# Kopervik

Kopervik is the largest town on the island of Karmøy in Rogaland county, Norway. It is also the administrative centre of the municipality of Karmøy. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The town was also an independent municipality from 1866 until 1965.
The 7.53-square-kilometre (1,860-acre) town has a population (2024) of 11,860 and a population density of 1,532 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,970/sq mi). The municipality of Karmøy has 43,577 inhabitants, 27.2% live in Kopervik.
Kopervik is one of three towns in Karmøy (the others are Åkrehamn and Skudeneshavn). Kopervik is a transportation hub for scheduled boats going north to Bergen and south to Stavanger. The main industries are aluminium smelting and fishing. Kopervik contains Karmøy's municipal government buildings as well as a lot of the commercial development in the municipality.

## History

The village of Kopervik was declared a ladested (town) on 16 August 1866, and since towns could not be part of a rural municipality, it was separated from the municipality of Avaldsnes to form an urban municipality of its own. Initially, Kopervik had a population of 737 and it encompassed 36 hectares (89 acres). On 1 January 1965, there were many big municipal mergers in Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee, and on that date the town of Kopervik was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Avaldsnes, Stangaland, Torvastad, Skudenes, and Åkra and with the nearby town of Skudeneshavn. Together these municipalities formed the new, large municipality of Karmøy. Prior to the merger, Kopervik had 1,737 residents. Kopervik lost its status as a "town" upon merging into Karmøy municipality. In 1996, due to some changes in the laws on towns, Karmøy municipality declared Kopervik to be a town once again.
Kopervik Church has been located in the town for a long time. The previous church building was destroyed by fire in 2010, and its replacement was completed in 2016. The original church was built in 1861 by the architect Jacob Wilhelm Nordan.
According to legend, King Sverre I of Norway ordered the construction of a wooden castle on the headland at the entrance to the harbour where Kopervik is located today. A part of Kopervik is therefore called Treborg, literally meaning "wooden castle". There is however no evidence of its existence. Kopervik was also home to Tormod Torfæus, appointed as the official Royal Norwegian historian to the Danish king during the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway.

### Name

The town was named Kopervik in 1866 when it was established as a ladested. 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 kobbi which means "seal". The last element is vík which means "inlet" or "bay".

## Municipal self-government (1866–1963)

From 1866 through 1963, Kopervik was an independent municipality. 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 (Bystyre) of Kopervik was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:
Kopervik bystyre 1960–1963 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 5 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 4 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 21 |
Kopervik bystyre 1956–1959 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 5 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 21 |
Kopervik bystyre 1952–1955 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 9 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 4 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 20 |
Kopervik bystyre 1948–1951 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 7 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 4 |
| | Christian Democratic Party (Kristelig Folkeparti) | 3 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 5 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 20 |
Kopervik bystyre 1945–1947 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 8 |
| | Conservative Party (Høyre) | 1 |
| | Communist Party (Kommunistiske Parti) | 4 |
| | Joint list of the Liberal Party (Venstre) and the Radical People's Party (Radikale Folkepartiet) | 4 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 3 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 20 |
Kopervik bystyre 1938–1941* :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 7 |
| | Joint list of the Conservative Party (Høyre) and the Free-minded People's Party (Frisinnede Folkeparti) | 5 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 2 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 20 |
| Note: Due to the German occupation of Norway during World War II, no elections were held for new municipal councils until after the war ended in 1945. |||
Kopervik bystyre 1935–1937 :
| Party name (in Norwegian) | Party name (in Norwegian) | Number of representatives |
| | Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) | 6 |
| | Liberal Party (Venstre) | 8 |
| | Joint list of the Conservative Party (Høyre) and the Free-minded People's Party (Frisinnede Folkeparti) | 5 |
| | Local List(s) (Lokale lister) | 1 |
| Total number of members: | Total number of members: | 20 |

### Mayors

The mayors (Norwegian: ordfører) of Kopervik:
* 1866–1870: Claudius Schiwe
* 1870–1875: A.J. Olsen
* 1876–1876: L.B. Henriksen
* 1877–1884: Adolf Hagbarth Marius Lunde
* 1885–1892: Aasmund Vinje
* 1893–1901: Rasmus Østbø
* 1902–1904: Reinhold Maartmann
* 1905–1905: Ole Waage
* 1906–1907: Tobias Telaus Ariansen
* 1908–1913: Carl Lundberg
* 1914–1916: Andreas Tomasgaard
* 1917–1917: Kristian Lundberg
* 1918–1918: Andreas Tomasgaard
* 1919–1919: Carl Lundberg
* 1920–1922: Thomas Idsøe
* 1923–1923: Carl Lundberg
* 1924–1924: Ketil Arneson Skeie
* 1925–1926: Carl Lundberg
* 1927–1927: Andreas Tomasgaard
* 1928–1931: Carl Lundberg
* 1932–1932: Leif Holmbek
* 1932–1934: Anton Salomonsen
* 1935–1938: Elias Sandvig
* 1939–1939: Nils O. Fjeldkårsta
* 1940–1941: Elias Sandvig
* 1946–1947: Magnus Børresen
* 1948–1948: Elias Sandvig
* 1949–1949: Magnus Børresen
* 1950–1950: Elias Sandvig
* 1950–1953: Lauritz Wathne
* 1954–1955: Magnus Børresen
* 1956–1957: Johan Fritzner Thorkildsen
* 1958–1959: Magnus Børresen
* 1960–1963: Frimann Skeie
* 1964–1964: Axel Holst Roness

## Notable people

* Jan Kjell Larsen (born 1983), a footballer
* Svein Munkejord (born 1948), a former fisheries minister
* Asbjørn Sunde (1909–1985), a saboteur against the Nazi occupation of Norway
* Tormod Torfæus (1636–1719), an Icelandic-Norwegian historian
* Øyvind Vaksdal (born 1955), former member of the Norwegian Parliament
* Karina Sævik (born 1996), a footballer