Bokn

Bokn kommune
Municipality
View of Alvestadkroken in Bokn

Coat of arms

Rogaland within
Norway

Bokn within Rogaland
Coordinates: 59°12′01″N 05°25′23″E / 59.20028°N 5.42306°E / 59.20028; 5.42306Coordinates: 59°12′01″N 05°25′23″E / 59.20028°N 5.42306°E / 59.20028; 5.42306
Country Norway
County Rogaland
District Haugaland
Administrative centre Føresvik
Government
  Mayor (2015) Tormod Våga (Centre Party)
Area
  Total 47.16 km2 (18.21 sq mi)
  Land 44.56 km2 (17.20 sq mi)
  Water 2.60 km2 (1.00 sq mi)
Area rank #412 in Norway
Population (2017)
  Total 855
  Rank #409 in Norway
  Density 19.2/km2 (50/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) 7.8%
Demonym(s) Boknar[1]
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code NO-1145
Official language form Nynorsk
Website www.bokn.kommune.no

Bokn is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Føresvik, the only urban area in Bokn. Other villages in Bokn include Arsvågen, Trosnavåg, and Loten. The island municipality is mostly located on the three islands of Ognøya, Vestre Bokn, and Austre Bokn. All three main islands are connected to the mainland via a network of bridges.

The 47-square-kilometre (18 sq mi) municipality is the 412th largest by area out of the 422 municipalities in Norway. Bokn is the 409th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 855. The municipality's population density is 19.2 inhabitants per square kilometre (50/sq mi) and its population has increased by 7.8% over the last decade.[2]

General information

View of Vestre Bokn island
View of Bokn Church

The municipality of Bokn (historically spelled Bukken) was established in 1849 when it was separated from the large municipality of Skudenes. Initially, Bokn had 1,035 residents. The borders of Bokn have not changed since that time.[3]

Name

The municipality is named after the islands of Austre Bokn and Vestre Bokn (Old Norse: Bókn). The name is probably very old and its meaning is unknown. Before 1889, the name was written "Bukken".[4]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 8 August 1986. The arms are blue with six silver/white circles in the shape of a triangle. The blue background represents the sea and the 6 circles represent silver coins, which symbolize the richness from the sea since it is an island municipality and therefore dependent on fishing and sailing.[5]

Churches

The Church of Norway has one parish (sokn) within the municipality of Bokn. It is part of the Haugaland deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.

Churches in Bokn
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
BoknBokn ChurchFøresvik1847

Buildings and structures

There is a 168-metre (551 ft) tall guyed mast for FM-/TV-broadcasting at located at 59°13′13″N 5°25′42″E / 59.220156°N 5.428281°E / 59.220156; 5.428281.

Geography

Aerial view of the islands of Bokn

The island municipality of Bokn is located on the northern side of the Boknafjorden, at the southern end of the Karmsundet strait. The island of Karmøy lies to the west and the mainland of Tysvær is located to the northeast. The island municipality of Kvitsøy lies south of Bokn and the island municipality of Rennesøy lies to the southeast of Bokn.

Bokn is one of the smallest municipalities in Rogaland, consisting of three main islands: Ognøya, Austre Bokn, and Vestre Bokn. There are also some smaller, uninhabited islands surrounding the main islands.

The islands are rugged with lots of small hills with small lakes in the valleys. The hills are largely covered with heather, but bushes and trees are increasingly competing, especially birch. The highest point is the 297-metre (974 ft) high Boknafjellet, a small mountain on Vestre Bokn island.

Weather

Climate data for Foresvik, Bokn
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Daily mean °C (°F) 1.7
(35.1)
1.3
(34.3)
2.7
(36.9)
5.2
(41.4)
9.5
(49.1)
12.5
(54.5)
14.0
(57.2)
14.1
(57.4)
11.7
(53.1)
9.0
(48.2)
5.3
(41.5)
3.1
(37.6)
7.5
(45.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 120
(4.72)
85
(3.35)
105
(4.13)
70
(2.76)
75
(2.95)
85
(3.35)
95
(3.74)
130
(5.12)
180
(7.09)
175
(6.89)
170
(6.69)
145
(5.71)
1,435
(56.5)
Source: Norwegian Meteorological Institute[6]

Government

View of Austre Bokn island

All municipalities in Norway, including Bokn, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor.

Municipal council

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Bokn is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four year terms. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows:[7]

Bokn Kommunestyre 2015–2019
Party NameName in NorwegianNumber of
representatives
 Labour PartyArbeiderpartiet3
 Conservative PartyHøgre5
 Christian Democratic PartyKristelig Folkeparti1
 Centre PartySenterpartiet8
Total number of members:17

Transportation

Bridge connecting Austre and Vestre Bokn islands

The three islands of Bokn are now linked via bridges to Tysvær municipality on the mainland. These bridges are part of the European route E39 highway and they are part of the main coastal highway between the cities of Stavanger and Bergen. There is a ferry connection southward across the Boknafjorden to Rennesøy which is connected by road to Stavanger. The planned Rogfast undersea tunnel will directly connect both sides of the Boknafjorden from Stavanger to Bokn, with a planned completion date of 2023.

Economy

Apart from a factory producing various tanks made of glassfiber-reinforced plastic (Bokn Plast), there is no industry on the islands other than some fish farming. People have traditionally lived off fishing and farming, but more recently, some work has been in the North Sea petroleum industry. Tourism is likely to play a bigger part in the future.

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Statistisk sentralbyrå (2017). "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  3. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  4. Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 430.
  5. "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2015-10-28.
  6. "eKlima Web Portal". Norwegian Meteorological Institute. Archived from the original on 2004-06-14.
  7. "Table: 04813: Members of the local councils, by party/electoral list at the Municipal Council election (M)" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. 2015.
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