Rennesøy 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 ...

. It was merged into

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

municipality on 1 January 2020. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. 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 ...

of the municipality is the village of Vikevåg. Other villages in Rennesøy included Askje and

Sørbø Sørbø is a village in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located along the Boknafjorden on the northwestern shore of the island of Rennesøy to the northeast of the large city of Stavanger. The village sits a ...

. The municipality encompassed a number of islands on the south side of the

Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden ( en, Bokna Fjord) is a fjord located in Rogaland county, Norway. The huge fjord lies between the cities of Stavanger and Haugesund and dominates the central part of the county. The main part of the fjord is shared ...

, north of the city of

. At the time of its dissolution, the municipality was the 404th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Rennesøy was the 207th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 4,892. The municipality's

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopu ...

is and its population has increased by 38.7% over the last decade.

General information

The parish of ''Rennesø'' 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 July 1884, the municipality was split in two with the islands of

Mosterøy Mosterøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Askje where the Askje Church is located. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1965. The island municipality included the isla ...

Klosterøy Klosterøy is an island in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Boknafjorden in the Rennesøy island group. It lies immediately north of the island of Fjøløy and immediately west of ...

Fjøløy Fjøløy is an island in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies on the south side of the Boknafjorden in the Rennesøy island group. The island lies immediately south of the island of Klosterøy and west of the ...

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 ...

, and the western part of

Åmøy Åmøy is an island in Stavanger Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies just north of the city of Stavanger in a group of islands. The islands of Sokn and Bru both lie to the west of Åmøy and the islands of Mosterøy and ...

forming the new municipality of

, and the islands of Rennesøy and Brimse remained as Rennesøy municipality. This split left Rennesøy with 1,092 residents, less than half of its previous population. The island of

later became an independent municipality of its own. On 1 July 1918, the Hanasand area of the neighboring municipality of

Finnøy Finnøy is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Stavanger Municipality. It was located in the traditional district of Ryfylke. The ad ...

(population: 72) that was located on the island of Rennesøy was transferred to Rennesøy municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work 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 ...

. On 1 January 1965, the municipality of Mosterøy was merged back into Rennesøy. Prior to the merger, Rennesøy had 1,370 residents. On 1 January 2020, the municipalities of

, Rennesøy, and

were merge into one, large municipality called Stavanger.

Name

The municipality was named after the main island of the municipality, Rennesøy. The

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

form of the name was ''Rennisøy''. The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is ''øy'' which means "

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

". Before 1918, the name was written "Rennesø".

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

was granted on 20 February 1981. The arms show two silver/white

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...

s on a blue background. The blue represents the ocean, an important feature for this island municipality. The crosiers represent the importance of Norway's oldest and best preserved

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Utstein Abbey Utstein may refer to: Places * Utstein Abbey, a historic abbey in Rennesøy, Norway * Utstein Church, a historic church in Rennesøy, Norway Other *, a submarine in the Royal Norwegian Navy * Utstein Style, a set of guidelines for uniform reportin ...

, located in the municipality.

Churches

The

Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church ...

had two parishes () within the municipality of Rennesøy. It was part of the Tungenes prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or reside ...

) in the

Diocese of Stavanger The Diocese of Stavanger ( no, Stavanger bispedømme) is a diocese in the Church of Norway. It covers all of Rogaland county in western Norway. The cathedral city is Stavanger, where the Stavanger Cathedral is located. The bishop is Anne Lise � ...

Geography

The island municipality sat on the south side of the large

. It consists of about 80 islands, most of which are uninhabited. The main islands are Rennesøy,

Sokn Sokn is an island in Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island lies in a group of islands on the south side of the Boknafjorden, just east of the city of Stavanger. There are several islands surrounding Sokn: Bru to th ...

, Bru, Brimse, and the western part of

(the eastern part is part of

municipality). All of the main islands are connected together and to the mainland by a series of bridges and tunnels (except for Brimse which has a ferry connection). The Fjøløy Lighthouse is located in the northwestern part of the municipality, lighting a main shipping channel to Stavanger.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Rennesøy, 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 ...

of elected representatives, which in turn elect 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 ...

. The municipality fell under the

Stavanger District Court Stavanger District Court ( no, Stavanger tingrett) was a district court in Rogaland county, Norway. The court was based in the city of Stavanger. The court existed until 2021. It had jurisdiction over the central part of the county which incl ...

and the

Gulating Court of Appeal The Gulating Court of Appeal ( no, Gulating lagmannsrett) is one of six courts of appeal in the Kingdom of Norway. The Court is located in the city of Bergen. The court has jurisdiction over the counties of Vestland and Rogaland plus Sirdal Muni ...

Municipal council

The

() of Rennesøy 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 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:

Transportation

Since 1992, Rennesøy municipality has been connected to the mainland by a series of bridges and undersea tunnels. The

Byfjord Tunnel The Byfjord Tunnel ( no, Byfjordtunnelen) is a subsea road tunnel in Rogaland county, Norway. The tunnel runs between the village of Grødem on the mainland in Randaberg municipality and the island of Sokn in Stavanger municipality, running ...

connects the mainland to the island of

, and it is part of the

European route E39 European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other single road in Eur ...

highway. The island of Sokn is connected to the three islands of

, Bru, and

by bridges. Mosterøy is connected to

and

by short bridges and to Rennesøy by the undersea Mastrafjord Tunnel. Rennesøy island is also connected to the island of Vestre Bokn (across the Boknafjorden) by ferry. Furthermore, the island of Rennesøy is connected to the two islands of

and

Talgje Talgje (or ''Sør-Talgje'') is a populated island in the eastern part of Stavanger municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The island is located in the Talgjefjorden and Brimsefjorden, both arms off of the main Boknafjorden in a large a ...

in the neighboring municipality of

to the northeast by the Finnøy Tunnel.

References

External links

* * *
Municipal fact sheet
from

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every ye ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rennesoy Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 2020 disestablishments in Norway