Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

and the seat of

Sotenäs Municipality Sotenäs Municipality (''Sotenäs kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungshamn, with around 3,500 inhabitants. The present municipality was created in 1974 through the am ...

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 ...

, Sweden with 3071 citizens (in 2011).''Sotenäs Kommun: Historia''
During summers, population is doubled multiple times, as Kungshamn is a popular tourist visit.
The town consists of the former towns of "Gravarne", "Bäckevik" and "Fisketången". Kungshamn is situated on a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

just north of

Lysekil Lysekil () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Lysekil Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had about 7,600 inhabitants in 2018. Situated on the south tip of Stångenäs peninsula at the mouth of Gullmarn fjord, it ...

and on the same latitude as

Uddevalla Uddevalla (old no, Oddevold) is a town and the seat of Uddevalla Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. In 2015, it had a population of 34 781. It is located at a bay of the south-eastern part of Skagerrak. The beaches of Uddevalla are ...

Skövde Skövde () is a locality and urban centre in Skövde Municipality and Västra Götaland County, in the Västergötland (Western Gothland region) in central Southern Sweden. Skövde is situated some 150 km northeast of Gothenburg, between Swe ...

and

Linköping Linköping () is a city in southern Sweden, with around 105,000 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality and the capital of Östergötland County. Linköping is also the episcopal see of the Diocese of Linköping (Church ...

. Since 1970, the town is connected to the Smögen island by a bridge. Kungshamn is known for its fishing industry. The

Abba Seafood Abba Seafood AB, formerly Abba AB, with head offices in Gothenburg, Sweden, is a company producing preserved fish products. The main factory is located in Kungshamn. The company was established in Bergen 1838 and in the 1850s it moved to Stoc ...

company is located next to Smögen Bridge. Since 1920, all products for the company have been manufactured in the town."Abba Seafood: Om företaget"
/ref>

Name

The direct translation of Kungshamn is "King's harbour" but mostly known as and correctly translated to "King's Landing". The name implies a connection to a king, but its origin is unknown. The locality was named Kungshamn in the 1960s."VästSverige: Sotenäs Turistbyrå"
/ref> Before the renaming, it consisted of the smaller settlements Gravarne, Bäckevik and Fisketången. The names referred to the small communities located in the "Kungshamn area". Gravarne was the most commonly used in the late 20th century and fishermen used that name on their boats to identify their home port."Bohusgillet.se: Kungshamn"
/ref>

History

All of

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...

used to belong to Norway until it was seceded to Sweden in the 1658

Treaty of Roskilde The Treaty of Roskilde (concluded on 26 February ( OS), or 8 March 1658) ( NS) during the Second Northern War between Frederick III of Denmark–Norway and Karl X Gustav of Sweden in the Danish city of Roskilde. After a devastating defeat, ...

."Bohuslän museum"
During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, foreigners were attracted by the rich

herring Herring are forage fish, mostly belonging to the family of Clupeidae. Herring often move in large schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and North Atlantic Oceans, i ...

fishing and therefore came to the west coast of Sweden to fish herring and later export it.

Toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and ...

s were established and one of the largest was in Kungshamn. Due to the herring fishing more and more people came to settle down in the Kungshamn locality. A more permanent village was established during the 19th century, due to a period of exceptional rich herring fishing." Sotenäs: Sotenäs Kommun"

Nature

The north eastern part of Kungshamn is forested. The landscape is characteristic for Bohuslän, with predominantly bare

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

cliffs intersected by deep valleys with shrub bog areas, rich with birdlife."VästSverige: Sotenäs Kommun: Natur"
/ref> In the forest there is a hiking trail.Turistbyrå: Soteleden"
/ref> The trail goes through Kungshamn and continues into other localities within the

Sports

The following sports clubs are located in Kungshamn: *

Kungshamns IF Kungshamns IF is a Swedish football club located in Kungshamn. Background Kungshamns IF currently plays in Division 4 Bohuslän/Dalsland which is the sixth tier of Swedish football. They play their home matches at the Kungshamnsvallen in Kungsh ...

References

External links

Unofficial Site of Kungshamn
{{authority control Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Sotenäs Municipality Municipal seats of Västra Götaland County Swedish municipal seats