Haugesund is a municipality and town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. The Haugesund urban area also extends into neighboring Karmøy municipality. The majority of the municipality outside this area is rural or undeveloped. The town is situated on a strategically important sound, the Karmsundet, through which ships could pass without traversing heavy seas. In the early years, the coastal waters off Haugesund were a huge source of herring, and the town grew accordingly. In the last decades, the town, like its neighbours, has been turning towards the petroleum industry, with the herring being long gone.