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Stavanger

Stavanger (,, US usually ,  ) is a city and municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the administrative center of Rogaland county. The municipality is the fourth most populous in Norway. Located on the Stavanger Peninsula in southwest Norway, Stavanger counts its official founding year as 1125, the year the Stavanger Cathedral was completed. Stavanger's core is to a large degree 18th- and 19th-century wooden houses that are protected and considered part of the city's cultural heritage. This has caused the town center and inner city to retain a small-town character with an unusually high ratio of detached houses, and has contributed significantly to spreading the city's population growth to outlying parts of Greater Stavanger.

The city's population rapidly grew in the late 20th century due to its oil industry. Stavanger is known today as the Oil Capital of Norway. Norwegian energy company Equinor, the largest company in the Nordic region, has its headquarters in Stavanger. Multiple educational institutions for higher education are located in Stavanger. The largest of these is the University of Stavanger.

Domestic and international military installations are located in Stavanger, including the NATO Joint Warfare Centre. Other international establishments, and especially local branches of foreign oil and gas companies, contribute further to a significant foreign population in the city. The city has a strong international profile and 22,1% of the population has an immigrant background. In 2020, it was rated as the most liveable city for European expatriates in Norway as well as 5th in Europe by ECA International. Stavanger has, since the early 2000s, consistently had an unemployment rate significantly lower than the European average. In August 2022, the unemployment rate was 1.6%. The city is also among those that frequent various lists of most expensive cities in the world, and Stavanger has even been ranked as the world's most expensive city by certain indices.

The climate of the city is very mild by Nordic standards due to a strong maritime influence. As a result, winter usually remains above freezing whereas heat waves are rare and seldom long. Rainfall is common, although less so than in areas further north on the coastline.

Stavanger is served by international airport Stavanger Airport, Sola, which offers flights to cities in most major European countries, as well as a limited number of intercontinental charter flights. The airport was rated as one of the world's most punctual airports of its category by OAG in 2020.

Every two years, Stavanger organizes the Offshore Northern Seas (ONS), which is the second largest exhibition and conference for the energy sector. The Gladmat food festival is also held each year and is considered to be one of Scandinavia's leading food festivals. The city is also known for being one of the nation's premier culinary clusters. Stavanger was awarded the 2008 European Capital of Culture alongside Liverpool.

History
The first traces of settlement in the Stavanger region come from the days when the ice retreated after the last ice age c. 10,000 years ago. A number of historians have argued convincingly that North-Jæren was an economic and military center as far back as the 9th and 10th centuries with the consolidation of the nation at the Battle of Hafrsfjord around 872. Stavanger grew into a center of church administration and an important south-west coast market town around 1100–1300.

Stavanger fulfilled an urban role prior to its status as city (1125), from around the time the Stavanger bishopric was established in the 1120s. Bishop Reinald, who may have come from Winchester, England, is said to have started construction of Stavanger Cathedral (Stavanger domkirke) around 1100. It was finished around 1125, and the city of Stavanger counts 1125 as its year of foundation.

With the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Stavanger's role as a religious center declined, and the establishment of Kristiansand in the early 17th century led to the relocation of the bishopric. However, rich herring fisheries in the 19th century gave the city new life.

Stavanger was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1867, a small area of Hetland municipality (population: 200) was transferred to the city of Stavanger. Again on 1 January 1879, another area of Hetland (population: 1,357) was transferred to Stavanger. Then again on 1 January 1906, the city again annexed another area of Hetland (population: 399). On 1 July 1923, part of Hetland (population: 3,063) was moved to the city once again. Finally on 1 July 1953, a final portion of Hetland (population: 831) was moved to Stavanger. In the 1960s, the work of the Schei Committee pushed for many municipal mergers across Norway. As a result of this, on 1 January 1965, the city of Stavanger (population: 51,470) was merged with the neighboring municipalities of Madla (population: 6,025) and most of Hetland (population: 20,861).

The city's history is a continuous alternation between economic booms and recessions. For long periods of time its most important industries have been shipping, shipbuilding, the fish canning industry and associated subcontractors.

In 1969, a new boom started as oil was first discovered in the North Sea. After much discussion, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and a period of hectic growth followed.

On 1 January 2020, the neighboring municipalities of Finnøy and Rennesøy merged with Stavanger to form a new, larger municipality.

City development
Stavanger is one of Norway's oldest cities. It emerged in the 12th century during a period of population growth and increasing urbanisation throughout northern Europe. The archaeological and historical sources about the first city development are sparse. Therefore, there is much we do not know about the first city development. It stands out as an important area from early times, as a desirable foothold for the monarchy and the church, as both needed a strong foothold in the South West coast area. In North Jæren, rich archaeological material suggests that the chiefs held considerable power from the early Iron Age. Stavanger had a natural harbor and was, with Jæren in the south, strategically important to the county of the East as well as to the shipping route along the western coast and the fertile Ryfylke Islands in the north.

The earliest Christian impulses in Norway came to Stavanger region through trade connections with Continental Europe and Great Britain. This flourished during the Viking era. In the mid 10th century, traditional Norse burial customs ceased in the Stavanger area, at the same time as the first Christian priests began their work. Big stone crosses are visible memorials of this early Christian age (including the Tjora and Kvitsøy). On the overland approach to Stavanger, a memorial cross of HERS and lendmann Erling Skjalgsson was erected after his fall in 1028. Erling controlled power over the South West coast, and the location of the cross indicates that he had a special connection to Stavanger. The inscription on the cross shows a priest was responsible for the inscription, and he may have performed an early service at a church on site.

Archaeological investigations in the current downtown and in the crypt of the Cathedral show that the great fire of 1272 probably left large parts of the city and the cathedral in ruins, including the Romanesque chancel of the cathedral. The reconstruction after the fire led to the cathedral's Western Front being replaced with a vestibule, as well as to the construction (or reconstruction) of St. Mary's Church, Bishop's Chapel, the Gothic cathedral and the expansion of the stone cellar at Kongsberg.

Stavanger has a long history of education in Western Europe. It was the monastery here that first saw the need to train new employees through education. The first organized teaching in the city probably took place at a Benedictine monastery in the town, either Olav's Monastery or Monastery of people from the mid-12th century.

One of the most important events in Stavanger's city history was the gift letter that King Magnus Erlingsson gave to Stavanger Bishop Eirik Ivarsson in the second half of the 1100s. Exactly when the king made this gift letter, and under what circumstances it happened, is unknown. It may have been in 1163–1164, in connection with the King Magnus's coronation, but could also have been around 1181–1184, in connection with the support Stavanger Bishop Erik gave King Magnus at the end of the king's fight against the late King Sverre.

It is undoubtedly correct to characterize Stavanger as a church city throughout the Middle Ages, up to the Reformation. The Reformation, however, dealt a hard blow to the Church in specific and Stavanger in general. The cathedral, the bishop and canons of the monastery had been large landowners. Recession of the city began with the loss of people in rural areas, as a result of which the revenues of the cathedral and the bishop fell dramatically due to reduced rental income. In 1537 the bishop's and the monastery's estate and property was confiscated by the king. Kongsberg was plundered by Christoffer Trondsen in 1539, at which time St. Swithun's casket disappeared and Bishop Hoskuld Hoskuldsson may have been executed.

World War II
In a prelude to the invasion, on 8 April, the German freighter MS Roda (1928) (6,780 grt.) anchored by Ulsnes. Roda was reportedly loaded with coke, but customs officials and police authorities became suspicious about other cargo when they observed that the ship was not riding deep in the water. The ship was boarded and was ordered to move to Riska. However, Roda did not move, and the captain of the HNOMS Æger (1936), Niels Larsen Bruun, decided on his own initiative to sink the ship. After sending the crew off in lifeboats, Æger used 25 shots with 10 cm Bofors guns to sink Roda.

Early on the morning of 9 April 1940, explosions and bomb blasts from Sola-edge and news bulletins on radio announced the German attack on Norway. Sola Airport was the Germans' first target on North Jæren. The airport was attacked by six German Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters at around 8 am. The airport had been built in 1937, and in April 1940 fortifications round the airport were not yet complete. Fortifications consisted of a concrete bunker still under construction and several open shooting positions. Armament consisted of three heavy anti-aircraft machine guns, three heavy machine guns configured for ground targets, and some light machine guns at the disposal of the approximately 80 soldiers who defended the airport. The bomber wing was transferred to Sola Airport in 1939, but the planes, a total of six Fokker and three Caproni aircraft, were old and outdated. Shortly after the attack began, however, they took off.

The German air attack increased in intensity. The bombardment lasted for about an hour before 10 slow Ju 52 transport aircraft arrived over the airport. They had taken off from the airport at Hamburg a few hours earlier. In a parachute assault, the transport planes first dropped yellow containers containing weapons and equipment, then between 10 and 12 paratroopers from each plane. This was only the second ever wartime parachute assault; the first had occurred only three hours earlier, when a bridge south of Denmark was captured in the same way. At the Sola airport, the concrete bunker held out longest, but was eventually put out of action with a hand grenade. While Norwegian soldiers were badly injured in the attempted defense, there were no fatalities; in contrast, the Germans lost several. Lieutenant Thor Tang, who led the Norwegian defense of the airport, capitulated at 10:00, and the Germans immediately began landing troops, fuel and other supplies. In all, 200 to 300 transport aircraft arrived in Sola during invasion day, and by evening several hundred soldiers and large quantities of materiel had been moved from Germany to Sola.

By around 12:30 on 9 April, the first German troops advanced into Stavanger without resistance. The police station, telephone office, telegraph center, post office, port office, customs house and the gas company were the most important places, and now came under control of the Germans. The city was conquered without conflict, but the first sparks of resistance had been ignited, and several men left the city and made their way to the Norwegian troops inside Gjesdal, there to join the armed struggle against the enemy.

The Germans had placed a high priority to have a good railway connection between the air base at Sola – Stavanger district, and the rest of the country. However, it was not until 29 April 1944, that the Southern Railway was completed to Stavanger. In 1940, the Germans had envisioned it to be completed no later than 1 November 1941.

After Hitler's death in 1945, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz took over leadership of the German forces, and on 9 May 1945, gave the head of the German armed forces in Norway, General Franz Böhme, orders that "Reichskommissar" in Norway, Josef Terboven, was deposed and that all his duties were transferred to Böhme. To Böhme, in turn, he gave the task of how the capitulation of Festung Norwegen was to be implemented. There were around 15,000 German soldiers in Rogaland in 1945, and it was there where the commander of 274 Infantry Division, General Weckman, gave the formal German surrender.

Before repatriation, the Germans were required to remain and clean up after five years of occupation. There were 180 German minefields in Rogaland, with a total of 480,000 mines, all of which the German Wehrmacht were required to clear. Sixty-two Germans were killed and 94 were injured during mine clearance in Rogaland. Mines from this period continue to be uncovered.

Oil capital
In 1969, a new boom started as oil was first discovered in the North Sea. After much discussion, Stavanger was chosen to be the on-shore center for the oil industry on the Norwegian sector of the North Sea, and a period of hectic growth followed.

In March 1965 an agreement was signed between Norway and the United Kingdom on the sharing of the continental shelf by the median line principle. That same year a similar agreement was signed between Norway and Denmark. It was designed as a legal regime for oil exploration. The first licensing round on the Norwegian shelf was announced on 13 April 1965, and in August of that same year the government granted 22 licenses for 78 blocks for oil companies or groups of companies. The production license gave oil companies exclusive rights to exploration, drilling and production in a defined geographical area for a given period at an annual fee. Esso was the first oil company to start drilling for oil off the coast of Norway. The semi-submersible drilling vessel Ocean Traveler was towed from New Orleans to Norway, and the vessel began drilling on 19 July 1966, at block 8/3, about 180 km southwest of Stavanger.

Coat of arms
Hallvard Trætteberg (1898–1987), a leading specialist in heraldry, was commissioned to design the official coat of arms of Stavanger, a work that lasted from the end of the 1920s until approved on 11 August 1939. His design is also used as the city's arms, flag, and seal. The coat of arms is based upon a seal which dated from 1591. It shows a branch of vine (Vitis vinifera). Which leaves and branch type that is depicted on the coat of arms has been hotly debated. The original meaning and representation of the vine remains unknown.

Origin of the name
The Old Norse form of the name was Stafangr. The origin of the name has been discussed for decades, and the most used interpretation is that it originally was the name of the inlet now called Vågen, which was the original site of the city, on the east shore of the bay.

The first element of the name is stafr meaning 'staff' or 'branch'. This could refer to the form of the inlet, but also to the form of the mountain Valberget (Staven meaning 'the staff,' is a common name of high and steep mountains in Norway). The last element is angr meaning 'inlet, bay'. Facing the North Sea, Stavanger has always been economically dependent on its access to the sea.

Government
Stavanger Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Sør-Rogaland District Court and the Gulating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Stavanger is made up of 67 representatives who are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Geography
The municipality of Stavanger is located in a coastal landscape, bordering the sea to the west and Boknafjorden in the northeast. The Byfjorden and Gandsfjorden run along the east side of the city. It is part of the Low-Jæren, a flat area of land consisting mostly of marsh, sand, and stone aur, that ranges from Ogna River in the south to Tungenes in the north; it is the northernmost part that includes Stavanger. The majority of the municipality lies between 0 and 50 m in elevation. The landscape has a distinctive appearance with rocks and hills where there is no settlement or agriculture. The city of Stavanger is closely linked to the sea and water, with five lakes (including Breiavatnet, Stora Stokkavatnet, and Mosvatnet) and three fjords (Hafrsfjorden, Byfjorden, and Gandsfjorden); sea and water form the landscape, providing a shoreline rich with vegetation and wildlife.

The terrain is low-lying: 49% of the area is less than 20 m above sea level, While 7% of the land is at 60 m. Stavanger's highest point is the 514 m tall Bandåsen.

The city has developed on both sides of a hollow that runs right through the terrain, with steep slopes up from the bottom. An extension of Boknafjorden and Byfjorden intersects the harbour into the hollow from the northwest, while Hillevåg lake intrudes from Gandsfjorden in the southeast. Breiavatnet is located between the two fjord arms.

The city includes many islands off the coast including: Bjørnøy, Buøy, Engøy, Grasholmen, Hellesøy, Hundvåg, Kalvøy, Lindøy, Sølyst, and Vassøy. It also includes the eastern half of the island of Åmøy.

Parks
There are several parks and green spots in Stavanger municipality, both in the city and beyond. Central to the town is the city lake which is in turn surrounded by the city park, built as the city's first urban park in 1866–1868. Between the city park and the bay is located Kielland garden, which got its name because the poet Alexander Kielland's house at the time was here. Kielland Park went through a major renovation in 2007 as part of the Millennium in Stavanger municipality. At the opposite end of the city lake there is a small park outside the station; here there is Emigration, a gift from the Norwegian emigrants in the United States, commemorating the men and women of Norwegian ancestry who built America.

Bjergstedparken, a park north of Old Stavanger, is the location of Bjergsted Music Center, including Stavanger Concert Hall, and its outdoor areas are often used for festivals and outdoor concerts. The Missing park, built in honour of Lars Missing, is located up the hill on the west side of the harbour, and forms the entrance from the south towards the Old Town. Canon park forms the border between Stavanger and the exit from the E39. Northward go Løkkeveien against Bjergsted westward go Madlaveien the theater and Bergelandstunnelen, east towards E39. The park is located next to old Stavanger Hospital, which also has a large park area around the main building. Through the park runs Kannik creek, which comes to the surface at the statue of the Little Mermaid and runs into Breiavannet. Kannikkbekken runs mostly underground, in pipes, before it reaches Kannik park.

Outside the city center, the park southerly in relation to the large inland lakes such as Mosvatnet, Stora Stokkavatnet and Water Assen. Mosvatnet is 0.46 km2 making it the third largest in Stavanger after Hålandsvatnet and Store Stokkavatn. The lake supplied the city's drinking water from 1863 to 1931, and is now by far the most used recreation area in Stavanger. The path around the lake is 3.2 km long, and much used by cyclist and joggers; sampling conducted in 1995 showed that an estimated 560,000 people used the walking trail around Mosvatnet. At the south end is Mosvangen Camping, Stavanger Svømmestadion old man and Vålandskogen, and to the west is Rogaland Kunstmuseum. Stora Stokkavatnet is 2.19 km2 – the largest in Stavanger. Right at Stora Stokkavatnet is the 0.15 km2 Litla Stokkavatnet. The hiking trail around the lakes is 8.2 km long. In the lake is a small island, Storeholmen. Store Stokkavatnet supplied Stavanger's drinking water from 1931 to 1959, and was later demoted to the reserve drinking water. In 2009 it was relegated once more, and it is now legal to swim in the water.

Climate
Situated on the south west coast of Norway, Stavanger's climate is greatly influenced by the temperate water in the North Sea, and Atlantic lows giving mild westerlies also in winter. This creates warmer temperatures throughout the year compared to other cities at similar latitudes, and also gives plentiful precipitation in the form of rain, especially in late autumn and winter. According to Köppen climate classification, Stavanger experiences a temperate oceanic climate (Cfb) with five months with a mean temperature above 10 C. Spring and early summer is the driest season. The all-time high 33.5 C at the airport was recorded August 1975. The warmest high recorded in Stavanger is 34.4 C at the weather station Stavanger-Våland (72 m) in July 2018. The warmest month on record at Stavanger Airport is August 2002 with mean 19.3 °C and average daily high 23.2 °C. The all-time low -19.8 C was recorded January 1987. The coldest month on record is February 1963 with mean -5 °C and average daily low -9.6 °C. The average date for the last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C) in spring is April 20 and average date for first freeze in autumn is October 31 giving a frost-free season of 193 days (Stavanger Airport Sola 1981–2010 average).

Boroughs
Stavanger is officially partitioned into 22 parts and 218 subparts. Stavanger is also divided into seven boroughs. • Hundvåg

• Tasta

• Eiganes og Våland

• Madla

• Storhaug

• Hillevåg

• Hinna

Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods include: • Byhaugen

• Old Stavanger

• Bekkefaret

• Bergjeland

• Eiganes

• Forus

• Gausel

• Godeset

• Indre Tasta

• Jåtten

• Johannes

• Kampen

• Kvalaberg

• Kvernevik

• Madlamark

• Nylund

• Øyane

• Paradis

• Stokka

• Sunde

• Tjensvoll

• Ullandhaug

• Våland

• Varden

• Vaulen

• Ytre Tasta

• Madla.

Economy
In the early 20th century, Stavanger's industry was mainly related to fisheries and shipping. In the first half of the century it was known for canning, and in the 1950s there were over 50 canneries in town. The town was even called Norway's "canned capital", and included Christian Bjelland, who founded Chr Bjelland & Co. A/S. The last of these factories were closed down in 2002.

Around 1950, over half of the working population in the city was employed in industry. Structural changes in industry and the strong development of the service sector have radically changed the city's economic base, and the service industry now represents over 11 percent of employment. However, the city still has 29 percent of the county's industrial employment.

Engineering is now the main industry with 59 percent of manufacturing employment. This is mostly related to the offshore petroleum industry, and production of oil platforms alone account for 40 percent. Other important industries are publishing – especially high printing and the major daily newspapers in town, Stavanger and Rogaland Avis Aftenblad – and food and beverage, which includes the processing of local agricultural products from Jæren, including Gilde Vest with one of the largest slaughterhouses.

Employment by place of work and industry in 2007 to 0.6% in primary, 27.4% in secondary and tertiary industries 71.7%. Employment by place of work by sector in 2007 to 24.4% in the public sector and 75.6% in the private sector and public enterprises.

Industry has in recent years become highly decentralized. The most important of the newer industrial areas are Forus in the south, on the border of Sandnes and Sola, and Dusavik (mainly petroleum-related activities) in the north, on the border of Randfontein. Significant older industrial areas are Hillevåg, Buøy, the eastern districts, and in some places elsewhere along the coast. Shipbuilding and shipping has also traditionally been of great importance to the city's economic growth, and Rosenberg Shipyard, established in 1896, is located on Hundvåg. Today Stavanger is also among the country's most important maritime cities, coming in fourth for registered fleets after the cities of Oslo, Bergen and Ålesund.

For the fourth consecutive year, Stavanger Region was in 2007 ranked best business region. Telemarksforsking Bo worked with Ministry NM to rank the regions in Norway with regard to profitability, growth and new businesses.

Media

The city's largest daily newspaper, Stavanger Aftenblad came out with its first issue in 1893. Competitor Rogalands Avis was first published in 1899 under the name 1ste Mai ('1 May'), and published daily. In 1987 an attempt was made to establish a new daily newspaper, The West Coast, but it was only released for two months and ended with a total loss of NOK 27 million.

The first newspaper published in Stavanger, "Stavangerske Adressecontoirs Efterretninger", was a handwritten weekly newspaper that probably came out in 1769 and 1770. This was not an ordinary newspaper, but a so-called link newspaper with the privilege of bringing out announcements, small articles and ads. The first printed newspaper in Stavanger, "Stavanger Addresseavis", published its first issue on Friday, 4 October 1833.

Stavanger Avis was published from 1888 until 1911. Writer and local Alexander L. Kielland was editor in 1889. Stavanger Avis was also the name of the newspaper that came out from 1942 to 1945, when Stavanger Aftenblad and Stavangeren were merged by the Press Directorate.

Student newspaper SMiS (Studentmediene i Stavanger) comes out every other month.

Stavanger has one principal television station, TV Vest, that sends local news and reports. Additionally, Viking TV, the channel for the football team Viking FK, started on 2 March 2008, and is distributed via Lyse's broadband network, reaching 120,000 viewers in 45,000 households. NRK Rogaland supplies local news broadcasts on radio and television. Local radio stations also provide local news and reports.

Agriculture and food
Stavanger region is often referred to as Norway's answer to the French food region of Lyon. The Culinary Institute, based in Ullandhaug, provided a very important focus on food in Stavanger. After the Culinary Institute went bankrupt, partly due to activities in Oslo on 4 June 2008, a new culinary organization was established by the Foundation Rogaland knowledge park and Rogaland County Council. This new institute, now also known as The Culinary Institute, maintained parts of the work of the original organization, and eventually bought back the name, logo and brand Culinary Institute from the bankruptcy estate.

In summer 2007, the region's culinary actors were awarded the title "Norwegian Centers of Expertise in Culinology." The building under construction at Ullandhaug will serve as a platform and innovative arena, not only for the region's R & D environment, but also for other expertise among both industry and the public. In July 2008 the Stavanger European championship qualified for the Bocuse d' Or. In 2008, Norway was represented by Geir Skeie, who also won gold. Every year there is a "Happy Food Festival" in the city center. The festival originated in the network of Rogaland county so that they could impart culinary traditions of the region. By 2020, Stavanger region intends to be the region most Norwegians associate with food products and culinary experiences.

Oil industry
In recent times, the city has come to be called the "oil capital," and Norway's national and largest oil company, Equinor, is based at Forus, in Stavanger. Equinor (at the time known as Statoil) was founded as a limited company owned by the Government of Norway on 14 July 1972 by a unanimous act passed by the Norwegian parliament Stortinget, to enable Norwegian participation in the oil industry on the continental shelf, to build up Norwegian competency within the petroleum industry, and to establish the foundations of a domestic petroleum industry. Establishing Equinor's headquarters in Stavanger naturally led to Stavanger becoming the center of the oil industry. Petoro, a Norwegian state-owned company responsible for managing the commercial aspects of the state's direct financial interest in petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf, also has its headquarters in the city. With the center of the national oil industry in Stavanger, several other international oil companies have also made their headquarters in Stavanger.

NPD was created in 1972 by Ullandhaug and PSA was established on 1 January 2004 and co-located with the agency, as a regulatory body.

Jåttåvågen, on Gandsfjorden, was from the 1970s to the 1990s a large industrial area, particularly for the construction of large concrete Condeep platforms and oil platforms for the offshore industry. Among others, the Condeep jacket for the three Gullfaks platforms and Troll A were cast here by Norwegian Contractors.

Offshore Northern Seas is the second largest exhibition of its kind in the oil and gas industry. ONS takes place in Stavanger during the last week of August every other year. In 2008, there were 38,000 visitors, half of whom came from abroad.

Airport
Stavanger Airport, Sola, is located in Sola, 14 minutes away from Stavanger city center. The airport opened in 1937. In 1940 Stavanger Airport, Forus, opened, but closed in 1989. In 2013 Sola airport had over 4 million passengers and was the largest airport in Rogaland county. It is also the 3rd largest airport in Norway and 7th in the Nordic countries. The busiest route is Oslo-Gardermoen, with over 1.5 million passengers; the second most popular is Bergen Airport, Flesland, with over 700,000 passengers; Oslo-Torp is the third most popular, followed by Trondheim Airport, Værnes and Kristiansand Airport, Kjevik domestically. Internationally, the busiest routes are Copenhagen, Amsterdam, and Aberdeen. Stavanger also has connections to domestic and European destinations, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Stockholm, Warsaw. Domestic destinations are all the way up from Tromsø down to Kristiansand.

Railway
Stavanger Station opened in 1878 and is the terminus of both the Sørlandet Line and the Jæren Line.

The Southern Railway goes from Oslo Central Station to Drammen, to Kristiansand Station, to, finally, Stavanger Station. This route, 545 km between Oslo and Stavanger, is scheduled over four times every day and takes around seven hours. The railway was constructed in several phases, the first section being opened in 1871 and the last not opened until 1944. While there was continual construction work from Oslo westward as far as Moi, the Jæren Line, from Egersund to Stavanger in Western Norway, was opened in 1878. Up to 1913 the name used on plans and for the completed sections was the Vestlandet Line (The West Country Line).

There are also local trains in Jæren with 19 stops on one line. The line opened as a 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) narrow gauge stand-alone line on 27 February 1878. The railway was extended from Egersund to Flekkefjord as the Flekkefjord Line in 1904. The Jæren Line's only branch, the Ålgård Line from Ganddal to Ålgård, opened in 1924. In 1944, the Sørlandet Line was extended to Sira on the Flekkefjord Line, and the Jæren Line was integrated into the main railway network. Because of this, the line was converted to standard gauge.

Roads
European route E39 goes through Stavanger via the Mastrafjord Tunnel and Byfjord Tunnel, then goes south to Sandnes. Fylkesvei 44 starts in Stavanger and ends in Kristiansand, via Sandnes and Flekkefjord.

National road 509 runs between Tasta Borough through Tananger, Sola and Stavanger Airport, and Forus, ending at E39 near Jåtten.

On 18 December 2012, the new engine traffic road Solasplitten opened as a new thoroughfare eastward, north of Forus and the European route E39.

An undersea road tunnel connects Stavanger to Strand via the Ryfast tunnel link. (Ryfylke Tunnel and Hundvåg Tunnel).

There is as of 2021 ongoing construction of Rogfast, an undersea road tunnel that will facilitate travel between Stavanger and Haugesund.

Sea
Located outside Stavanger, there is a port serving ferries to Hirtshals, Denmark. There have been advocates for the Smyril Line ferry between the Faroe Islands and Denmark to make a stop in Stavanger as the new port in Risavika allows this to be done while only adding one hour to the total sailing time.

Local ferries go to Tau and Kvitsøy, while fast passenger boats go to many villages and islands between the main routes from Stavanger to Haugesund and Sauda.

There are plans to re-establish the ferry link to Newcastle in the United Kingdom, which was suspended in 2008.

Bus

The local bus service in Stavanger is administered by Rogaland Kollektivtrafikk (RKT) under the brand name "Kolumbus". The buses are operated by Boreal Transport. RKT administers all bus routes in Rogaland County.

Express bus services are operated by NOR-WAY Bussekspress from Stavanger City Terminal to Kristiansand, Bergen and Haugesund, and by Lavprisekspressen to Oslo via Kristiansand.

The city has a number of bus services and taxis.

Education
University of Stavanger (UIS) is the fifth university established in Norway, on 29 October 2004, when Høgskolen i Stavanger (HiS) gained university status by decision of the council. The university has about 9,000 students and 1,200 employees and is organized into three faculties: Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science. The archaeological museum is also part of the university. The campus is located in Ullandhaug, with most departments located there. Marit Boyesen was selected as the principal for the period 2011 to 2015, and started her tenure as rector 1 August 2011. As rector, she is the head of the academic activities of the University of Stavanger as well as Chairman of the University Board. The University of Stavanger became a member of European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU) in October 2012.

The VID Specialized University has a long history in the city. This university began as the School of Mission and Theology or Misjonshøgskolen (MHS), being established in 1843 and accredited in 2008 as a research university. It has about 300 students from approximately 20 countries. MHS is owned by the Norwegian Missionary Society. The Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) is associated with the college's mission. In 2016 it became part of the VID Specialized University.

The Art School in Rogaland was established in 1978, with a history dating back to 1957.

The Scandinavian School of Management offers college studies in Marketing and Management. The school is 92.5% owned by John Bauer Group.

Solborgveien Folk annually welcomes over 140 students and is owned by the Lutheran.

Other private schools include the International School of Stavanger, The British International School of Stavanger and Stavanger French school, which is in the same premises as Eiganes School.

Other schools in the city are the Enterprise Technical College Stavanger, Noroff Institute Stavanger, Utdanningshuset Stavanger, Acta Bible, BI Stavanger, Fjelltun Bible, Folkeuniversitetet Stavanger, Imente Vocational School Stavanger, Nor Offshore Stavanger, Norwegian School of Creative Studies Stavanger, NæringsAkademiet Stavanger Peteka – Stavanger, PNI Training Center and Stavanger Offshore Technical College.

The high schools are categorized under Rogaland county, but specifically within Stavanger municipality are the schools St. Olav, St. Svithun, Stavanger Cathedral School, Hetland, Jåttå, Stavanger Offshore Technical College, Godalen and Bergeland.

Museums
The city has several museums and collections that are both local and national. The city's most visited museum is the Norwegian Petroleum Museum, opened in 1998. In its 10 years of visitation records, from 1998 to 2008, almost 95,000 people visited the museum annually.

The city's oldest museum is Missjonmuseet, established in 1864, located on the ground floor of the faculty building at MHS. The museum has about 5,000 exhibits consisting of several objects of ethnographic and historical interest from the various mission fields of study.

Stavanger Museum, founded in 1877 and thus one of the oldest museums, includes several historic buildings and collections. Stavanger Museum consists of a total of eight buildings: Stavanger Museum Muségata 16, Stavanger Maritime Museum, the Norwegian Canning Museum, Ledaal, Breidablikkveien museum, combined indretning, Norwegian Printing Museum and the Norwegian Children's Museum. In the main museum are now a cultural department, a zoological collection, and a library.

Museum of Archaeology in Stavanger is the largest museum in Stavanger, measured by number of employees. AmS is a state museum for the prehistoric sites in Rogaland, and is part of the University of Stavanger. The museum also conducts extensive outreach activities, and has facilities fairly close to Stavanger Museum.

Rogaland Art Museum, located by a park, has paintings by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, Christian Krogh, Eilif Peterssen and Harriet Backer, and also has the largest collection of Lars Hertervigs work. Other artists of Rogaland represented here include Kitty Kielland, Nicolai Ulfsten, Carl Sundt-Hansen, Olaf Lange and Aage Storstein.

Vestlandske School Museum (Western Norway School Museum), in Stavanger, is currently in the old 1920 Kvaleberg school building. Established in 1925, it is a museum of school history in Rogaland.

By the bay lies the Norwegian Emigration Center on the west side and on the eastern side of the bay is Valbergtårnet with its Watchmen's Museum (Vektermuseet). Norwegian Telecom Museum has an office in Stavanger, at Løkkeveien.

Churches
The Church of Norway has two deaneries (prosti) within the municipality of Stavanger: the Stavanger arch-deanery and the Ytre Stavanger deanery. The two deaneries are divided up into 17 parishes (sokn), all of which are part of the Diocese of Stavanger.

Local filmmaking
South West Film Forum was established in 1992 and is an organization of film workers in Rogaland. Its goal is to increase the skills of film workers in the region and encourage more filmmaking. Film Forum Southwest has received operating support from the City of Stavanger since 1995 and from the county since 1997. Additionally, they have received grants for film workshop from the county and for other industry-stimulating measures from Stavanger municipality.

Stavanger has since 1997 had a grant for the support of local filmmaking. The aim has been to stimulate the local film community growth and development, and to contribute to local filmmakers so they can initiate film projects that can then apply for production funding from other government agencies. In addition, they support the already completed projects – primarily to help cinemas display locally produced film.

The feature film Mongoland became a Norwegian film success, made outside the traditional infrastructure for Norwegian film. So far this has culminated with the establishment of the production company South West Film and Film Kraft Rogaland, to ensure long-term fund allocations to filmproduksjoner. Arild Østin Ommundsen made his directorial debut with the feature film Mongoland in 2000 and has since directed and written the script for The Haunting (2003) and Monster Thursday (2005). Ommundsen helped start the new Stavanger wave that came after Mongoland premiered, and several of the actors who were instrumental have since enjoyed great success.

Stavanger native Stian Kristiansen, who had his acting breakthrough in the feature film "Mongoland", debuted as a feature film director with the film interpretation of Tore Renberg's book The Man Who Loved Yngve. The film, of the same title, had its theatrical release on 15 February 2008. The film has received top marks in Norwegian media, and was watched by over 30,000 people during the premiere weekend. In 2008, Kristiansen received Stavanger's screenplay scholarship.

On 30 September 2010, the film Nokas, directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg, premiered in Stavanger. The film is about the NOKAS robbery in Stavanger on 5 April 2004, and was filmed on location, using many of the locations where the factual event took place, such as the King Street counting center, in the Norway Bank building, and the Cathedral Square, by Maria Church Ruins. The family of the police officer who died during the robbery has not authorized the film.

TV
Lykkeland ("State of Happiness"), a Norwegian drama series of so far 16 episodes in two seasons, premiered with the first season on NRK1 in 2018. The series is about the time when Norway enters the oil age and follows some families and people in Stavanger who experience great upheavals when the city goes from being a pietistic community with fishing, shipping and agriculture as main industries, to becoming an international, rich oil city. The second season premiered on 2 January 2022 and deals with dramatic events in the 1970s and 1980s.

The series won two awards during the newly started CannesSeries Festival in Cannes in 2018. The first season of the series won five awards during the Gullruten ("Golden Screen", Norway) 2019 – best drama series, best actress for Anne Regine Ellingsæter, best director TV drama for Petter Næss and Pål Jackman, best screenplay in TV drama for Mette Marit Bølstad and best costume for Karen Fabritius Gram. During the Gullruten 2022, the second season of the series won five awards, among them best supporting role for Pia Tjelta and best director TV drama for Petter Næss.

European Capital of Culture 2008
Stavanger and its region, along with Liverpool, United Kingdom, was selected as a European Capital of Culture for 2008. The Stavanger2008 vision is expressed through the concept "Open Port". This can be understood both in its English sense – "an open harbour" – and in its Norwegian meaning of "an open gate", together implying openness towards the world. The region and its people is supposed to be even more open and inclusive towards art, ideas and opportunities.

Stavanger was the host port of the Cutty Sark Tall Ships' Race in 1997 and 2004.

Sport and recreation
The largest local football club in Stavanger is Viking FK, one of the most successful football clubs in Norwegian history, having won a total of eight league titles and five Norwegian Football Cup titles. The club plays its home matches at SR-Bank Arena, which was opened in 2004.

After a short stint in the second-tier division, OBOS-ligaen, in the 2018 season, Viking FK was once again promoted to the top-tier Eliteserien, and is to date the club with the most seasons at the highest level of Norwegian football, along with Trondheim rival Rosenborg BK.

FK Vidar, another local football club, currently plays in the Norwegian second division, the third highest level on the football league pyramid.

Stavanger Oilers is the only western team in the top Norwegian ice hockey league, Fjordkraftligaen. It has won a total of seven Norwegian championship titles. The club plays its home matches at DNB Arena, which was opened in 2012.

The handball team Stavanger Håndball plays in the Norwegian second division.

Stavanger was the host of the 2009 beach volleyball SWATCH FIVB World Championships.

The Sørmarka Arena is an indoor multi-purpose ice rink used for (inter)national ice speed skating competitions.

Music
Every May, Stavanger is host to MaiJazz, the Stavanger International Jazz Festival. The International Chamber Music Festival takes place every August.

Stavanger is the home of the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Covering another part of the musical spectrum, it is also home to gothic metal bands Theatre of Tragedy, Tristania, Sirenia and the singer Liv Kristine, and the black metal band Gehenna. Janove Ottesen and Geir Zahl, founding members of the alternative rockband Kaizers Orchestra, both live in Stavanger as well. Other notable acts from Stavanger include Kvelertak, Thomas Dybdahl & Sturle Dagsland.

Community art
Annually, in September, Stavanger participates in the NuArt Festival, held to showcase non-traditional artists and performers from Norway and abroad. The festival has been described as "one of Europe's most dynamic and constantly evolving public art events."

Tourism
Stavanger is a popular tourist destination, especially in summer. The hotels in the city enjoy high levels of occupancy all year round, due to the large number of commuters travelling to Stavanger, both for work and in order to attend meetings. In recent years, Stavanger has also become one of the most popular ports of call for cruise ships, with the number of cruise ships increasing steadily, making Stavanger one of Europe's fastest growing ports of call for cruise ships north of the Mediterranean.

Especially in the summertime, Stavanger's harbour is full of large cruiseships: in 2011 Stavanger hosted 130 cruiseships. The Port of Stavanger is a popular stop on the route to the Norwegian Fjords. The charming city center is just a small walk from the quay.

Outdoor activities
There are not many outdoor activities in Stavanger itself, however, splendid opportunities are nearby in adjacent municipalities: Lysefjorden is particularly popular for hiking. Tourists typically visit places like Preikestolen (aka the Pulpit Rock), and Kjeragbolten. Preikestolen is a massive rock overhanging the fjord (604 metres below). Kjeragbolten is a rock wedged in the cliff approximately 1,000 metres above the fjord. The straight fall 1,000 metres down to the fjord makes Kjerag a very popular location for BASE jumping.

Not too far from Stavanger, alpine centers are available for skiers and snowboarders throughout the winter season.

Along the coast south of Stavanger there are a number of large, sandy beaches, including at Sola, within close reach from the city.

City center
Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger) is located right next to the city center and has a collection of 18th- and 19th-century wooden structures.

Stavanger domkirke (St. Swithun's cathedral) was built between 1100 and 1150 by the English bishop Reinald in Anglo-Norman style, and in the late 13th century a new choir was added in Gothic style, with a vaulted roof. The cathedral is the only Norwegian cathedral that is almost unchanged since the 14th century.

The city center itself is small and intimate, with narrow streets and open spaces protected from car traffic.

Public service & business

 * Just Henrik Ely (1759–1824), military officer, rep. at Norwegian Constitutional Assembly
 * Gabriel Schanche Kielland (1760–1821), businessman and ship owner
 * Peder Valentin Rosenkilde (1772–1836), merchant and rep. at Norwegian Constituent Assembly
 * Henrik Steffens (1773–1845), Norwegian philosopher, scientist, and poet
 * Lars Oftedal (1838–1900), priest, social reformer, politician; founded Stavanger Aftenblad
 * Christian Lous Lange (1869–1938), historian & political scientist; exponent of internationalism
 * Jacob Christian Petersen (1870–1964), priest, first modern-day Bishop of Stavanger in 1925–1940
 * Nicolai Rygg (1872–1957), economist and Governor of the Central Bank of Norway
 * Olaf Gjerløw (1885–1949), newspaper editor, edited Morgenbladet in 1920–1949
 * Thore Horve (1899–1990, naval officer, ran the Royal Norwegian Navy in 1946–1949
 * Håkon Nilsen (1913–1976), highly decorated war veteran of World War II, torpedo commander HNorMs Stord
 * Ingerid Gjøstein Resi (1901–1955), philologist, women's rights leader and politician
 * Sven Oftedal (1905–1948), physician, politician and Govt. minister
 * Guri Hjeltnes (born 1953), journalist, historian and academic
 * Anne Lise Ådnøy (born 1957), prelate, Bishop of Stavanger since 2019
 * Leif Johan Sevland (born 1961), politician, Mayor of Stavanger from 1995 to 2011
 * Aslak Sira Myhre (born 1973), journalist, director of the National Library of Norway since 2014
 * Afua Hirsch (born 1981), British journalist, broadcaster and former barrister

The Arts

 * Alexander Kielland (1849–1906), realistic writer, one of "The Four Greats"
 * Peder Severin Krøyer (1851–1909), one of the Skagen Painters
 * Frida Hansen (1855–1931), textile artist
 * Olaf Lange (1875–1965), painter
 * Henny Skjønberg (1886–1973), actress and stage director
 * Fartein Valen (1887–1952), composer
 * Henrik Grevenor (1896–1937), art historian and academic
 * Liv Bredal (1919–2011), film actress
 * Gunnar Eide (1920–2012), actor and theatre director
 * Gunnar Bull Gundersen (1929–1993), sailor, novelist, playwright and lyricist
 * Knut Husebø (born 1946), actor and visual artist
 * Frode Gjerstad (born 1948), jazz musician, plays alto saxophone
 * Ståle Kleiberg (born 1958), contemporary classical composer and musicologist
 * Mia Gundersen (born 1961), singer and actress
 * Sigvart Dagsland (born 1963), singer, pianist, and composer
 * Sveinung Bjelland (born 1970), classical pianist, soloist and Lieder accompanist
 * Hans-Peter Lindstrøm (born 1973), multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer
 * John Erik Kaada (born 1975), singer-songwriter, film score composer, multi-instrumentalist
 * Liv Kristine Espenæs (born 1976) and Carmen Elise Espenæs, metal singer-songwriters
 * Pia Tjelta (born 1977), Norwegian actress
 * Johan Harstad (born 1979), novelist, short story writer, playwright and graphic designer
 * Pål Sverre Hagen (born 1980), Norwegian stage and screen actor
 * Ingrid Dahle (born c. 1990), comedian and actress
 * Aurora (born 1996), singer, songwriter and record producer

Sport

 * Kjell Schou-Andreassen (1940–1997), football manager
 * Svein Kvia (1947–2005), footballer
 * Erik Thorstvedt (born 1962), footballer
 * Asle Andersen (born 1972), football manager and player
 * Gunn-Rita Dahle Flesjå (born 1973), cross-country mountain biker
 * Cecilie Drabsch Norland (born 1978), Paralympic swimmer
 * Linda Grubben (born 1979), biathlete
 * Ane Stangeland Horpestad (born 1980), footballer
 * Ole Erevik (born 1981), handball player
 * Brede Hangeland (born 1981), footballer
 * Kjetil Jansrud (born 1985), alpine ski racer and Olympic champion
 * Alexander Kristoff (born 1987), cyclist
 * Sarah Louise Rung (born 1989), Paralympic swimmer
 * Aryan Tari (born 1999), chess grandmaster

Twin towns – sister cities
Stavanger is twinned with:

 * Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
 * 🇲🇬 Antsirabe, Madagascar
 * Esbjerg, Denmark
 * 🇸🇪 Eskilstuna, Sweden
 * 🇳🇮 Estelí, Nicaragua
 * 🇮🇸 Fjarðabyggð, Iceland
 * 🇺🇸 Galveston, United States
 * 🇺🇸 Houston, United States
 * 🇫🇮 Jyväskylä, Finland
 * 🇵🇸 Nablus, Palestine
 * 🇮🇱 Netanya, Israel

title: Stavanger


text:
Modchip

A modchip (short for modification chip) is a small electronic device used to alter or disable artificial restrictions of computers or entertainment devices. Modchips are mainly used in video game consoles, but also in some DVD or Blu-ray players. They introduce various modifications to its host system's function, including the circumvention of region coding, digital rights management, and copy protection checks for the purpose of using media intended for other markets, copied media, or unlicensed third-party (homebrew) software.

Function and construction
Modchips operate by replacing or overriding a system's protection hardware or software. They achieve this by either exploiting existing interfaces in an unintended or undocumented manner, or by actively manipulating the system's internal communication, sometimes to the point of re-routing it to substitute parts provided by the modchip.

Most modchips consist of one or more integrated circuits (microcontrollers, FPGAs, or CPLDs), often complemented with discrete parts, usually packaged on a small PCB to fit within the console system it is designed for. Although there are modchips that can be reprogrammed for different purposes, most modchips are designed to work within only one console system or even only one specific hardware version.

Modchips typically require some degree of technical skill to install since they must be connected to a console's circuitry, most commonly by soldering wires to select traces or chip legs on a system's circuit board. Some modchips allow for installation by directly soldering the modchip's contacts to the console's circuit ("quicksolder"), by the precise positioning of electrical contacts ("solderless"), or, in rare cases, by plugging them into a system's internal or external connector.

Memory cards or cartridges that offer functions similar to modchips work on a completely different concept, namely by exploiting flaws in the system's handling of media. Such devices are not referred to as modchips, even if they are frequently traded under this umbrella term.

The diversity of hardware modchips operate on and varying methods they use mean that while modchips are often used for the same goal, they may work in vastly different ways, even if they are intended for use on the same console. Some of the first modchips for the Wii, known as drive chips, modify the behaviour and communication of the optical drive to bypass security. On the Xbox 360, a common modchip took advantage of the fact short periods of instability in the CPU could be used to fairly reliably lead it to incorrectly compare security signatures. The precision required in this attack meant that the modchip had to make use of a CPLD. Other modchips, such as the XenoGC and clones for the GameCube, invoke a debug mode where security measures are reduced or absent (in which case a stock Atmel AVR microcontroller was used). A more recent innovation are optical disk drive emulators or ODDE, which replace the optical disk drive and allow data to come from another source bypassing the need to circumvent any security. These often make use of FPGAs to enable them to accurately emulate timing and performance characteristics of the optical drives.

History
Most cartridge-based console systems did not have modchips produced for them. They usually implemented copy protection and regional lockout with game cartridges, both on hardware and software level. Converters or passthrough devices have been used to circumvent the restrictions, while flash memory devices (game backup devices) were widely adopted in later years to copy game media. Early in the transition from solid-state to optical media, CD-based console systems did not have regional market segmentation or copy protection measures due to the rarity and high cost of user-writable media at the time.

Modchips started to surface with the PlayStation system, due to the increasing availability and affordability of CD writers and the increasing sophistication of DRM protocols. At the time, a modchip's sole purpose was to allow the use of imported and copied game media.

Today, modchips are available for practically every current console system, often in a great number of variations. In addition to circumventing regional lockout and copy protection mechanisms, modern modchips may introduce more sophisticated modifications to the system, such as allowing the use of user-created software (homebrew), expanding the hardware capabilities of its host system, or even installing an alternative operating system to completely re-purpose the host system (e.g. for use as a home theater PC).

Anti-modchip measures
Most modchips open the system to copied media, therefore the availability of a modchip for a console system is undesirable for console manufacturers. They react by removing the intrusion points exploited by a modchip from subsequent hardware or software versions, changing the PCB layout the modchips are customized for, or by having the firmware or software detect an installed modchip and refuse operation as a consequence. Since modchips often hook into fundamental functions of the host system that cannot be removed or adjusted, these measures may not completely prevent a modchip from functioning but only prompt an adjustment of its installation process or programming, e.g. to include measures to make it undetectable ("stealth") to its host system.

With the advent of online services to be used by video game consoles, some manufacturers have executed their possibilities within the service's license agreement to ban consoles equipped with modchips from using those services.

In an effort to dissuade modchip creation, some console manufacturers included the option to run homebrew software or even an alternative operating system on their consoles, such as Linux for PlayStation 2. However, some of these features have been withdrawn at a later date. An argument can be made that a console system remains largely untouched by modchips as long as their manufacturers provide an official way of running unlicensed third-party software.

Legality
One of the most prominent functions of many modchips—the circumvention of copy protection mechanisms—is outlawed by many countries' copyright laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the United States, the European Copyright Directive and its various implementations by the EU member countries, and the Australian Copyright Act. Other laws may apply to the many diversified functions of a modchip, e.g. Australian law specifically allowing the circumvention of region coding.

The ambiguity of applicable law, its nonuniform interpretation by the courts, and constant profound changes and amendments to copyright law do not allow for a definitive statement on the legality of modchips. A modchip's legality under a country's legislature may only be individually asserted in court.

Most of the very few cases that have been brought before a court ended with the conviction of the modchip merchant or the manufacturer under the respective country's anti-circumvention laws. A small number of cases in the United Kingdom and Australia were dismissed under the argument that a system's copy protection mechanism would not be able to prevent the actual infringement of copyright—the actual process of copying game media—and therefore cannot be considered an effective technical protection measure protected by anti-circumvention laws. In 2006, Australian copyright law has been amended to effectively close this legal loophole.

In a 2017 lawsuit against a retailer, a Canadian court ruled in favor of Nintendo under anti-circumvention provisions in Canadian copyright law, which prohibit any breaching of technical protection measures. The court ruled that even though the retailer claimed the products could be used for homebrew, thus asserting exemptions for maintaining interoperability, the court ruled that because Nintendo offers development kits for its platforms, interoperability could be achieved without breaching TPMs, and thus the defence is invalid.

Alternatives
An alternative of installing a modchip is a process of softmodding a device. A softmodded device does not need to permanently have any additional hardware pieces inside. Instead, the software of a device or its internal part is modified in order to change the device's behaviour.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Modchip


text:
Roots revival

A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.

The term roots revival is vague, and may not always refer to identical events. Characteristics associated with a roots revival include:

 * Popularization of previously non-mainstream and independent of folk music
 * Adaptation of folk styles to pop (or rock) structures
 * Invention of new formats like bands where only solo acts had existed before
 * Introduction of new instruments
 * Composition of works by those who perform them, as opposed to folk tunes mostly passed down orally (see singer-songwriter)
 * Incorporation of politically aware lyrics, often critical of a government, religion, or other authority, or society in general
 * Lyrics are the first from the nation to express more than simple desires and problems, and are often seen as the embodiment of a national character or literary tradition (in comparison to the legendary American songwriter, such composers are often said to be the "Bob Dylan" of a particular variety, as in Wannes Van de Velde is the Belgian Bob Dylan)
 * Roots revival performers will often come from very different social and economic backgrounds compared to the people whose style of music they are popularizing.

With such a vague and variable definition, roots revival could be seen as referring to the creation of any kind of pop music industry, though there are countries with well-developed pop traditions that have not had a period referred to as a roots revival (such as Jamaica, India, Cuba, and Kenya). For example, homogenized pop has long had its fans in most every country in the world, but many of these nations have created their own indigenous pop styles out of folk music; this process could be called a roots revival, though in some cases the folk musics in question were still widespread and did not need to be revived.

History
The British folk revival was an academic movement to transcribe and record traditional British songs during the late 19th and early 20th century. Pioneers of this movement were the Harvard professor Francis James Child (1825–96), compiler of The English and Scottish Popular Ballads (1882–92), Sabine Baring-Gould (1834–1924), Frank Kidson (1855–1926), Lucy Broadwood (1858–1939), and Anne Gilchrist (1863–1954). The Folk Song Society was founded in 1898 to promote this new endeavour. A major figure in this movement was Cecil Sharp who was the most influential on the repertoire of subsequent performers and defining the nature of folk song. His lectures and other publications attempted to define a musical tradition that was rural in origin, oral in transmission and communal in nature.

The American folk music revival, which focused on culture and entertainment, began in the 1930s and 1940s. During the Great Depression, folk music styles were disseminated around the country, as Delta blues, Latino and Cajun musicians, and itinerant honky tonk singers spread to cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The growth of the music industry in the same period was also important; higher potential profits from music placed pressure on artists, songwriters, and label executives to replicate previous hit songs. This meant that musical fads, such as Hawaiian slack-key guitar, never died out completely, since a broad range of rhythms, instruments, and vocal stylings were incorporated into disparate popular genres.

The movement became global in the 1960s and 1970s. In most cases, the folk songs being revived were not quite extinct, though some had not been played for years or were moribund; such cases include the Celtic songs of Cornwall and the Isle of Man, for example. In other cases, such as Cameroon and the Dominican Republic, no revival was necessary as the music remained common, and was merely popularized and adapted for mainstream audiences at home and abroad.

Roots revivals
Algerian music: Beginning as early as 1964, gaining steam in the 1970s and continuing through the 1980s, a mainstream raï revival occurred, and pop-raï stars like Khaled and Chaba Fadela gained worldwide audiences; the same period saw similar trends occur among Kabyle musicians such as Idir, Ferhat and Lounis Ait Menguellet, who popularized the native sounds of their people

Belgian music: Starting early in the 1960s, a wave of popular folk-based performers emerged, led by Wannes Van de Velde, who drew primarily on Flemish traditions. By the 1980s, popular bands included Brabants Volksorkest and the folk rock band Kadril.

Beninese music: Artists like Tohon Stan have created a popular version of Benin's numerous styles of indigenous folk music, such as tchink-system, a derivative of the funeral genre of tchinkoumé

Cambodian music: The early 1960s saw a revival of classical music and dance, inspired by Princess Norodom Buppha Devi and led by Sinn Sisamouth, though the rise of the Khmer Rouge largely ended this trend.

Cameroonian music: Beginning with bikutsi in the 1950s and continuing with makossa into the end of the 20th century, Cameroon's popularized folk musics have become among the most prominent in Africa. Messi Me Nkonda Martin undoubtedly did the most to evolve bikutsi from its folk origins into a popular style using electric guitars and other importations, while Manu Dibango brought makossa to new audiences around the world.

Chinese music: Partially as a reaction against attempts by the Communist government to use traditional styles to drum up patriotism and loyalty, the 1970s saw the creation of Chinese rock and Cantopop (in Hong Kong), both of which made some use of native folk styles, especially in vocal techniques. The leader of Chinese rock is undoubtedly Cui Jian.

Ivorian music: Ernesto Djédjé's ziglibithy style incorporates a number of folk genres from across Côte d'Ivoire, a diverse country with hundred of ethnic groups; Djédjé's most immediate influence was the folk rhythms of the Bété.

Croatian music: By the 1980s, Croatian pop-folk had seen some mainstream success, and a wave of bands appeared, inspired by Vještice, who combined Međimurje folk music with rock in an innovative fusion of sounds.

Czech music: In 1966, the Porta Festival was held, and a wave of singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Pete Seeger arose.

Danish music: In contrast to its neighbors, Denmark did not see a Roots revival until the late 1990s, when performers like Morten Alfred Høirup gained a widespread following in the country.

Dutch music: The late 1960s saw a revival of Dutch folk music, led by performers like Gerard van Maasakkers; popularity was limited, and soon ended, though region of Friesland has maintained a strong traditional music scene.

Egyptian music: The city of Cairo is the most important center for Egyptian music, which includes a variety of popularized folk styles, including northern sawahii and southern saiyidi.

Finnish music: Finland's folk styles include a variety of national genres and ballads, while the traditional rhyming sleigh songs rekilaulu have become an integral part of many pop singers. In 1967, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the first of several similar festivals, contributed to a revival of Finnish opera and other more traditional styles.

French music: Though many of France's regional styles have seen popularization, the most vibrant scene is undoubtedly the traditional music of Brittany. The region boasts a uniquely Celtic heritage, which has been emphasized by the revival since its beginnings in the early 1970s, led by Alan Stivell. Corsican music has also seen a revival, though with little popular success, concurrent with the rise of Corsican nationalism in the 1970s. In the same way Occitan music, has also seen a revival with Occitan nationalism and reviviscence of occitan speaking in 60's (politic crisis with Gaullists to a clash with French linguistic imperialism and conservative politics)  See also the Québécois under Canadian music.

Galician music: Similar to other Celtic nations, traditional Galician gaita (bagpipe) can now be heard all over the country. It had a revival at the beginning of the XX century and then again a stronger revival by the end of the dictatorship in Spain in the 1970s. Carlos Nuñez and Luar na Lubre are two of the big names. Nuñez was discovered by The Chieftains and has become of the best selling Galician folk musicians. Galician artists also participate in the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Bretagne.

Gambian music: By the 1970s, Gambian musicians were mostly playing popular merengue or other styles. A visit by pop band The Super Eagles to London to record saw a change, as they were encouraged to continue their practice of Gambian folk. The band became known as Ifang Bondi, and their music was called Afro-Manding blues.

Garifuna music: Starting in the 1970s and continuing into the following decades, the Garifunas, an Afro-Caribbean people found throughout Central America, began turning to their native punta sound and creating popular styles like punta rock, which found an audience across the area. Pen Cayetano was the most important figure in this scene.

German music: Following the 1968 student revolution in West Germany, singer-songwriters playing a kind of expressive, melancholy music with traditional influences became popular. Due to governmental interference, East Germany did not see much of this influence until the mid-1970s.

Ghanaian music: Ghana is best known for the highlife style of music, which has been popular throughout the 20th century. By the late 1960s, however, the pop scene was dominated by generic guitar bands that imitated Western acts. The 1971 Soul to Soul festival, however, featured a number of African American musicians (like Wilson Pickett and Tina Turner), which had the effect of legitimizing African culture, thus causing a major roots revival that brought highlife to international audiences.

Greek music: The late 1960s and early 1970s coup repressed rembétika, a style which had developed earlier in the century. This oppression ironically created a major boom in popularity for the genre, which became associated with political resistance and rebellion. Singer-songwriters like Dionysis Savvopoulos also became wildly popular, and were seen as voices of the Greek nation.

Music of Israel: Early Zionist settlers in Palestine, as far back as the 1880s, sought to create a new mode of Jewish folk music that was based on Biblical musical modes that had long since been abandoned. These composers, who included Matityahu Shelem, Yedidia Admon, and many others, drew on Yemenite, Arabic and other antique sources to create a unique style that they considered a revival of ancient Jewish music. The songs that they and their followers composed constitute a canonical body of folk music called "Songs of the Land of Israel." These songs are still widely performed today by popular artists.

Another example of roots revival in Israel is the preservation of regional Jewish musical styles. The music of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish communities has morphed into an eclectic new style called "Muzika Mizrahit". Folksongs in Yiddish and Ladino have been revived and recorded by artists like Chava Alberstein and Yehoram Gaon. Yair Dalal incorporates stylistic elements of the music of his native Iraq in his synthetic musical style.

Italian music: The diverse regions of Italy are home to dozens of varieties of folk music. By the 1950s, their popularity was declining rapidly and a group of musicians and musicologists founded organizations like Istituto de Martino and Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano to help preserve folk cultures. The following decade saw a revival of a number of traditions, including Ciccio Busacca's fusions of Sicilian folk styles, central Italy's jazzy modern folk, pioneered by Canzoniere del Lazio, the re-appearance of the lira through the work of Re Niliu, the popularization of diverse genres of northern Italian music and some of the work of world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso, who revitalized Naples' canzone napoletana tradition. In contrast to many other countries', Italy's roots revival has resulted in very little mainstream success.

Japanese music: Though elements of traditional Japanese music can be found in some rock and pop from the country, the only major roots revival was Okinawan, and began in the late 1980s. Popularized Okinawan folk music includes genres like kawachi ondo and goshu ondo.

Korean music: In the early 1970s, a genre called t'ong guitar developed, performed by singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. Korean folk has seen little popular success, though there has been some for the pansori, nongak and sanjo styles.

Latvian music: Its traditional long suppressed or appropriated by the Soviet Union, Latvia's kokles (an instrument similar to a box zither) was revived and popularised in the 1970s, led by traditional suiti kokle player Jānis Poriķis and ethnomusicologist Valdis Muktupāvels.

Lithuanian music: The Soviet Union had sponsored some music festivals, such as the dainų šventės, but did not allow for much lyrical or musical innovation, and kept all songwriters from experimenting with politically aware and dissident lyrics. An active cultural rebellion occurred in the 1960s, based around a series of national music festivals and concerts.

Malian music: Cuban music had become extremely popular in Mali by the 1960s, and little folk music could compete. The country's second president, however, Moussa Traoré, encouraged the growth of a Malian music industry, resulting in a revival of some kinds of folk music, and a popularization led by Salif Keita. Later Fanto Sacko's bajourou music and wassoulou music also became popularized. However, by the 1980s, Malian pop had lost most traces of its folk origins and was simply dance music, even topping the European charts; another roots revival occurred, led by Guinean acoustic singer and kora player Jali Musa Jawara.

Mozambiquan music: Music was used in the 1960s by the independence movement in Mozambique. Leaders in this movement encouraged the growth of a national music industry. By the 1970s, native forms of music, such as marrabenta, had been popularized.

Russian music: Starting in about 1966, a group of bards arose, most prominently including Vladimir Vysotsky, and Vyacheslav Shchurov organized a number of concerts for folk singers. This led to a revival and revitalization of Russian folk songs, a trend which continued in ensuing decades.

Sami music: The Sami, an indigenous people found in central and northern Scandinavia, northern Finland and northwestern Russia, have a tradition of folk songs called joiks, which have been popularized by the likes of Mari Boine, who remains a legend in the field.

Slovenian music: in the 1950s, the so-called "folk popular music" emerged with groups like Avsenik and Lojze Slak band, based on modernized Slovenian-style polka. In the 1980s, a completely different trend emerged, based on more archaic folk music, usually from specific regions; and it was popularized by groups like Istranova (Slovenian Istria) and singer Vlado Kreslin (Prekmurje).

Latin America, Portugal and Spain
Argentine music: In the 1960s, Andean nationalism was spreading across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Argentina's nativist scene includes landmark performers like Mercedes Sosa and Atahualpa Yupanqui, who helped spawn the nueva canción scene.

Bolivian music: The 1950s saw an increase in nationalist identity surrounding the Quechua and Aymara peoples, and a number of intellectuals began associating themselves with folk music, clothing, cuisine and other elements. By the mid-1960s, a folk revival was blossoming, led by Edgar Jofré.

Brazilian music: Beginning in the 1950s and continuing for several decades, a multitude of Brazilian styles (most importantly samba) and imported American jazz combined to create the wildly popular bossa nova scene. This soon evolved into the politically charged Tropicalia genre, which starred controversial and acclaimed singer-songwriters Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil.

Chilean music: In the early to mid-1960s, the burgeoning nueva canción movement spread throughout Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, featuring a wave of singer-songwriters who incorporated folk elements and nationalist lyrics, often critical of governmental authorities, and achieved great acclaim. Violeta Parra is sometimes viewed as the founder of the scene, for she popularized Quechua and Aymara songs and provided an outlet for performances by future luminaries like Victor Jara.

Cuban music: By the 1960s, Cuban music had seen international success in the form of pop-mambo, chachacha and other genres, and many artists were disillusioned with these styles, which were seen as watered-down. A vanguard of singer-songwriters like Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés arose, composing politically aware songs in a style that came to be called Nueva Trova.

Dominican music: Merengue had been popular in the Dominican Republic for decades since evolving out of confusing folk origins, but did not truly become a form of pop music until the early 1960s, when legends like Johnny Ventura brought the music to new audiences at home and abroad.

Spanish music was incorporated into Spanish Baroque music in the harpsichord works of Soler. Later composers such as Albeniz, Falla, Rodrigo and Giuliani used the dance rhythms of Spain. The classical guitarists Andrés Segovia, John Williams and Julian Bream popularised the music through their recordings. Current popular folk musicians include Susana Seivane, Hevia and Milladoiro. A roots revival Nueva canción, which also evolved into new form of socially committed music occurred in several Spanish-speaking countries.

Portuguese music: In the 1960s and 1970s, José Afonso led a return to more traditionally styled fado music, which later evolved into a number of new song forms that incorporated socio-political lyrics and foreign influences.

English-speaking countries

 * Includes English and Celtic revivals
 * For additional Celtic music, see the French section above

Australian music: Beginning in the 1980s, Australian Aborigines began turning to their native styles of folk music, which were updated, creating popular bands and styles like Aboriginal rock.

Canadian music: Though some artists, like The Band, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, had been integral parts of the 1960s American folk rock scene, Canada has seen its own distinctive revival of styles. This includes the late 1970s scene in Maritime Canada, which glorified the area's Celtic heritage and was led by regional legends Figgy Duff and Stan Rogers, as well as the mid-1960s Quebecois revival led by Gilles Vigneault. There were also revivals of Acadian, Inuit and other folk styles. In the 1950s and 1960s dedicated folk music collectors spread out across the country to record traditional music. The songs and tunes were popularized on public radio by performers such as Alan Mills, Stu Davis, Marg Osborne, and the Travellers. A number of musicians who grew up listening to this traditional music became singer-songwriters in the 1970s; for example, Gordon Lightfoot and Ian and Sylvia.

English music: There were two folk music revivals in England. The first, led by Cecil Sharp, was academic. It involved the collection of songs and tunes and their publication in journals. It was at its peak about 1910. The second revival involved large-scale public performances of English music, beginning with the appearance of the Copper Family at the Royal Albert Hall in 1952, together with a proliferation of folk clubs meeting mainly in the upper rooms of public houses. Starting in the late 1960s the songs were performed in a contemporary style; this was the origin of the British folk rock style.

Irish music: There was a revival of Irish folk music that began in the early 20th century, based both in Dublin and Ireland, though the longer-lasting and more famous revival began in 1955 with the album "The Lark in the Morning", whose recording was supervised by Diane Hamilton and which featured Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem prior to their involvement with the influential but U.S.-based Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Later famous groups include The Dubliners (founded 1962), The Chieftains (1963), Ceoltóirí Chualann, and Clannad (1973). Later, singer-songwriters such as Christy Moore were inspired by American popular folk singers, and they took to modernizing and adapting Irish music for modern audiences. The result was a dramatic change from folk traditions, including the introduction of the bouzouki and influences including soul and rock.

Scottish music: The Scottish folk revival begin in 1951 when Hamish Henderson created the People's Festival. The Boys of the Lough were one of the first instrumental Celtic groups to tour the world.

US music: The American Folklore Society was founded in 1888. Some members, including Frank Clyde Brown, George Lyman Kittredge, and John Lomax began collecting and recording 'trivial' music of minority groups. During the late 1920s and early 1930s, performers such as A. P. Carter, Bascom Lamar Lunsford, Lesley Riddle, and Woody Guthrie specifically began to seek out traditional songs to incorporate them into their performance repertoire. A traditional music revival started the American folk music revival that began in the 1940s and led to a new genre, contemporary folk music. A group of American archivists and researchers that included John A. Lomax, his son Alan Lomax, poet Carl Sandburg, musician Charles Seeger, and others collected, recorded, and published old ballads, prison songs, Appalachian folk music and black blues. A number of performers influenced by traditional music, such as Pete Seeger, Josh White, Burl Ives, and The Weavers, enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1940s, leading to a broader commercial revival in the late 1950s through the mid-1960s with performers such as The Kingston Trio, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary selling millions of record albums. The folk revival in the US led to the creation of folk rock, a new genre that drew on songs and themes associated with folk music and arranged them with rock ‘n’ roll instruments. Many of the early artists and groups associated with the genre began as folk musicians, most notably Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, and Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. The 21st century saw a smaller revival of Appalachian folk music with the release of the 2000 motion picture soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?". Singers such as Gillian Welch and Alison Krauss and the bluegrass performer Ralph Stanley were featured on the album.

Transnational: During the 2010s, folk-inspired acts began to score chart hits in the UK, US and beyond. Most notably the UK group Mumford & Sons won the Grammy (US National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences award) for best album in 2013.

General

 * Bakan, Michael B. (2007). World Music: Traditions and Transformations.
 * Bohlman, Philip V. (1988). The Study of Folk Music in the Modern World.
 * Bohlman, Philip V. (2002). World Music: A Very Short Introduction.
 * Broughton, Simon; Mark Ellingham & Jon Lusk (2006). The Rough Guide to World Music: Africa and the Middle East Vol. 1
 * Ellingham, Mark; James McConnachie & Simon Broughton (Editor) (2000). The Rough Guide to World Music Vol. 2 (Including Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)
 * fRoots (previously Folk Roots), a specialist music magazine published monthly in the UK
 * Fujie, Linda, David Locke and Jeff Titon (2004). Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples.
 * Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation (1997). International Folksongs.
 * Hart, Mickey and Karen Kostyal (2003). Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music.
 * Rosenberg, Neil V. and W. V. Rosenberg (editor) (1993). Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined.
 * Sandberg, Larry & Dick Weissman (1976). The Folk Music Sourcebook. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-49684-1.
 * Scully, Michael F. (2008). The Never-Ending Revival: Rounder Records and the Folk Alliance (University of Illinois Press)

Regional

 * Czulinski, Winnie (2006). Drone On!: The High History of Celtic Music.
 * Lyle, Emily B. (2001). Scottish Ballads.
 * Morrish, John, English Folk Dance and Song Society, Martin Carthy et al. (2007). The Folk Handbook: Working with Songs from the English Tradition.
 * Racy, A. J. (2004). Making Music in the Arab World: The Culture and Artistry of Tarab.
 * Rice, Timothy (1994). May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music.
 * Rosenberg, Neil V. (1993). Bluegrass: A History.
 * Sawyers, June Skinner (2001). Celtic Music: A Complete Guide.
 * Smith, C. C. (1998). Spanish Ballads.
 * Wilentz, Sean (2005). The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad.
 * Woods, Fred (1979). Folk Revival: The Rediscovery of a National Music. Poole, Dorset: Blandford Press. ISBN 0-7137-0970-7.

title: Roots revival