Sotenäs Municipality () is a

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' ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County () 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 1,616,000 amounts to 17% of S ...

in western

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. Its seat is located in the town of

Kungshamn Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a locality and the seat of Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3071 citizens (in 2011).

, with around 3,500 inhabitants. The present municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of previous units. The name was taken from the old

Sotenäs Hundred A Hundred (county subdivision), hundred is a geographic division formerly used in northern Germanic countries and related colonies, which historically was used to divide a larger region into smaller administrative divisions. The equivalent term i ...

Population figures

Approximate inhabitants of the larger population centres in the municipality. Source:

Statistics Sweden Statistics Sweden ( ; SCB, ) is the Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Finance and responsible for producing official statistics for decision-making, debate and research. The agency's responsibilities include: * developin ...

(2002). They are here ordered after size. * Hovenäset 200 * Ulebergshamn 300 *

Bohus-Malmön Malmön is a locality situated in Sotenäs Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Nor ...

400 * Bovallstrand 500 * Väjern 900 *

Smögen Smögen () is a locality in Sotenäs Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,329 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the liveliest "summer towns" of the Swedish west coast. The community actually straddled several islands that lay so ...

1,400 * Hunnebostrand 2,000 *

Kungshamn Kungshamn (''King's Landing'') is a locality and the seat of Sotenäs Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3071 citizens (in 2011).

3,000 (seat)

Demographics

This is a demographic table based on Sotenäs Municipality's electoral districts in the

2022 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution, regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The pr ...

sourced from SVT's election platform, in turn taken from SCB official statistics. In total there were 9,117 residents, including 7,627 Swedish citizens of voting age. 39.8% voted for the left coalition and 59.3% for the right coalition. Indicators are in percentage points except population totals and income.

History

has been inhabited for several thousands of years. The province,

Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, 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 to the ...

, is among the internationally most known because of its pre-historical remains. The oldest remains in Sotenäs Municipality are from around 6000 BC. From the younger Stone Age are several burial monuments (

dolmen A dolmen, () or portal tomb, is a type of single-chamber Megalith#Tombs, megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000 ...

s). From the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

are many rock carvings, which the province also otherwise is noted for (especially the northern

Tanum Municipality Tanum Municipality (; ) is a municipalities of Sweden, municipality in Västra Götaland County in southwestern Sweden. Its seat is the town of Tanumshede, with 1,600 inhabitants. The present municipality was formed in 1971 through the amalgamati ...

). The name Sotenäs is believed to have originated from around 1000 AD, when also the first steps from the historical

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

(or ''Härad'' in Swedish), can be traced. With the Christianization of Sweden several churches were erected, starting in the 11th century. The first ones were the churches in Askum and Tossene. Later, in the 16th century, the industry became dominated by fishing of

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 ...

. It dominated the industry for centuries; herring was used in large amounts in

- as a basic food but also in the making of oil, wax candles, etc. In the 19th century the

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 ...

Malmön was started as a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

. (Note that "Malm" means "rock" in Swedish). The quarry was kept alive and was of industrial significance until the 1930s. The

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 ...

was granted in 1977 and depicts a

halibut Halibut is the common name for three species of flatfish in the family of right-eye flounders. In some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish are also referred to as halibut. The word is derived from ''haly'' (holy) and ...

. It is built on the insignia for

and has been used for centuries.

References

External links

Sotenäs Municipality
- Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Sotenas Municipality Municipalities of Västra Götaland County