Haugesund is a town and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.
Haugesund was separated from Torvastad as a town and municipality of its own in 1855. The rural municipality of Skåre was merged with Haugesund 1 January 1958. Haugesund is a small municipality, only 73 km². The population is 33,022, giving the municipality a population density of 459 people per km².
The town is situated at a strategically important sound through which ships could pass without heavy sea. In the early years the coastal waters of Haugesund were a huge source of herring, and the town grew accordingly. Despite being barely a village back then, king Harald Fairhair lived on Avaldsnes, very close to the modern town of Haugesund. In the last decades, the town, like its neighbours, has been turning towards the petroleum industry, the herring being long gone.
Haugesund is a cultural centre for its region, and is home to several festivals, the largest being the Norwegian International Film Festival and Sildajazz, an international jazz festival with approximately 70 bands and close to 200 concerts.
As of 2009, Haugesund's agglomeration has a population of approx. 100.000, of which 33,022 live in Haugesund and 37.000 live in Karmøy. The Haugesund Region, a statistical metropolitan area, consisting of the municipalities Karmøy, Haugesund, Tysvær, Sveio and Bokn, has a population of approx. 100.000 as of 2009.
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