Kinn 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' ...

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...

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 ...

. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of Bremanger lies in between the north and south parts of Kinn. 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 ...

s of the municipality is the two cities of Florø and Måløy. Some villages in the municipality include Rognaldsvåg, Stavang, Grov, Norddalsfjord, Nyttingnes, Steinhovden, Brandsøy, Deknepollen, Holvika, Kvalheim, Langeneset, Raudeberg, Refvika, Silda, Tennebø, Vedvika, and

Vågsvåg Vågsvåg is a village in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the southern shore of the island of Vågsøy (island), Vågsøy along the Vågsfjorden, a part of the main Nordfjorden (Sogn og Fjordane), Nordfjorden. The ...

. Historically, there was another municipality of Kinn in Norway that existed from 1838 until 1964. The "old" Kinn roughly corresponded to the southern part of the "new" municipality of Kinn. The municipality is the 142nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Kinn is the 75th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 17,179. The municipality's

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 ...

is and its population has decreased by 3.6% over the previous 10-year period. The 2021 film Dune was partially filmed in Kinn, serving as House Atreides’ home world of Caladan.

General information

The municipality was established on 1 January 2020 when the old Flora Municipality was merged with most of Vågsøy Municipality (the rest of Vågsøy was merged into the new Stad Municipality).

Name

The municipality was created in 2020 and it resurrected the old municipality of Kinn which existed from 1838 to 1964. That municipality (originally 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 ...

) was named after the old ''Kinn'' farm () on the island of Kinn since the first Kinn Church was built there. The name is identical to the word which means " cheek", referring to the steep slope of a mountain on the island. Historically, the island's name was spelled ''Kind''.

Coat of arms

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 2019 for use starting on 1 January 2020 when the municipality was established. The informal

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

is ''"Per chevron ployé divided per pale azure and argent above and azure below with four bendlets sinister argent enarched on the sinister half"''. This means the arms have a field (background) has a tincture of azure in parts and elsewhere it is argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The arms are an abstract design and the four "bendlets" give the illusion of the bow of a boat, an important symbol for the fishing community. The design can also be seen as a rock, waves, or the head of a spear.

Churches

The Church of Norway has many churches in the municipality of Kinn which is part of the Diocese of Bjørgvin. There are four parishes () in the

Sunnfjord prosti Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland counties of Norway, county. It includes the List of municipalities of Norway, municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the sout ...

( deanery) and one parish () in the Nordfjord prosti ( deanery).

Government

Kinn Municipality is 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, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning,

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 and utilities. 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, 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 ...

is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sogn og Fjordane District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The

of Kinn is made up of 39 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors

The mayors () of Kinn: *2020-2023: Ola Teigen ( Ap) *2023-present: Bengt Solheim-Olsen ( H)

Geography

The northern portion of Kinn Municipality includes the island of Vågsøy and a small portion of the mainland east of the island on northern and outer shore of the Nordfjorden. Other populated islands in this part of the municipality include Silda, Moldøen, and Husevågøy. The lake Degnepollvatnet is located between the villages of Degnepoll and Tennebø. The southern portion of Kinn Municipality is located on the coast at the entrances to the

Norddalsfjorden Norddalsfjorden is a branch off of the main Storfjorden (Sunnmøre), Storfjorden in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is located in Fjord Municipality and a small part is also in Stranda Municipality. The fjord is long, when you include ...

and Førdefjorden. It includes many islands, including Reksta, Askrova, Svanøya, Skorpa, Fanøya, Hovden, and Kinn. The municipality also includes the large lakes of Endestadvatnet, Lykkjebøvatnet, and Vassetevatnet. The

is crossed by the Norddalsfjord Bridge.

Climate

Ytterøyane lighthouse in Kinn has been recording temperature since 1984, showing a temperate oceanic climate (marine west coast, Köppen: Cfb). The temperature range from the coldest month to the warmest month is only 11.2C. The coldest monthly mean is 3.4C, making this among the mildest winters in Scandinavia. The all-time high was recorded July 2019, and the all-time low was recorded February 2001. On 7 November 2018 Ytterøyane recorded ) which was new record high for

. The average date for the first overnight freeze (below ) in autumn is December 6 at Ytterøyane (1981-2010 average). However, in 2015 there were no freezing lows at all.

Notable people

* Ernst Sars (1835 in Kinn – 1917), a Norwegian professor, historian, author and editor * Sigurd Høst (1866 in Flora – 1939), an educationalist, academic and school textbook writer * Martha Tynæs (1870 in Florø – 1930), a Norwegian feminist, social worker and politician * Ivar Lykke Falch Lind (1870–1951), a jurist and politician, Mayor of Kinn in 1920s * Thor Solberg (1893 in Florø – 1967), an aviation pioneer, flew from the US to Norway in 1935 * Arnvid Vasbotten (1903 in Florø – 1985), a jurist and politician for

Nasjonal Samling The Nasjonal Samling (, NS; ) was a Norway, Norwegian far-right politics, far-right political party active from 1933 to 1945. It was the only legal party of Norway from 1942 to 1945. It was founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling a ...

* Jon Tolaas (1939 in Vågsøy –2012), a Norwegian teacher, poet and novelist * Dagfinn Hjertenes (1943 in Florø – 2006), a Norwegian politician, Mayor of Flora 1980s * Per Drageset (born 1944 in Raudeberg), a Norwegian civil servant, Assisting County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane * Reidar Sandal (born 1949 in Vågsøy), a Norwegian politician * Øyulf Hjertenes (born 1979 in Florø), a Norwegian economist, journalist and newspaper editor

Sport

* Anne Grethe Jeppesen (born 1957 in Florø), a Norwegian sport shooter, competed at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

* Margunn Haugenes (born 1970 in Florø), a Norwegian Olympic champion footballer * Runar Hove (born 1995 in Florø), a Norwegian footballer with 160 club caps

Media gallery

Hendanes fyr.JPG, Hendanes AIS Kraakenes - Panorama Kannestein Zoom 2.jpg, Kannestein Kråkenes2.JPG, Kråkenes Botnafjorden.JPG, Botnafjorden Eikefjorden.JPG, Eikefjorden

References

{{use dmy dates, date=October 2022 Municipalities of Vestland 2020 establishments in Norway