Today, the Skudenes area refers to the southern part of Karmøy island. In 2009, there were about 3,226 inhabitants.
History
The parish of Skudesnæs was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). In 1849, the three islands of Vestre Bokn, Austre Bokn, and Ognøya (population: 1,035) were separated from Skudenes to form the municipality of Bukken. The split left Skudenes with a population of 5,044.[5]
In 1857, the port village of Skudeneshavn on the southern tip of the island of Karmøy was designated as a ladested (a port of lading). Shortly thereafter, on 10 February 1858, Skudeneshavn (population: 1,209) was separated from Skudenes municipality, constituting a municipality of its own. The split left Skudenes with a population of 5,044. On 1 January 1892 the northern part of Skudenes was split off to form the new municipality of Åkra (population: 1,962). This left Skudenes with a population of 2,732 and the size of Skudenes shrunk from 101 square kilometres (39 sq mi) to 68 square kilometres (26 sq mi).[5][3]
On 1 January 1965, there were many municipal mergers in Norway as a result of the Schei Committee's work. On that date, Skudenes municipality (population: 3,583) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Avaldsnes, Stangaland, Torvastad, and Åkra and with the towns of Kopervik and Skudeneshavn to form the new municipality of Karmøy.[5]
Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Skudenes peninsula (Old Norse: Skútunes) at the south end of the island of Karmøy. The first element is the genitive case of skúta which means "rock wall that is sticking out", referring to the rocky islets and skerries that lie just off the shore of the peninsula. The last element is nes which means "headland".[6]
The municipal council(Herredsstyre) of Skudenes was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
^ abHelland, Amund (1888). "Skudenes herred". XI Stavanger amt. Norges land og folk (in Norwegian). Kristiania, Norway: H. Aschehoug & Company. p. 302. Retrieved 3 July 2022.