Kvitsøy or Kvitsøya is the main
island
An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...
in
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 ...
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, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...
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 island is one of 167 islands and
skerries
A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation.
Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to:
Geography
Northern Ireland
*Skerries, County Armagh, a List of townlands in County Armagh#S, townland in Coun ...
that make up the municipality. The island is home to most of the municipal residents, as well as the majority of the municipality's land area. The main population centre on the island is the village of
Ydstebøhamn on the southern coast. The
Kvitsøy Church and
Kvitsøy Lighthouse
Kvitsøy Lighthouse () 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. The lighthouse marks t ...
are both located on the island.
The island is only accessible by boat. The village of Ydstebøhamn has a
ferry quay which receives regular ferries from the town of
Skudeneshavn 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 ...
across the
Boknafjorden to the north, and to the village of Mekjarvik in
Randaberg
Randaberg is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Jæren, at the northern end of the Stavanger Peninsula. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Randaberg.
Randaberg ...
municipality across the
Kvitsøyfjorden on the mainland to the south. The planned
Rogfast
Rogaland Fixed Link or simply the Rogfast, is a project to construct a sub-sea road tunnel in Rogaland County, Norway, running between the municipalities of Randaberg (near the city of Stavanger) and Bokn, with a spur connecting to the island m ...
undersea tunnel will connect Kvitsøy to the mainland to the north and south as part of the government's goal of providing a ferry-free
European route E39
European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...
highway along the west coast of Norway.
See also
*
List of islands of Norway
This is a list of islands of Norway sorted by name. For a list sorted by area, see List of islands of Norway by area.
A
* Alden
* Aldra
* Algrøy
* Alsta
* Altra
* Anda
* Andabeløya
* Andørja
* Andøya, Vesterålen
* Andøya, Agder ...
References
Islands of Rogaland
Kvitsøy
{{Rogaland-geo-stub