Bømlo

Bømlo ˈbʌmˌloʊ is a municipality in the southwestern part of Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnhordland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Svortland. Other villages in Bømlo include Mosterhamn, Rubbestadneset, Lykling, and Langevåg. Most of the municipal residents live on the island of Bømlo, which makes up the majority of the land in the municipality. Bømlo was actively involved in the Shetland bus operation during the Second World War. A 23-year-old male from Bømlo, Nils Nesse, was the first of the Shetland Bus men to be killed. The municipality is the 289th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Bømlo is the 97th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 12,061. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 4.9% over the previous 10-year period. The municipality of Bømlo was established on 1 July 1916 when the old municipality of Finnås was divided into three smaller municipalities: Bømlo, Bremnes, and Moster. Initially, the municipality encompassed the southern part of the island of Bømlo and it had a population of 1,217. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, the municipalities of Bremnes (population: 4,829) and Moster (population: 1,834) were merged with Bømlo (population: 1,463) which together formed a new, larger municipality called Bømlo. On 1 January 1970, a small area along the Valvatnavågen bay on the island of Stord was transferred from Bømlo to the neighboring Stord Municipality. On 1 January 1995, the islands of Aga, Agasystra, Gisøya, Vikøya, Selsøy, Risøya, and many smaller surrounding islands (population: 225) were transferred from the neighboring Fitjar Municipality to Bømlo. These islands had recently been connected to Bømlo by road bridges which precipitated the municipal transfer. The municipality is named after the main island of Bømlo (Bymbil).