Sotenäs Municipality

Sotenäs Municipality (Sotenäs kommun) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Kungshamn, with around 3,500 inhabitants.

Sotenäs Municipality

Sotenäs kommun
Municipality
Coat of arms
CountrySweden
CountyVästra Götaland County
SeatKungshamn
Government
Area
 • Total684.37 km2 (264.24 sq mi)
 • Land138.21 km2 (53.36 sq mi)
 • Water546.16 km2 (210.87 sq mi)
 Area as of 1 January 2014.
Population
 (31 December 2019)[2]
 • Total9,061
 • Density13/km2 (34/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeSE
ProvinceBohuslän
Municipal code1427
Websitewww.sotenas.se
Detailed municipal map
Sotenäs Hundred insignia from 1746

The present municipality was created in 1974 through the amalgamation of previous units. The name was taken from the old Sotenäs Hundred.

Population figures

Approximate inhabitants of the larger population centres in the municipality. Source: Statistics Sweden (2002). They are here ordered after size.

History

Västergötland has been inhabited for several thousands of years. The province, Bohuslän, is among the internationally most known because of its pre-historical remains. The oldest remains in Sotenäs Municipality are from around 6000 BC. From the younger Stone Age are several burial monuments (dolmens). From the Bronze Age and Iron Age are many rock carvings, which the province also otherwise is noted for (especially the northern Tanum Municipality).

The name Sotenäs is believed to have originated from around 1000 AD, when also the first steps from the historical hundred, Sotenäs Hundred (or Härad in Swedish), can be traced.

With the Christianization of Sweden several churches were erected, starting in the 11th century. The first ones were the churches in Askum and Tossene.

Later, in the 16th century, the industry became dominated by fishing of herring. It dominated the industry for centuries; herring was used in large amounts in Bohuslän - as a basic food but also in the making of oil, wax candles, etc.

In the 19th century the island Malmön was started as a quarry. (Note that "Malm" means "rock" in Swedish). The quarry was kept alive and was of industrial significance until the 1930s.

The coat of arms was granted in 1977 and depicts a halibut. It is built on the insignia for Sotenäs Hundred and has been used for centuries.

gollark: I read a very convincing and well-evidenced reddit post a while ago saying that weightlifting was very good for your health and that sort of thing probably last year, and have done absolutely nothing about it.
gollark: I think I've been handling the whole quarantine situation decently, as it's *basically* a really long school holiday for me anyway. Apart from getting basically no exercise, but I kind of do that anyway.
gollark: Makes sense. If demand for coronavirus drops, production should decrease too.
gollark: The plague isn't as contagious, though, is it?
gollark: But you do need to make tradeoffs between "still have a functioning economy" and "stop spread".

References
  1. "Statistiska centralbyrån, Kommunarealer den 1 januari 2014" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. 2014-01-01. Archived from the original (Microsoft Excel) on 2016-09-27. Retrieved 2014-04-18.
  2. "Folkmängd i riket, län och kommuner 31 december 2019" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.

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