Torvastad is a former municipality in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a 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 479,892. The admin ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, 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 ...

. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1965. 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 ...

was the village of

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipality on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. While the population is greater in the neighboring Karmøy municipality, the main commercial and economic centre of the Haugaland region in northern Rogaland and souther ...

(from 1838 until 1855), and after that it was the village of Torvastad on the island of

Karmøy Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is southwest of the town of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kopervik. Most of the municipality lies on ...

. Today, the area of Torvastad refers to the northern part of the municipality (and island) of

. Torvastad municipality originally encompassed parts of the present-day municipalities of

Utsira Utsira () is the smallest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. The island municipality is located in northwestern Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, just off the western coast of Norway. Utsira is part of the Districts of ...

, and

. The municipality included the northwesternmost part of the mainland of Rogaland county plus the northern part of the island of

and the islands of

, Røvær,

Vibrandsøy Vibrandsøy or Vibrandsøya is an island in Haugesund municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies west of the densely built-up island of Hasseløy and northwest of the island of Risøy in the town of Haugesund. The island is now us ...

, and Feøy. Upon its dissolution in 1965, the municipality was .

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Torvastad farm ( non, Torfastaðir), since the first

Torvastad Church Torvastad Church ( no, Torvastad kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Karmøy Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Torvastad on the northern part of the island of Karmøy. It is the church for ...

was built there. The first element is the genitive form of the male name ''Torfi'' and the last element is ''staðir'' which means 'farm'. Thus, the "farm of Torfi".

History

The parish of ''Torvestad'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janu ...

law). On 1 February 1855 the village of

was declared a "ladested" ( port of lading) and it was separated from Torvastad to form a municipality of its own. The split left Torvastad with 3,242 inhabitants. On 1 November 1881, most of the mainland part of Torvastad was separated to form the new municipality of Skaare. This left Torvastad with 1,918 residents. The island of Utsira was separated from Torvastad on 1 July 1924 to form the new municipality of

. After the split, Torvastad was left with 2,187 residents. On 1 January 1965, Torvastad municipality was dissolved upon recommendations of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post- World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Munici ...

. The small island of

(population: 70) was transferred to the municipality of

. The rest of Torvastad, with 3,783 inhabitants, was merged with the neighboring municipalities of

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund. The village was an ancient c ...

Kopervik Kopervik is the largest town on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland county, Norway. It is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Karmøy. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The town was also an independent municipa ...

Skudenes Skudenes is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the town of Skudeneshavn (wh ...

, Skudeneshavn,

Stangaland Stangaland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality of Stangaland existed from 1909 until 1965 when it was merged into the newly created Karmøy Municipality. The ...

, and

Åkra Åkra is a former municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1892 until 1965 and it encompassed the central part of the western coast of the island of Karmøy. The administ ...

to form the new, much larger municipality of

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Torvastad, 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 ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

senior citizen Old age refers to ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and is thus the end of the human life cycle. Terms and euphemisms for people at this age include old people, the elderly (worldwide usage), OAPs (British usage ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refe ...

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 adminis ...

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

economic development In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

, and municipal

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

s. The municipality is governed by a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

representatives, which in turn elects a

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Municipal council

The

of Torvastad was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2020 Haugesund Karmøy Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway