Orust Municipality
Orust municipality is a municipality (in Swedish kommun ) in the Swedish province of Västra Götaland County and the historic province of Bohuslän. The main town of the municipality is Henån.
The municipality consists of the island of Orust, on which most people live, as well as some surrounding smaller islands and islets, some of which are inhabited, such as Flatön, Lyrön, Härmanö, Gullholmen, Käringön and Malö.
Geography
The Orust, which comprises the largest part of the community is connected by two bridges and two ferries to the mainland. It is the largest island on the Swedish west coast and is situated about 50 km north of Gothenburg.
History
The Reformation reached Orust 1536. Wars and the construction of ships have meant that until 1650 the entire island was deforested. After that, the forest recovered slightly, to about 1750 by population increase ( timber and firewood ) and the upcoming fishing ( building of ships ) of the forest was cleared again. Only the absence of herring from 1810 took the turn to agriculture. Thanks to new techniques (iron plow ), more and more areas of the island for agriculture could be used. The land reform of 1827 led to an increase of the yield. Thus, the population doubled from 1805 to 1880 to 18,129 people. This is the highest population that has ever existed on Orust.
End of the 19th century began the tourism. In the 20th century was achieved through electrification (power from 1910 ), transport, trade and tourism an economic upturn. Although the population has fallen to 8,800 by 1968, but the influx in recent decades has brought an increase in population.
Industry
The area has always been dominated by the fishing and boat building. Today, the well-known local boat builder Hallberg -Rassy and Najadvarvet are the two largest employers in the island.
Places
- Ellos
- Hälleviksstrand
- Henån
- Nösund
- Svanesund
- Varekil