Florø Explained

Official Name:Florø
Settlement Type:Town
Pushpin Map:Vestland#Norway
Pushpin Label Position:top
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of the town
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Norway
Subdivision Name1:Western Norway
Subdivision Name2:Vestland
Subdivision Type3:District
Subdivision Name3:Sunnfjord
Subdivision Type4:Municipality
Subdivision Name4:Kinn
Utc Offset1:+01:00
Utc Offset1 Dst:+02:00
Established Title:Established as
Established Date: 
Established Title1:Ladested
Established Date1:1860
Parts Type:Town Districts
P1:Badevika
P2:Botnaholten
P3:Botnavegen
P4:Brandsøy
P5:Evja
P6:Havreneset
P7:Hesteneset
P8:Kleiva
P9:Krokane
P10:Solheim
P11:Tua
Area Total Km2:6.45
Population As Of:2018
Population Total:9024
Population Density Km2:1399
Population Demonym:Florøværing
Elevation M:7
Elevation Footnotes:[1]
Coordinates:61.5996°N 5.0328°W
Postal Code Type:Post Code
Postal Code:6900 Florø

Module:
Florø
Child:yes
Former:yes
Official Name:Florø ladested
Idnumber:1401
County:Sogn og Fjordane
District:Sunnfjord
Capital:Florø
Established:3 Jan 1861
Disestablished:1 Jan 1964
Succeeded:Flora Municipality
Coatofarms:Flora komm.svg
Area Total Km2:0.72
Area Footnotes:[2]
Population As Of:1964
Population Total:2040
Population Density Km2:auto

is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn which is 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.

The 6.45km2 town has a population (2018) of 9,024 and a population density of .[3]

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 the municipality of Flora. On 1 January 2020, the town became part of the new Kinn Municipality after another municipal merger.

Name

The town (and municipality) was named after the old Flora farm (Norse, Old: 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 which means "floor", from which the names Flora and Florelandet are derived. This Old Norse word is probably derived from a Germanic root word,, meaning "flat ground". Another possibility for the meaning of the name is that it is derived from the word which means "flood" or "deluge".[4] A common misunderstanding is that the name Florø includes the Danish word 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.[5] [6]

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

Florø was founded as a town (ladested) in 1860. Shortly after its founding, on 3 January 1861, it was removed from the (now) former municipality of Kinn and made into a municipality of its own with a population of 846. 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 municipality of Flora.[7]

On 1 January 2020, Flora was one of the municipalities that merged into a newly re-created Kinn municipality, much larger than the Kinn that existed 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.[8] [9] [10]

Self-government (1861-1964)

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.[11]

Mayors

The mayors of Florø:[12]

Municipal council

The municipal council Norwegian: (Bystyre) of Florø was made up of 21 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Florø, Flora (Sogn og Fjordane) . 2019-09-28 . yr.no.
  2. Book: Helland, Amund . Norges land og folk: Nordre Bergenhus amt . H. Aschehoug & Company . 1901 . XIV . Kristiania, Norway . 482 . no . Florø ladested . 2019-09-28 . 3.
  3. Web site: Statistisk sentralbyrå . Statistics Norway . 1 January 2018 . Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality .
  4. Book: Rygh, Oluf . Oluf Rygh

    . Norske gaardnavne: Nordre Bergenhus amt . 1919 . W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri . 12 . Kristiania, Norge . 357 . no . Oluf Rygh.

  5. Web site: Kvifor heiter byen Florø? . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100413064819/http://www.flora150.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9:kvifor-heitte-byen-floro&catid=1:historia&Itemid=8 . 2010-04-13 . 2012-04-18.
  6. Web site: Nordre Bergenhus Amt 1901 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220937/http://www.floraskulen.no/fagsider/samf_fag/nordre_bergenhus.htm . 2016-03-03 . 2012-04-18.
  7. Book: Jukvam, Dag . 1999 . Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen . . no . 9788253746845.
  8. Web site: Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen . 2023-05-29 . Heraldry of the World.
  9. Web site: Flora, Sogn og Fjordane (Norway) . 2023-05-29 . Flags of the World.
  10. Web site: 1967-10-06 . Godkjenning av våpen og flagg . 2023-05-29 . Lovdata.no . Norges kommunal- og arbeidsdepartementet . no.
  11. Encyclopedia: kommunestyre . . . 2023-01-01 . 2022-09-20 . Hansen . Tore . no . Vabo . Signy Irene.
  12. Book: Hole, E.M. . Florø gjennem 100 år - En utsikt over byens historie 1860-1935 . 1935 . Florø . 5 and 21–23 . no.

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