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Kvitsøy is an island municipality in
Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...
county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. 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 ...
of the municipality is the village of
Ydstebøhamn Ydstebøhamn or Ystabøhamn is the administrative centre of Kvitsøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the southern shore of the island of Kvitsøy. The village has a ferry quay which receives regular ferries fr ...
on the island of Kvitsøy. The municipality is an archipelago located at the entrance to the large
Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden ( en, Bokna Fjord) is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared bet ...
. It sits about northwest of the mainland
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
peninsula. The
Rogfast Rogaland Fixed Link or simply the Rogfast is a project, constructing a sub-sea road tunnel between the municipalities of Randaberg (near the city of Stavanger) and Bokn in Rogaland county, Norway. The tunnel will be called the Boknafjord tunnel ...
tunnel is being built to eventually connect Kvitsøy to the mainland road network. The municipality is the 356th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway, making it the smallest in the nation. Kvitsøy is the 349th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 523. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 0.8% over the previous 10-year period.


General information

The islands of Kvitsøy were established as a municipality on 1 January 1923 when they were separated from the municipality of
Mosterøy Mosterøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The island municipality included the islands ...
. Initially, the municipality had 581 residents. The municipal boundaries have not changed since that time.


Name

The Old Norse form of the name was ''Hvítingsøy(jar)'' which means "the white island(s)", probably because there is white quartz in the rocks on the islands. Originally, the spelling of the municipality was ''"Kvitingsø"'', but later it was shortened to ''"Kvitsøy"''.


Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted in 1989. The arms show three silver lighthouses on a field of blue. The choice of lighthouses and the color blue are symbolic of the importance of the sea for this island municipality.


Churches

The
Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...
has one parish () within the municipality of Kvitsøy. It is part of the
Tungenes prosti This list of churches in Rogaland is a list of the Church of Norway churches in Rogaland county, Norway. The churches are all part of the Diocese of Stavanger. The diocese is based at the Stavanger Cathedral in the city of Stavanger. The list ...
(
deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residenc ...
) in the
Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Li ...
.


History

Kvitsøy is first mentioned in the Snorre Saga, where Snorre records a truce being made between King Olaf II of Norway later to be known as St. Olav ( no, Hellige Olav) and Erling Skjalgsson, under the stone cross. Later it seems that the islands were owned by the Church until the reformation in 1536 (when the nation switched from Roman Catholicism to Lutheranism), when it became Crown property. In 1591, the population had become large enough to fund the construction of the
Kvitsøy Church Kvitsøy Church ( no, Kvitsøy kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kvitsøy Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located just north of the village of Ydstebøhamn on the island of Kvitsøy. It is the church for the Kvi ...
, which is still standing and the first new church in the county after the reformation. From the mid-18th century, Kvitsøy was the location of one of the first navigation beacons in western Norway, and this was later converted to a lighthouse service when the
Kvitsøy Lighthouse Kvitsøy Lighthouse ( no, Kvitsøy fyr) is a coastal lighthouse and heritage building in the municipality of Kvitsøy in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located on the west side of the village of Ydstebøhamn on the island of Kvitsøy (island), Kv ...
was built.
Kvitsøy Vessel Traffic Service Centre Kvitsøy Vessel Traffic Service Centre ( no, Kvitsøy trafikksentral), commonly abbreviated Kvitsøy VTS, is a vessel traffic service and pilot station, pilot dispatch station situated on the island municipality of Kvitsøy in Norway. Its main res ...
opened on 3 January 2003.


Transmitter

Kvitsøy used to be the site of high power short wave and medium wave broadcasting transmitters of the national broadcasting company, NRK. The aerial tower of the medium-wave transmitter is the
Kvitsøy Tower Kvitsøy Tower is the name for the aerial tower of the 1200 kilowatt transmitter of the broadcasting company of Norway for the frequency 1314 kHz, which was built in 1981/82. Kvitsøy-Tower was a 117.5 metres high, free standing centre-fed ha ...
. The transmitter for the medium-wave channel 1314 kHz was switched off at 22:00 UTC (Midnight local time) on Friday June 30, 2006, shortwave broadcasts continued until 2011. In May and June 2012, the entire site was dismantled.


Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Kvitsøy, are responsible for
primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first ...
(through 10th grade), outpatient
health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wiktionary:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physical and menta ...
, senior citizen services, unemployment and other
social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...
, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the
Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six Court of appeal (Norway), courts of appeal in the Norway, Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen (city), Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the cou ...
.


Municipal council

The municipal council () of Kvitsøy is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:


Geography

The municipality is an archipelago located at the entrance to the large
Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden ( en, Bokna Fjord) is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared bet ...
. It sits about northwest of the mainland
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
peninsula and south of the islands of Karmøy and
Vestre Bokn Vestre Bokn is an island in Bokn municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island is the main island of the municipality. It lies on the northern side of the Boknafjorden at the southern end of the Karmsundet strait. Vestre Bokn lies betwe ...
. The largest island is
Kvitsøy Kvitsøy is an island municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. At only , it is the smallest municipality in Norway by area and one of the smallest by population. Kvitsøy is located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The administrative cen ...
, and it is connected with a few of the other islands in the archipelago, but most of the islands are uninhabited.


Nature


Climate

The islands are completely engulfed by the
Gulf Stream The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension the North Atlantic Current, North Atlantic Drift, is a warm and swift Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows through the Straits of Florida a ...
and hence have a typically wet West Nordic coastal climate. The sea between the islands and the mainland is never frozen. Due to the maritime influence, summers are often chilly with temperatures between and being the norm. Winter highs usually are in the mid-single digits in all of the Greater
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
region.


Fauna and flora

There are no larger mammals in Kvitsøy except for seals (''kobbe'') and small dolphins (''nise''). The islands have a rich marine bird life. Many different plants are found on the islands. Some are natural to Norwegian flora, while others have been transported by ships emptying their hulls of ballast before entering the port of the nearby city of
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
.


References


External links

*
Municipal fact sheet
from
Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvitsoy Municipalities of Rogaland 1923 establishments in Norway