Skudeneshavn

Skudeneshavn Skudeneshamn
Town
View of the town on an old postcard, c. 1920s
Skudeneshavn Location in Rogaland county
Coordinates: 59°09′00″N 05°15′23″E / 59.15000°N 5.25639°E / 59.15000; 5.25639Coordinates: 59°09′00″N 05°15′23″E / 59.15000°N 5.25639°E / 59.15000; 5.25639
Country	Norway
Region	Western Norway
County	Rogaland
District	Haugaland
Municipality	Karmøy
Area
• Total	2.5 km2 (1.0 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13 ft)
Population (2014)
• Total	3,364
• Density	1,346/km2 (3,490/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+01:00)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+02:00)
Post Code	4280 Skudeneshavn

 Skudeneshavn  (also known as Skudeneshamn or simply Skudenes) is a town in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located on the southernmost tip of the island of Karmøy at the entrance to the Boknafjorden and Karmsundet strait. The town is part of the traditional district of Haugaland.

The 2.5-square-kilometre (620-acre) town has a population (2014) of 3,364; giving the town a population density of 1,346 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,490/sq mi). This makes Skudeneshavn one of the smallest towns in Norway (Kolvereid, with 1,470 inhabitants is the smallest). In 1990, it won second prize in NORTRA's competition for Norway's Best Preserved Small Town.

The village of Skudeneshavn was declared to be a "ladested" (port town) on 10 February 1858. Since towns were not allowed to be part of a rural municipality, Skudeneshavn was removed from the municipality of Skudenes, and it was established as its own urban municipality. Initially, Skudeneshavn municipality had 1,209 residents. On 1 January 1965, the town-municipality of Skudeneshavn was merged into the newly formed municipality of Karmøy (along with Skudenes, Avaldsnes, Stangaland, Kopervik, and Torvastad). Prior to the merger, Skudeneshavn had 1,275 residents. At the time of the merger, Skudeneshavn lost its status as a town. In 1996, after the law on towns had been changed, the municipality of Karmøy declared Skudeneshavn to be a town once again.