(also known as Skudeneshamn or simply Skudenes) is 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is located on the southernmost tip of the island of Karmøy at the entrance to the

Boknafjorden Boknafjord or Boknafjorden () 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 between the municip ...

and Karmsundet strait. The town is part of the traditional district of

Haugaland Haugaland or Haugalandet is a traditional district situated on the western coast of Norway. Haugaland is one of the 15 traditional districts located within the Vestlandet region. Geographically, Haugaland is a peninsula between Bømlafjorden i ...

. The town was an independent municipality due to its status as a ladested from 1858 until 1965. The town has a population (2019) of 3,334 and 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 makes Skudeneshavn one of the smallest towns in Norway (

Kolvereid Kolvereid is a town in Nærøysund Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The town of Kolvereid is located at the west end of the Kolvereidvågen bay, off of the inner part of the Foldafjord. The Norwegian County Road 770 runs through the t ...

, with 1,470 inhabitants is the smallest). In 1990, it won second prize in NORTRA's competition for Norway's Best Preserved Small Town.

History

The village of Skudeneshavn was declared to be a ladested (port town) on 10 February 1858. Since towns were not allowed to be part of a rural municipality, Skudeneshavn was removed from the municipality 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 ...

, and established as its own urban municipality. Initially, Skudeneshavn municipality had 1,209 residents. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work 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 ...

. On 1 January 1965, the town-municipality of Skudeneshavn was merged into the newly formed municipality of

(along with

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 ...

Stangaland Stangaland is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the Districts of Norway , traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality of Stangaland existed from 1909 until 1965 when ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

). Prior to the merger, Skudeneshavn had 1,275 residents. At the time of the merger, Skudeneshavn lost its status as a town (''ladested''). In 1996, after the law on towns had been changed, the municipality of Karmøy declared Skudeneshavn to be a town once again.

Name

The town (originally the municipality and

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 ...

) is named after the Skudenes peninsula () at the south end of the island of Karmøy. The first element is the

genitive case In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive ca ...

of which means "rock wall that is sticking out", referring to the rocky islets and skerries that lie just off the shore of the peninsula. The second element is 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 ...

". The last element is which means "

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

" or "

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

Municipal self-government (1858-1964)

From 1858 through 1964, Skudeneshavn was a self-governing municipality. 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 Skudeneshavn 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:

Attractions

Skudeneshavn's old town (''Gamle Skudeneshavn''), consisting of 225 wooden houses/boathouses, is regarded as one of the best preserved in Europe. In 2004, it was voted Norway's "Summer Town" by listeners to NRK Radio's Reiseradioen programme. Each year the "Skudeneshavn International Literature and Culture festival" () (SILK festival) is held on the first weekend of November.

Skudefestival

Every year, Skudeneshavn hosts a "boating" festival known as ''Skudefestivalen''. It usually runs for four days (from Thursday to Sunday) at the end of June or beginning of July (it is a 'moveable' date). The festival is the largest gathering of coastal culture in Western Norway, with boats of all categories - old wooden boats, vintage boats, modern boats, sailing boats, tall ships - the town is full of life around the harbour - both on land and on water. Markets stalls are set up in the Town Square. Craftsmen demonstrate handcrafts from olden days connected to sea and shipping. Boat builders, ship models, old engines. An art exhibition in ''Søragadå'' - the main and narrow street in "Old Skudeneshavn" is held with a new festival artist chosen every year. Visitors can see the exhibitions in "Bytunet" in the old part of town. Entertainment is provided in the daytime - and in the evenings in the festival tent featuring national and international artists and in the many sea houses

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

, blues and middle-of the road pop. Travelling amusement rides and arcades usually time their visits to coincide with this popular festival, providing extra enjoyment for younger children and teenagers. Every year about 35,000 people visit the festival and it gathers more than 600 boats. The festival in 2017 was between 29 June - 2 July and is the 24th festival. The festival in 2018 is between 5 and 8 July.

References

External links

Skudeneshavn.com
{{use dmy dates, date=July 2020 Karmøy Populated places in Rogaland Cities and towns in Norway Former municipalities of Norway 1858 establishments in Norway 1965 disestablishments in Norway 1996 establishments in Norway