Storebø is the

administrative centre An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

and largest village in

Austevoll Austevoll is a municipality and an archipelago in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Midthordland in Western Norway. The administrative centre is the village of Storebø on the island of Huftarøy. Other vill ...

municipality in

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The village is located on the northern part of the island of

Huftarøy Huftarøy is the largest island in the municipality of Austevoll in Vestland county, Norway. The island lies in the Austevoll archipelago, just west of the Bjørnafjorden, south of the Korsfjorden, east of the Mokstrafjorden, and north of the S ...

, just south of the village of Birkeland and northwest of the village of

Haukanes Haukanes is a village in Austevoll municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern coast of the island of Huftarøy Huftarøy is the largest island in the municipality of Austevoll in Vestland county, Norway. ...

. The village has a population (2019) of 1,588 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

of .

History

The

Austevoll Church Austevoll Church ( no, Austevoll kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Austevoll Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Storebø. It is one of the five churches for the Austevoll parish which is par ...

, the main parish church in Austevoll municipality, was historically located in the village of

on the island of Hundvåko until 1891 when it was moved and rebuilt at Storebø. Storebø was made the

of the municipality in 1964. Prior to that, the meetings of the municipal council were held on the small island of ''Bakholmen'', located a short distance west of Storebø.

Toponymy

The name ''Storebø'' has been in use since the mid-17th century, prior to that the village was called ''Bø'' or ''Bøe''. It is thought that the prefix ''store-'', literally meaning ''large'', was added to separate it from ''Bø'' on the nearby island of

Stord Stord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Stord is sometimes called "Norway in miniature" since it has such a variety of landscapes: coastline, fjords, forests, agricultural l ...

, since both farms were part of the Saint Mary's Abbey, Lyse. The ''Bø'' at Stord was renamed

Litlabø Litlabø is a village and former mining community in the municipality of Stord in Vestland county, Norway. It is located at the northern side of the lake of Storavatnet, just northeast of the village of Sagvåg. The village had about 450 inhabita ...

, with the prefix ''litla-'' meaning ''small''. The last element, ''bø'', comes from

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

word that translates as ''farm''.

Economy

Traditionally,

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

and

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

have long been the principal industries at Storebø. Farming has been largely replaced by other industries, however the fishing industry grew increasingly important during the second half of the 20th century. During the late 1970s and early 1980s,

fish farming upright=1.3, Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye">mariculture.html" ;"title="Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture">Salmon farming in the sea (mariculture) at Loch Ainort, Isle of Skye, Scotland Fish farming or ...

and oil-related industries were developed in the area. Today some of the largest companies in the world within these two industries are based at Storebø, including DOF and

Austevoll Seafood Austevoll Seafood ASA is a major Norwegian seafood company. Austevoll Seafood trades publicly on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company is a majority owner of Norwegian seafood company Lerøy. The company is a majority owner of Peruvian seafood ...

, both companies listed on the

Oslo Stock Exchange Oslo Stock Exchange ( no, Oslo Børs) (OSE: OSLO) is a stock exchange within the Nordic countries and offers Norway’s only regulated markets for securities trading today. The stock exchange offers a full product range including equities, deriv ...

. The newspaper '' Marsteinen'' is published in Storebø.''Store norske leksikon'': Marsteinen.
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Storebo Villages in Vestland Austevoll Millennium sites