Kvitsøy

Kvitsøy kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms
Rogaland within
Norway

Kvitsøy within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°3′44″N 5°24′42″E / 59.06222°N 5.41167°ECoordinates: 59°3′44″N 5°24′42″E / 59.06222°N 5.41167°E
Country Norway
County Rogaland
District Ryfylke
Administrative centre Ydstebøhavn
Government
 • Mayor (2004) Ole Olsen (KrF)
Area
 • Total 6 km2 (2 sq mi)
 • Land 6 km2 (2 sq mi)
Area rank 432 in Norway
Population (2008)
 • Total 538
 • Rank 424 in Norway
 • Density 83/km2 (210/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years) 3.7 %
Demonym Kvitsøybu[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1144
Official language form Neutral
Website www.kvitsoy.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

Kvitsøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is the smallest municipality in Norway (in area). Kvitsøy was separated from Mosterøy on 1 January 1923.

The municipality is an archipelago situated 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) northwest of the coast of the Stavanger peninsula. The largest island is connected with only a few of the other islands in the archipelago.

General information

Name

The Old Norse: form of the name was Hvítingsøy(jar) which means "the white island(s)", probably because there is white quartz in the rocks on the islands.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted in 1989. The arms show three silver lighthouses on a field of blue.

History

Kvitsøy is first mentioned in the Snorre Saga, where Snorre records a truce being made between King Olaf II of Norway later to be known as St. Olav (Hellige Olav) and Erling Skjalgsson, under the stone cross. Later it seems that the islands was owned by the Church until the reformation in 1536 (from Roman Catholic to Lutheranism), when it became Crown property. In 1591 the population had become large enough to fund the raising of a church, which is still standing and the first new church in the county after the reformation. From the mid 18th century Kvitsøy was the location of one of the first navigation beacons in western Norway, and this was later converted to a lighthouse service. To this date it is the home of the region's naval navigation service.

Climate

The islands are completely engulfed by the Gulf Stream and hence have a typically wet Nordic coastal climate. The sea between the islands and the mainland are never frozen.

Fauna and flora

There are no larger mammals except seal (kobbe) and small dolphins (nise). The islands have a rich marine bird life. Many different plants are found on the islands. Some are natural to Norwegian flora, while others have been transported by ships emptying their hulls of ballast before entering Stavanger.

Transmitter

Kvitsøy used to the site of high power transmitters for short wave and medium wave broadcasting transmitters of the broadcasting company of Norway. The aerial tower of the mediumwave transmitter is the Kvitsøy Tower. The transmitter for the mediumwave channel 1314 kHz was switched off at 22:00 UTC (Midnight local time) on Friday June 30, 2006, shortwave broadcasts continued until 2011. In May and June 2012, the entire site was dismantled.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Personnemningar til stadnamn i Noreg" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ↑ http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/Her-sprenges-den-125-meter-hoye-masten-6840414.html#.UwC5gR-NSYU

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kvitsøy.
Look up Kvitsøy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.