Avaldsnes is a former 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 municipality existed from 1838 until 1965 when it was dissolved. The area was an ancient centre of power on the west coast of Norway and is the site of one of Norway's more important areas of cultural history. 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 was the village of

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy (island), Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund (town), Hauge ...

. The municipality encompassed the area surrounding the Førresfjorden and the area surrounding the central part of the

Karmsundet Karmsund is a strait located in Rogaland county, Norway. The long strait separates the island of Karmøy on the west and the mainland of Norway and island of Vestre Bokn in the east. The strait runs through the municipalities of Haugesund, Ka ...

strait, plus the central part of 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 ...

. Today, the area is part of the municipalities of

Tysvær Tysvær is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Rogaland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Haugalandet Districts of Norway, region. The municipality is located on the Haugalandet peninsula on the northern side ...

and

History

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of ''Avaldsnæs'' was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

). On 16 August 1866, the village of

Kopervik Kopervik is the largest town on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland county, Norway. It is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Karmøy. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The town was also an independent munic ...

(in Avaldsnæs) was declared to be 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 ...

. Towns could not be part of another municipality, so Kopervik was separated from Avaldsnes to become a municipality of its own. This left Avaldsnes with 4,735 inhabitants. On 1 January 1909, the rural area around surrounding the town of

was separated from Avaldsnes to form the new municipality called Kopervik herred (later called ''Stangaland''). This left Avaldsnes with 3,213 inhabitants. On 1 January 1965 Avaldsnes was dissolved due to the recommendations 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 ...

. The area of Avaldsnes was divided and merged into the municipalities of

and

. All of Avaldsnes located west of the Førresfjorden (population: 4,153) was merged with the municipalities of

Skudenes Skudenes is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the town of Skudeneshavn (whi ...

Torvastad Torvastad is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until 1965. The administrative centre was the village of Haugesund (town), Haugesund (from 1838 until 185 ...

Åkra Åkra is a former municipality in the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1892 until 1965 and it encompassed the central part of the western coast of the island of Karmøy. The adminis ...

and with the towns of

and

Skudeneshavn (also known as Skudeneshamn or simply Skudenes) is a town in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located on the southernmost tip of the island of Karmøy at the entrance to the Boknafjorden and Karmsundet strait. The town i ...

to form the new municipality of

. The rest of Avaldsnes located east of the Førresfjorden, consisting of the districts of Førre, Gismarvik, and Stegaberg (population: 994), was merged with

municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old ''

'' farm () since the historic

Avaldsnes Church Avaldsnes Church (, formally ''St. Olav's Church at Avaldsnes'', ) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Karmøy Municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Avaldsnes on the northern part of the Karmøy (island ...

was built there. The first element comes from the old male name or (or the more modern Faroese version ). The last element comes from the word which means "

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

Government

While it existed, this municipality was responsible for

primary education Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...

(through 10th grade), outpatient

health services Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

senior citizen Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

services,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is the proportion of people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work du ...

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...

economic development In economics, economic development (or 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 object ...

, and municipal

road A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved. Th ...

s. 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.

Municipal council

The

of Avaldsnes 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

{{use dmy dates, date=July 2020 Karmøy Tysvær Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway

History

Name

Government

Municipal council

See also

References