Finnøy

The municipality consists of a number of islands on the south side of the Boknafjorden, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) northeast of the city of Stavanger. The Finnøy Tunnel connects the two islands of Finnøy and Talgje to the mainland. The rest of the islands are accessible only by boat.

Finnøy is an agricultural community dominated by dairy, meat, poultry, and fish farming products, with strong horticultural traditions, mainly greenhouse production of tomatoes, as well as some tourism.

General information

Map of Finnøy

Talgje Church

Sjernarøy Church

The parish of Finnø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It originally encompassed the islands of Finnøy, Talgje, and Fogn as well as the small surrounding islets and the southeastern-most corner of the island of Rennesøy. On 1 January 1918, the part of Finnøy located on the island of Rennesøy (population: 72) was transferred from Finnøy to the neighboring municipality of Rennesøy.

On 1 January 1965, a major municipal merger took place as a result of the work of the Schei Committee. The municipality of Finnøy was enlarged when it was merged with the entire municipality of Sjernarøy (population: 819), the northeastern part of Ombo island (population: 89) from the municipality of Jelsa, and the Fisterøyene islands (population: 246) from the municipality of Fister.^[2]

Name

The municipality is named after the island of Finnøy (Old Norse: Finnøy). The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is øy which means "island." Before 1918, the name was written "Finnø."^[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times; they were granted on 23 September 1983. Despite its recent adoption, it has old roots. The arms show a silver or white wing on a blue background. The arms were derived from the arms of the Hestbø family (which included Ogmund Finnsson), one of the mightiest families in the area in the 14th century. They had their stronghold on their Hesby estate on the island of Finnøy in the present municipality.^[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has three parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Finnøy. It is part of the Tungenes deanery in the Diocese of Stavanger.

**Churches in Finnøy**
Parish (Sokn)	Church Name	Location of the Church	Year Built
Hesby	Hesby Church	Hesby on Finnøy	c. 1100
Sjernarøy	Sjernarøy Church	Kyrkjøy in Sjernarøyane islands	1647
Sjernarøy	Jørstad Church	Jørstadvågen on Ombo	1929
Talgje	Fogn Church	Fogn	1991
Talgje	Talgje Church	Talgje	c. 1100

History

Finnøy was at the top of its power in the middle of the fourteenth century when the King's representative Ogmund Finnsson had his seat at Hesby on the west side of the island of Finnøy. The medieval, stone Hesby Church, dating back to at least the thirteenth century, still stands at Hesby.

Drawing of the Finnøy prestegård

Fields on Finnøy

It is often claimed that the Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) was born on Finnøy, since his father Søren Georg acted as rector there. Recent studies indicates, however, that he was born in Nedstrand, a nearby parish. However, he was raised on Finnøy.

Geography

The island municipality of Finnøy is located on the south side of the Boknafjorden. The main islands of Finnøy include Finnøy, Talgje, Fogn, Halsnøya, Sjernarøyane, and the north and west parts of the island of Ombo. The islands of Talgje and Finnøy are connected to the mainland by the undersea Finnøy Tunnel. The rest of the islands are only accessible by boats.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Finnøy, 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 Finnøy is made up of 21 representatives that are elected every four years. For 2011–2015, the party breakdown is as follows:^[5]

*Finnøy Kommunestyre 2015–2019*
Party Name		Name in Norwegian	Number of representatives
	Labour Party	Arbeiderpartiet	2
	Conservative Party	Høgre	4
	Christian Democratic Party	Kristelig Folkeparti	6
	Centre Party	Senterpartiet	4
	Liberal Party	Venstre	5
Total number of members:			21

References

↑ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
↑ Rygh, Oluf (1915). Norske gaardnavne: Stavanger amt (in Norwegian) (10 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 245.
↑ "Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ "Politisk leiing" (in Norwegian). Finnøy kommune. 2016.

External links

Media related to Finnøy at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition of Finnøy at Wiktionary
Rogaland travel guide from Wikivoyage

Municipalities of Rogaland

Dalane	Bjerkreim Eigersund Lund Sokndal

Haugaland	Bokn Haugesund Karmøy Tysvær Utsira Vindafjord

Jæren	Gjesdal Hå Klepp Randaberg Sandnes Sola Stavanger Time

Ryfylke	Finnøy Forsand Hjelmeland Kvitsøy Rennesøy Sauda Strand Suldal

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