), can be traced. With the

Christianization of Sweden The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible direc ...

several churches were erected, starting in the 11th century. The first ones were the churches in Askum and Tossene. Later, in the 16th century, the industry became dominated by fishing of herring. It dominated the industry for centuries; herring was used in large amounts in Bohuslän - as a basic food but also in the making of oil, wax candles, etc. In the 19th century the

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

Malmön was started as a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

. (Note that "Malm" means "rock" in Swedish). The quarry was kept alive and was of industrial significance until the 1930s. The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted in 1977 and depicts a

halibut Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera '' Hippoglossus'' and '' Reinhardtius'' from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish. The word is derived from ''h ...

. It is built on the insignia for

and has been used for centuries.

References

External links

Sotenäs Municipality
- Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Sotenas Municipality Municipalities of Västra Götaland County Gothenburg and Bohus