Finnås

Finnås is a former municipality in the old Hordaland county, Norway. The 225-square-kilometre (87 sq mi) municipality,[1] which existed from 1838 until 1916, was located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. Originally, the municipality encompassed all of the island of Bømlo, the small surrounding islands, and the mainland located south of the Bømlafjorden. It was located in the present-day municipalities of Bømlo and Sveio.[2]

Finnås herad
Finnaas herred (historic)
Former municipality
A 1720 map showing "Fundas or Bomel I."
A 1720 map showing "Fundas or Bomel I."
Official logo of Finnås herad
Hordaland within
Norway
Finnås within Hordaland
Finnås within Hordaland
Coordinates: 59°47′34″N 05°10′20″E
CountryNorway
CountyHordaland
DistrictSunnhordland
Established1 Jan 1838
 • Created asFormannskapsdistrikt
Disestablished1 July 1916
 • Succeeded byBremnes, Moster, and Bømlo municipalities
Administrative centreFinnås
Area
 (upon dissolution)
 • Total225 km2 (87 sq mi)
Population
 (1916)
 • Total5,944
 • Density26/km2 (68/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-1218
Data from Statistics Norway

The Kulleseid Canal is a canal that was built in the 1800s on a small isthmus on the island of Bømlo. It enabled boats to journey between the east and west sides of Bømlo island. Today the channel is surrounded by a small trading center and tourist center, and it is a popular guest harbor.[3]

History

The parish of Findaas was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1865, the southern mainland district of Findaas (population: 2,237) and the Vikebygd area of the neighboring municipality of Fjelberg (population: 1,062) were merged to form the new municipality of Sveen. On 1 January 1868, a small part of Finnaas (population: 10) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of Fitje. On 1 April 1870, the Øklandsgrend area (population: 247) was transferred from Finnaas to the neighboring municipality of Stord. The spelling of the name changed slightly over time from Findaas to Finnaas and then finally to Finnås.[4]

On 1 July 1916, the municipality of Finnås was split to create three new (smaller) municipalities:[4][1]

  • Bremnes (population: 3,411), the 120-square-kilometre (46 sq mi) northern/western half of the island of Bømlo and smaller surrounding islands
  • Moster (population: 1,316), the 67-square-kilometre (26 sq mi) southeastern peninsula on the island of Bømlo, the island of Moster, and the smaller surrounding islands
  • Bømmel (population: 1,217), the 38.5-square-kilometre (14.9 sq mi) southwestern peninsula on the island of Bømlo and smaller surrounding islands (later renamed Bømlo).

On 1 January 1963, the three municipalities were merged into a new, larger Bømlo Municipality.[4]

Name

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Finnaas farm since the Old Moster Church was built there. The name is relative new name with very little historical record. The first element is finn which is the local name for a type of grass known as Nardus stricta. The last element is ås which means "hill". Thus it means a hill with "finn" grass.[5]

Notable people

See also

References
  1. Helland, Amund (1921). "Moster herred, Bømmel herred, Bremsnes herred". XII Søndre Bergenhus amt. Anden del. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 203-221. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  2. Store norske leksikon. "Finnås" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  3. "Kulleseidkanalen". Kulleseidkanalen Gjestehavn. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
  4. Jukvam, Dag (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå. ISBN 9788253746845.
  5. Rygh, Oluf (1910). Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt (in Norwegian) (11 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. pp. 120–122.

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