Kvitsøy

Infobox Kommune
name = Kvitsøy
idnumber = 1144


county = Rogaland
landscape = Ryfylke
capital = Ydstebøhavn
demonym = Kvitsøybu
language = Neutral


munwebpage = www.kvitsoy.kommune.no
governor = Ole Olsen (KrF)
governor_as_of = 2004
arearank = 432
area = 6
arealand = 6
areapercent = 0.00
population_as_of = 2008
populationrank = 424
population = 538
populationpercent = 0.01
populationdensity = 83
populationincrease = 3.7
lat_deg = 59 | lat_min = 3 | lat_sec = 44 | lon_deg = 5 | lon_min = 24 | lon_sec = 42
utm_zone = 32V | utm_northing = 6552527 | utm_easting = 0294293 | geo_cat = adm2nd

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 (4 km) 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 Sjalgsson, 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 engulfed totally 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. A lot of different plants have found its way to the islands. Some natural to Norwegian flora, and some transported by ship emptying their hull of ballast before entering Stavanger.

Transmitter

Kvitsøy is 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.

References