Stangaland

Stangaland is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality of Stangaland existed from 1909 until 1965 when it was merged into the newly created Karmøy Municipality. The 28 km2 municipality encompassed the rural areas surrounding the coastal city of Kopervik on the island of Karmøy. The administrative centre was the village of Stangaland just outside the town of Kopervik.

History
The municipality called Kopervik herred was established on 1 January 1909 when it was split off from the municipality of Avaldsnes. Initially, Kopervik had a population of 1,001. The rural municipality surrounded the town of Kopervik which was a separate municipality. In 1917, the name of the municipality was changed to Stangaland to better distinguish the municipality from the neighboring town with the same name. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, Stangaland municipality was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Avaldsnes, Skudenes, Torvastad, and Åkra and with the towns of Kopervik and Skudeneshavn to form the new municipality of Karmøy. Prior to the merger, Stangaland had a population of 2,678.

Name
The municipality was originally named Kopervik in 1909, and it was named after the neighboring town of Kopervik. The name has an uncertain meaning, but the Old Norse form of the name may have been Koparvík. The first element is possibly named after a very small, nearby skerry, Koparnaglen, which was originally named Kobbanaglen. That name likely comes from the word which means "seal". The last element is which means "inlet" or "bay".

In 1917, the municipal name was changed to Stangaland, after the old Stangeland farm (Stangaland). The name was changed to help distinguish it from the neighboring town of Kopervik. The first element is the plural genitive case of which means "staff" or "pole". The last element is which means "land" or "district".

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Stangaland was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: