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Florø

Town in Vestland, Norway From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Florø[8] is a town[1] and the administrative centre of Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is Norway's (and thus the Scandinavian Peninsula's) westernmost town. It is the most western town on the mainland in the Nordic countries.

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The 6.55-square-kilometre (1,620-acre) town has a population (2024) of 9,071 and a population density of 1,385 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,590/sq mi).[2]

The town encompasses the entire island of Florelandet and the western half of the island of Brandsøya. The Norwegian national road Rv 5 is the main road connecting Florø to the rest of Norway. The nearby villages of Brandsøy and Grov lie several kilometers to the east of Florø. The islands of Reksta, Kinn, Skorpa lie several kilometers to the west of the town. Florø is also home to Florø Airport and Florø Church.

Florø is also a former municipality that existed as an independent town-municipality for just over 100 years (1860-1964) before being merged into Flora Municipality. On 1 January 2020, the town (and Flora Municipality) became part of the new Kinn Municipality after another municipal merger.

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View of the town
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Name

The town (and municipality) was named after the old Flora farm (Old Norse: Flóra), near where the town of Florø was built in 1860. The meaning of the name is somewhat uncertain with a couple of different likely possibilities. The old name, is the accusative case/genitive case of the word flórr which means "floor", from which the names Flora and Florelandet are derived. This Old Norse word is probably derived from a Germanic root word, flōraz, meaning "flat ground". Another possibility for the meaning of the name is that it is derived from the word flóð which means "flood" or "deluge".[9] A common misunderstanding is that the name Florø includes the Danish word ø which means "island" as a suffix that was attached to the farm name Flora. Although not true, it nearly led to the town being renamed Florøy in the 1930s.[10][11]

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Economy

The basis for the foundation of the town was the rich herring fisheries, symbolised by the three herrings in the town's coat of arms. Fishing is still an important part of the economy, in addition to shipbuilding and service industries. After the discovery of petroleum in the North Sea in the 1960s, Florø has been used as a supply base for the petroleum industry.

History

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The Florø post office cancel in 1866

Florø was founded as a town[1] (ladested) in 1860. Shortly after its founding, on 3 January 1861, it was removed from the old Kinn Municipality and it became a municipality of its own with a population of 846.[12]

During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, a large municipal merger took place, merging the following places to form the newly-created Flora Municipality.[12]

On 1 January 2020, Flora was one of the municipalities that merged into a newly re-created Kinn Municipality, much larger than the old Kinn Municipality that existed from 1838 until 1964.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms for the town of Florø was granted on 19 February 1960 and they were in use until 1 January 1964, when the new Flora Municipality was created and it included the town of Florø. (On 6 October 1967, the old arms of Florø were granted as the arms for Flora Municipality. These arms were in use until 1 January 2020 when the municipality of Flora was dissolved.) The official blazon is "Gules, three herrings bendwise argent" (Norwegian: På raud botn tre sølv sildar i skrå-stilling). This means the arms have a red field (background) and the charge is a set of three diagonal herring. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The three herrings are a symbol for the great local importance of herring fishing for the development and economy of Flora. The arms were designed by Hallvard Trætteberg. The municipal flag had the same design as the coat of arms.[13][14][15]

Self-government (1861-1964)

While it existed, Florø Municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[16] The municipality was under the jurisdiction of the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Mayors

The mayor (Norwegian: ordfører) of Florø Municipality was the political leader of the municipality and the chairperson of the municipal council. The following people have held this position:[17]

  • 1865–1873: Ude Jacob Høst
  • 1874–1881: Livius Smitt
  • 1882–1885: Gunnar Olsen
  • 1886–1886: Oscar von Koss
  • 1887–1887: Fredrik Faye
  • 1888–1890: Fredrik T. Lorentzen
  • 1891–1897: Gunnar Olsen
  • 1897–1901: E.M. Hole
  • 1902–1904: Elias Olsen
  • 1905–1907: Abraham Haave
  • 1908–1908: Ole Johannes Vasbotten
  • 1909–1910: Elias Olsen
  • 1911–1922: E.M. Hole
  • 1923–1927: Abraham Haave
  • 1928–1933: Alfred V. Lauvsnes
  • 1934–1934: Andreas Hodnefjeld
  • 1935–1939: Alfred V. Lauvsnes
  • 1940–1940: Einar Stavang
  • 1945–1945: S.I. Solheim
  • 1945–1946: Einar Stavang
  • 1949–1955: Olav Kolle
  • 1955–1957: Ludvig Olai Botnen (V)
  • 1958–1959: Kjeld Haus
  • 1960–1961: Ludvig Olai Botnen (V)
  • 1962–1964: Kjeld Haus

Municipal council

The municipal council (Bystyre) of Florø Municipality was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.

More information Party name (in Nynorsk), Number of representatives ...
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More information Party name (in Norwegian), Number of representatives ...
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See also

References

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