is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and the

administrative centre An administrative centre 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 the administrative language, such as Belgi ...

of the

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

Kinn Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality ...

which is in

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. The town was founded by royal

decree A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, monarch, royal figure, or other relevant Authority, authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislativ ...

in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is Norway's (and thus the

Scandinavian Peninsula The Scandinavian Peninsula is located in Northern Europe, and roughly comprises the mainlands of Sweden, Norway and the northwestern area of Finland. The name of the peninsula is derived from the term Scandinavia, the cultural region of Denm ...

's) westernmost town. It is the most western town on the mainland in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

. The town has a population (2018) of 9,024 and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

of . The town encompasses the entire island of Florelandet and the western half of the island of Brandsøya. The Norwegian national road Rv 5 is the main road connecting Florø to the rest of Norway. The nearby villages of Brandsøy and Grov lie several kilometers to the east of Florø. The islands of Reksta,

, Skorpa lie several kilometers to the west of the town. Florø is also home to Florø Airport and Florø Church. Florø is also a former municipality that existed as an independent town-municipality for just over 100 years (1860-1964) before being merged into the municipality of

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

. On 1 January 2020, the town became part of the new Kinn Municipality after another municipal merger.

Name

The town (and municipality) was named after the old ''Flora'' farm (), near where the town of Florø was built in 1860. The meaning of the name is somewhat uncertain with a couple of different likely possibilities. The old name, is the

accusative case In grammar, the accusative case ( abbreviated ) of a noun is the grammatical case used to receive the direct object of a transitive verb. In the English language, the only words that occur in the accusative case are pronouns: "me", "him", "he ...

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of the word which means "

floor A floor is the bottom surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from wikt:hovel, simple dirt in a cave to many layered surfaces made with modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal or any other material that can support the ex ...

", from which the names ''Flora'' and ''Florelandet'' are derived. This Old Norse word is probably derived from a Germanic root word, , meaning "flat ground". Another possibility for the meaning of the name is that it is derived from the word which means "

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

" or "deluge". A common misunderstanding is that the name ''Florø'' includes the Danish word which means "island" as a suffix that was attached to the farm name ''Flora''. Although not true, it nearly led to the town being renamed ''Florøy'' in the 1930s.

Economy

The basis for the foundation of the town was the rich

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

, symbolised by the three herrings in the town's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

is still an important part of the

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

, in addition to

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and

service industries Service industries are those not directly concerned with the production of physical goods (such as agriculture and manufacturing). Some service industries, including transportation, wholesale trade and retail trade are part of the supply chai ...

. After the discovery of petroleum in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

in the 1960s, Florø has been used as a supply base for the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (often by oil tankers ...

History

Florø was founded as a

''( ladested)'' in 1860. Shortly after its founding, on 3 January 1861, it was removed from the (now) former municipality of

and made into a municipality of its own with a population of 846. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee () was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a ...

. On 1 January 1964, a large municipal merger took place, merging the following places to form the newly created municipality of

. *the town-municipality of Florø (population: 2,040) *the municipality of Eikefjord (population: 919) *the municipality of Kinn (population: 3,567) *the parts of the municipality of Bru located north of the Førde Fjord (population: 1,155) *the Husefest and Breivik areas of the municipality of Bremanger (population: 9) *the Steindal area of the municipality of Vevring (population: 25) On 1 January 2020, Flora was one of the municipalities that merged into a newly re-created

municipality, much larger than the Kinn that existed until 1964.

Coat of arms

The

for the town of Florø was granted on 19 February 1960 and they were in use until 1 January 1964, when the new Flora Municipality was created and it included the town of Florø. (On 6 October 1967, the old arms of Florø were granted as the arms for Flora Municipality. These arms were in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality of Flora was dissolved.) The official

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"

Gules In heraldry, gules () is the tincture with the colour red. It is one of the class of five dark tinctures called "colours", the others being azure (blue), sable (black), vert (green) and purpure (purple). Gules is portrayed in heraldic hatch ...

, three

s bendwise

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

"'' (). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

is a set of three diagonal

. The charge has a

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The three herrings are a symbol for the great local importance of herring

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

for the development and

of Flora. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.

Self-government (1861-1964)

During its existence, this municipality was 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, borough cou ...

of directly elected representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting,'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office ( direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the o ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...

of Florø: * 1865–1873: Ude Jacob Høst * 1874–1881: Livius Smitt * 1882–1885: Gunnar Olsen * 1886–1886: Oscar von Koss * 1887–1887: Fredrik Faye * 1888–1890: Fredrik T. Lorentzen * 1891–1897: Gunnar Olsen * 1897–1901: E.M. Hole * 1902–1904: Elias Olsen * 1905–1907: Abraham Haave * 1908–1908: Ole Johannes Vasbotten * 1909–1910: Elias Olsen * 1911–1922: E.M. Hole * 1923–1927: Abraham Haave * 1928–1933: Alfred V. Lauvsnes * 1934–1934: Andreas Hodnefjeld * 1935–1939: Alfred V. Lauvsnes * 1940–1940: Einar Stavang * 1945–1945: S.I. Solheim * 1945–1946: Einar Stavang * 1949–1955: Olav Kolle * 1955–1957: Ludvig Olai Botnen ( V) * 1958–1959: Kjeld Haus * 1960–1961: Ludvig Olai Botnen ( V) * 1962–1964: Kjeld Haus

Municipal council

The

of Florø was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Floro Kinn Cities and towns in Norway Populated places in Vestland 1860 establishments in Norway Port cities and towns in Norway Port cities and towns of the North Sea