Editing Bømlo (section)

==General information==
[[File:1720Norge Hordaland Ryfylke.jpg|left|thumb|A 1720 map showing "Fundas or Bomel I."]]
[[File:Mosterhamn - utsikt fra Amfiet.jpg|thumb|left|View of Mosterhamn]]
[[File:Old moster church II.jpg|thumb|left|View of the [[Old Moster Church]]]]
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 (island)|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 (island)|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.<ref name="Dag">{{Cite book |last=Jukvam |first=Dag |url=http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdf |title=Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen |publisher=[[Statistics Norway|Statistisk sentralbyrå]] |year=1999 |isbn=9788253746845 |language=no}}</ref>

===Name===
The municipality is named after the main [[Bømlo (island)|island of Bømlo]] ({{langx|non|Bymbil}}). The name is possibly derived from the word {{lang|non|bembel}} which means "navel" or "stomach", referring to the "thick" or "swollen" [[mountain formation]] of Siggjo. Another possibility is that the name is referring to {{wikt-lang|non|Bǫmburr}}, the name of a mythological [[Dwarf (folklore)|Norse dwarf]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rygh |first=Oluf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ud5LAQAAIAAJ |title=Norske gaardnavne: Søndre Bergenhus amt |date=1910 |publisher=W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri |edition=11 |location=Kristiania, Norge |pages=126–127 |language=no |authorlink=Oluf Rygh}}</ref> Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled ''Bømmel''. On 3 November 1917, a [[royal decree|royal resolution]] changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to ''Bømlo''.<ref>{{Cite journal |year=1917 |title=Norsk Lovtidende. 2den Afdeling. 1917. Samling af Love, Resolutioner m.m |url=https://www.nb.no/items/URN:NBN:no-nb_digitidsskrift_2015102381014_001 |journal=[[Norsk Lovtidend]] |language=no |location=Kristiania, Norge |publisher=Grøndahl og Søns Boktrykkeri |pages=1057–1065}}</ref> {{see also|Bamble#Name}}

===Coat of arms===
The [[coat of arms]] was granted on 29 February 1980. The official [[blazon]] is ''"[[Gules]], a sea-leaf [[argent]]"'' ({{langx|no|Eit kvitt sjøblad på raud botn}}). This means the arms have a red [[field (heraldry)|field]] (background) and the [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] is the leaf of a [[Nymphaeaceae|water lily]] interlaced with a [[trefoil]]. The charge has a [[tincture (heraldry)|tincture]] of [[argent]] which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The trefoil symbolizes the three former municipalities [[Bremnes]], [[Moster]], and Bømlo, which were united in 1963. The water lily leaf was chosen because this heart-shaped design is an old Norwegian heraldic charge. The arms were designed by Magnus Hardeland. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen |url=https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Bømlo |access-date=2023-05-24 |publisher=Heraldry of the World}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bomlo, Hordaland |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/no-12-19.html |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=Flags of the World}}</ref>

===Churches===
The [[Church of Norway]] has four parishes ({{lang|no|sokn}}) within the municipality of Bømlo. It is part of the [[Sunnhordland prosti]] ([[deanery]]) in the [[Diocese of Bjørgvin]].

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ style="font-size:medium"|'''''Churches in Bømlo'''''
!Parish ({{lang|no|sokn}})!!Church name!!Location of the church!!Year built
|-
|rowspan="1"|Bremnes||[[Bremnes Church]]||[[Svortland]]||1869
|-
|rowspan="2"|Bømlo||[[Bømlo Church]]||[[Langevåg, Hordaland|Langevåg]]||1960
|-
|[[Old Bømlo Church]]||[[Langevåg, Hordaland|Langevåg]]||1621
|-
|rowspan="1"|Lykling||[[Lykling Church]]||[[Lykling]]||1912
|-
|rowspan="2"|Moster||[[Moster Church]]||[[Mosterhamn]]||1874
|-
|[[Old Moster Church]]||[[Moster (island)|Moster]]||12th century
|}