The municipality consists of several islands west of Bergen, the major ones being Litle-Sotra, Sotra (the northern part), Bjorøy, Bildøy and Turøy.
After the completion of the mainland bridge (Sotrabroen) in 1971, the population has grown from less than 7000 to almost 20,000. A lot of the immigration comes from Bergen. A highway that leads to the town centre of Bergen has reduced the traveling time to only fifteen minutes from the community centre at Straume on Litle-Sotra.