History

The parish of Torvestad was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt

Formannskapsdistrikt was the name for a Norwegian local self-government districts put into force in 1838. This system of municipality was created in a bill approved by the Storting and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January 1837...

). On 1 February 1855 the district Haugesund

Haugesund

is a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.-Location:Haugesund was separated from Torvastad as a town and municipality of its own in 1855. The rural municipality of Skåre was merged with Haugesund on January 1, 1958. Haugesund is a small municipality, only 73 km²...

 was separated from Torvastad to form a municipality of its own. The split left Torvastad with 3,242 inhabitants. Further division took place when Skåre

Skåre, Norway

Skåre is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway.It was created by a split from Torvastad on 1 November 1881. The new municipality had a population of 1,665. On 1 January 1911 a part of Skåre with 3,847 inhabitants was moved to the neighboring municipality Haugesund. On 1 January 1958 the...

 broke out on 1 November 1881 and Utsira

Utsira

Utsira is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. Utsira was separated from Torvastad on 1 July 1924.The municipality consists of an island located in the North Sea, 18 km west of Haugesund...

 followed on 1 July 1924. At that time Torvastad had a population of 2,187.

At 1. january 2009 Torvastad-area(north-karmøy) had 3343 inhabitants, this includes: Storesund, Håland, Hauge and Bø.
Source: http://www.karmoy.kommune.no/om-kommunen/demografi

On 1 January 1965 the district Vibrandsøy

Vibrandsøy

Vibrandsøy is an island which is part of the Haugesund municipality in Rogaland, Norway. The island lies west of the densely built-up Hasseløy. The island is now used as a recreational area. The island was part of the Torvastad municipality until 1965, and is the only part of the former...

 with 70 inhabitants were incorporated into Haugesund. The rest of Torvastad, with 3,783 inhabitants, was merged with Avaldsnes

Avaldsnes

Avaldsnes was an ancient centre of power on the west coast of Norway and is the site of one of Norway’s more important areas of cultural history...

, Kopervik

Kopervik

Kopervik is the largest city on the island of Karmøy in the county of Rogaland, Norway and is the administrative centre of the municipality of Karmøy, and Kopervik have 8,192 inhabitants. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland. -Population:...

, Skudenes

Skudenes

Skudenes is a former municipality of the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway.The parish of Skudesnæs was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 ....

, Skudeneshavn

Skudeneshavn

is a city on the southernmost tip of the island of Karmøy in Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Haugaland...

, Stangaland

Stangaland

Stangaland is a former municipality of the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway.It was created by a split from Avaldsnes on January 1, 1909. The new municipality had a population of 1.001....

 and Åkra

Åkra

Åkra is a former municipality of the traditional district of Haugaland in Rogaland county, Norway. Åkrehamn is the official name of Åkra. Locally the name is Haugalandet under Åkra. It is part of the settlement Åkrehamn / Vedavågen which has 9,946 inhabitants ,Åkra was created by a split from...

 to form the new municipality Karmøy

Karmøy

Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is located southwest of the city of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland....

.