Smögen () is a

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivi ...

Sotenäs Municipality Sotenäs Municipality (''Sotenäs kommun'') is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungshamn, with around 3,500 inhabitants. The present municipality was created in 1974 through the ...

Västra Götaland County Västra Götaland County ( sv, Västra Götalands län) is a county or '' län'' on the western coast of Sweden. The county is the second most populous of Sweden's counties and it comprises 49 municipalities (''kommuner''). Its population of ...

, Sweden with 1,329 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the liveliest "summer towns" of the Swedish west coast. The community actually straddled several islands that lay so close together that the space in between has since been filled, and is now considered as a single island. The southern part consists mostly of Smögen Island, which lies in the centre. Around this lies to the south Kleven, in the northwest Sandön, and in the northeast, Hasselön. The town is connected to the neighbouring town Kungshamn by ''Smögenbron'' (Smögen Bridge).

History

Smögen is mentioned for the first time towards the end of the 16th century. The name of the community has varied over the years; amongst other names, from "Smögit", "Smöenn", "Smöget" and "Smygesund". The name has probably come from the Swedish word , which translates as "sneak-hole" or "nook", referring to the narrow inlet between the Smögen island and where the harbour lies. According to the

Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore The Institute for Language and Folklore ( sv, Institutet för språk och folkminnen, acronym Isof), is a Swedish government agency with the purpose of studying and collecting materials concerning dialects, folklore and onomastics. In June 2006 th ...

, the community's name comes from *, which has the same meaning and survives as in

Old West 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 ...

and modern Bohuslän dialects. Around the 17th century, the island Hasselön was populated, and through the years this community has grown together with Smögen, and is today considered a part of the Smögen community.

Tourism

In modern times, Smögen is well known for its long, wooden pier, about , filled with shops in old fishing huts, which are frequented by a multitude of tourists during the summer. Smögen is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Swedish west coast, well known for its fish, prawns and other seafood, and one of Sweden's few fish markets is located here. There is also an extensive nightlife scene, with many bars, clubs and concert venues open during the summer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smogen Populated places in Västra Götaland County Populated places in Sotenäs Municipality Former Norwegian populated places