Ydstebøhamn or Ydstebøhavn is 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 ...

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 village is located on the southern shore of the island of

. The village 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. The village has a population (2019) of 374, giving the village 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 . This means that over 70% of the municipal population lives in the village. The village is an important fishing port, especially focusing on shellfish. The

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 ...

lies atop a small hill on the northwestern edge of the village.

References

Villages in Rogaland Kvitsøy {{Rogaland-geo-stub