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Møre og Romsdal

County in Western Norway

Field	Value
name	Møre og Romsdal
fylke	yes
former_name	Møre fylke
former_name1	Romsdals amt
map	none
idnumber	15
county	Møre og Romsdal
district	Western Norway
capital	Molde
coordinates
established	1671
demonyms	Sunnmøringer, Nordmøringer, and Romsdalinger
language	Nynorsk
webpage	www.mrfylke.no
county_mayor	Tove-Lise Torve
county_mayor_party	Ap
county_mayor_as_of	2011
governor	Else-May Norderhus
governor_party	Ap
governor_as_of	2022
area_rank	9
area_total_km2	14356
area_land_km2	13840
area_water_km2	516
area_water_percent	3.6
population_as_of	2021
population_rank	9
population_total	265544
population_density_km2	19.2
population_increase	5.6
income_per_capita	139,200
income_year	2001
GDP	243,412
GDP_year	2001
GDP_rank	6
GDP_rank_percent	3.89

Møre og Romsdal (; ) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the largest town. The county is governed by the Møre og Romsdal County Municipality which includes an elected county council and a county mayor. The national government is represented by the county governor.

Name

Map of the three districts in the county. Green is Sunnmøre, purple is Romsdal, and blue is Nordmøre.

The name Møre og Romsdal was created in 1936. The first element refers to the districts of Nordmøre and Sunnmøre, and the last element refers to Romsdal. Until 1919, the county was called "Romsdalens amt", and from 1919 to 1935 "Møre fylke".

For hundreds of years (1660-1919), the region was called Romsdalen amt, after the Romsdalen valley in the present-day Rauma Municipality. The Old Norse form of the name was Raumsdalr. The first element is the genitive case of the name Raumr derived from the name of the river Rauma, i.e. "The Dale of Rauma". Raumr may refer to stream or current, or to booming or thundering waterfalls like Sletta waterfall. A purely legendary approach to the name refers to Raum the Old, one of the sons of Nór, the eponymous Saga King of Norway. Since the majority of the residents of the county lived in the Sunnmøre region, there was some controversy over the name. In 1919, many of the old county names were changed and this county was renamed Møre fylke.

The name Møre was chosen to represent the region where the majority of the county residents lived. That name is dative of Old Norse: Mǿrr (á Mǿri) and it is probably derived from the word marr referring to something wet like bog (common along the outer coast) or the sea itself. The name is interpreted as "coastland" or "bogland". Møre was originally the name of the coastal area from Stad and north including most of Fosen. (There is also a coastal district in Sweden that has the same name: Möre.) The change in name from Romsdalen to Møre was controversial and it did not sit well with the residents of the Romsdal region. Finally in 1936, the name was changed again to a compromise name: Møre og Romsdal ().

The ambiguous designation møring— "person from Møre"— is used strictly about people from Nordmøre (and less frequently for people from Sunnmøre), excluding the people from Romsdal (while, consequently, romsdaling— "person from Romsdal"— is used about the latter).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 15 March 1978. It shows three gold-colored Viking ships on a blue background. Shipping and shipbuilding were historically very important to the region, so boats were chosen as the symbol of the arms. The masts on the Viking ships form crosses, which symbolize the strong Christian and religious beliefs as well as the strong religious organisations in the county. There are three boats to represent the three districts of the county: Sunnmøre, Romsdal and Nordmøre.

Geography

Traditionally, the county has been divided into three districts. From north to south, these are Nordmøre, Romsdal, and Sunnmøre. Although the districts do not have separate governments and despite modern road, sea, and air connections throughout the county, the three districts still have their own identities in many ways. Historically speaking, connections have been stronger between Nordmøre and Sør-Trøndelag to the north, Romsdal and Oppland to the east, and Sunnmøre and Sogn og Fjordane to the south, than internally. Differences in dialects between the three districts bear clear evidence of this. Due to geographical features, the county has many populated islands and is intersected by several deep fjords. Due to its difficult terrain, Møre og Romsdal has been very dependent on boat traffic, and its main car ferry company, MRF, has existed since 1921.

Settlements

Møre og Romsdal has six settlements with town status. The largest three (Ålesund, Kristiansund, and Molde) were towns long before 1993 when municipalities were given the legal authority to grant town status rather than just the King (and government). This change in law led to an increase in the number of towns (Fosnavåg, Åndalsnes, and Ulsteinvik were all added after this time). The county contains many other urban settlements (as defined by Statistics Norway) without town status, every municipality except for Smøla Municipality contains at least one. As of 1 January 2018, there were 192,331 people (about 72 percent of the population) living in densely populated areas in the county while only 73,946 people lived in sparsely populated areas. The population density is highest near the coast, with all of the county's towns located on saltwater.

The largest town in the county is Ålesund located within Ålesund Municipality. The town itself has a population of 52,626 in the agglomeration which it forms together with parts of neighboring Sula Municipality.

Rank	Town/Urban Area	Municipality	Region	title=Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality
1	Ålesund	Ålesund Municipality
and Sula Municipality	Sunnmøre	54,983
2	Molde	Molde Municipality	Romsdal	21,417
3	Kristiansund	Kristiansund Municipality	Nordmøre	18,047
4	Ørsta	Ørsta Municipality	Sunnmøre	7,252
5	Volda	Volda Municipality	Sunnmøre	6,891
6	Ulsteinvik	Ulstein Municipality	Sunnmøre	5,936
7	Aure	Sykkylven Municipality	Sunnmøre	4,314
8	Nordstrand	Giske Municipality	Sunnmøre	4,262
9	Sunndalsøra	Sunndal Municipality	Nordmøre	3,907
10	Hareid	Hareid Municipality	Sunnmøre	3,467

Municipalities

Møre og Romsdal has a total of 26 municipalities.

Municipal
Number	Name	Adm. Centre	Location in
the county	Established	Includes (former municipalities)
1505	[[File:Kristiansund komm.svg	30px]] Kristiansund Municipality	Kristiansund	[[File:NO 1505 Kristiansund.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 2008	*1554 Bremsnes Municipality (part)
1555 Grip Municipality
1556 Frei Municipality*
1506	[[File:Molde komm.svg	30px]] Molde Municipality	Molde	[[File:NO 1506 Molde.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 2020	*1542 Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality
1543 Nesset Municipality
1544 Bolsøy Municipality
1545 Midsund Municipality
1545 Sør-Aukra Municipality*
1507	[[File:Ålesund komm.svg	30px]] Ålesund Municipality	Ålesund	[[File:NO 1507 Ålesund.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 2020	*1523 Ørskog Municipality
1529 Skodje Municipality
1530 Vatne Municipality
1531 Borgund Municipality
1534 Haram Municipality
1546 Sandøy Municipality (part)*
1511	[[File:Vanylven komm.svg	30px]] Vanylven Municipality	Fiskåbygd	[[File:NO 1511 Vanylven.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1512 Syvde Municipality
1513 Rovde Municipality (part)*
1514	[[File:Sande Møre og Romsdal komm.svg	30px]] Sande Municipality	Larsnes	[[File:NO 1514 Sande.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1867	1513 Rovde Municipality (part)
1515	[[File:Herøy Møre og Romsdal komm.svg	30px]] Herøy Municipality	Fosnavåg	[[File:NO 1515 Herøy.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838
1516	[[File:Ulstein komm.svg	30px]] Ulstein Municipality	Ulsteinvik	[[File:NO 1516 Ulstein.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838
1517	[[File:Hareid komm.svg	30px]] Hareid Municipality	Hareid	[[File:NO 1517 Hareid.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1917
1520	[[File:Ørsta komm.svg	30px]] Ørsta Municipality	Ørsta	[[File:NO 1520 Ørsta.svg	80px]]	1 Aug 1883	*1521 Vartdal Municipality
1522 Hjørundfjord Municipality*
1525	[[File:Stranda komm.svg	30px]] Stranda Municipality	Stranda	[[File:NO 1525 Stranda.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	1523 Sunnylven Municipality
1528	[[File:Sykkylven komm.svg	30px]] Sykkylven Municipality	Aure	[[File:NO 1528 Sykkylven.svg	80px]]	1 Aug 1883
1531	[[File:Sula komm.svg	30px]] Sula Municipality	Langevåg	[[File:NO 1531 Sula.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1977
1532	[[File:Giske komm.svg	30px]] Giske Municipality	Valderhaugstrand	[[File:NO 1532 Giske.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1908	1533 Vigra Municipality
1535	[[File:Vestnes komm.svg	30px]] Vestnes Municipality	Vestnes	[[File:NO 1535 Vestnes.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	1536 Tresfjord Municipality
1539	[[File:Rauma komm.svg	30px]] Rauma Municipality	Åndalsnes	[[File:NO 1539 Rauma.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1964	*1537 Voll Municipality
1537 Eid og Voll Municipality
1538 Eid Municipality
1539 Grytten Municipality
1540 Hen Municipality
1541 Veøy Municipality (part)*
1547	[[File:Aukra komm.svg	30px]] Aukra Municipality	Falkhytta	[[File:NO 1547 Aukra.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	1546 Sandøy Municipality (part)
1554	[[File:Averøy komm.svg	30px]] Averøy Municipality	Bruhagen	[[File:NO 1554 Averøy.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1964	*1552 Kornstad Municipality
1553 Kvernes Municipality
1554 Bremsnes Municipality*
1557	[[File:Gjemnes komm.svg	30px]] Gjemnes Municipality	Batnfjordsøra	[[File:NO 1557 Gjemnes.svg	80px]]	1 Sep 1893	*1553 Kvernes Municipality (part)
1558 Øre Municipality*
1560	[[File:Tingvoll komm.svg	30px]] Tingvoll Municipality	Tingvollvågen	[[File:NO 1560 Tingvoll.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1559 Straumsnes Municipality
1564 Stangvik Municipality (part)*
1563	[[File:Sunndal komm.svg	30px]] Sunndal Municipality	Sunndalsøra	[[File:NO 1563 Sunndal.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1561 Øksendal Municipality
1562 Ålvundeid Municipality
1564 Stangvik Municipality (part)*
1566	[[File:Surnadal komm.svg	30px]] Surnadal Municipality	Skei	[[File:NO 1566 Surnadal.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1564 Stangvik Municipality (part)
1565 Åsskard Municipality*
1573	[[File:Smøla komm.svg	30px]] Smøla Municipality	Hopen	[[File:NO 1573 Smøla.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1960	*1573 Edøy Municipality
1574 Brattvær Municipality
1575 Hopen Municipality*
1576	[[File:Aure komm.svg	30px]] Aure Municipality	Aure	[[File:NO 1576 Aure.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1568 Stemshaug Municipality
1570 Valsøyfjord Municipality
1572 Tustna Municipality*
1577	[[File:Volda komm 2020.svg	30px]] Volda Municipality	Volda	[[File:NO 1577 Volda.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 1838	*1444 Hornindal Municipality
1518 Dalsfjord Municipality*
1578	[[File:Fjord komm.svg	30px]] Fjord Municipality	Stordal	[[File:NO 1578 Fjord.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 2020	*1524 Norddal Municipality
1526 Stordal Municipality*
1579	[[File:Hustadvika komm.svg	30px]] Hustadvika Municipality	Elnesvågen	[[File:NO 1579 Hustadvika.svg	80px]]	1 Jan 2020	*1548 Fræna Municipality
1549 Bud Municipality
1550 Hustad Municipality
1551 Eide Municipality*

Infrastructure

Møre og Romsdal is served by nine airports, of which only the four airports located near the four largest centres have regular domestic flights. The largest airport in the county is Ålesund Airport, Vigra, which offers the only scheduled international routes from any airport in Møre og Romsdal. Ålesund Airport had 732,614 passengers in 2006. Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget, had 364,350 passengers in 2007, while Molde Airport, Årø, had 401,292, down from 444,677 in 2006. Ørsta–Volda Airport, Hovden, had 49,842 passengers in 2006. None of the airports in Møre og Romsdal offer regular flights to each other.

In 2007, Møre og Romsdal had 6339 km of public roads, an increase of 5 km since the previous year, as well as 4258 km of private roads, 7 km more than in 2006.

There is one railway, the Rauma Line, which starts at Åndalsnes and connects to the main railway network of Norway. Public buses and ferries are operated by the county, using the brand name FRAM.

Economy of the county administration (''fylkeskommune'')

As of 2024, the economy of the county administration (fylkeskommune) is in a troublesome situation; According to the media, no other county administration has as much of a troublesome situation. It is responsible for upper secondary schools, dental care, public transport, county roads, culture, cultural heritage management, land use planning and business development.

History

|1951|191621 |1961|213286 |1971|223709 |1981|236062 |1991|238278 |2001|243810 |2011|253904 |2021|265544

On 1 January 2019, Rindal Municipality was transferred from Møre og Romsdal county to the neighboring Trøndelag county. On 1 January 2020, Halsa Municipality became part of the new Heim Municipality in Trøndelag county.

In 2019, archaeologists from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, using large-scale high-resolution radar technology, determined that a 17-meter-long Viking ship was buried on the island of Edøya near Edøy Church. They estimate the ship's age as over 1,000 years: from the Merovingian or Viking period; the group planned to conduct additional searches in the area. A similar burial was found previously by a NIKU team in 2018, in Gjellestad.

Parishes

Main article: List of churches in Møre og Romsdal

Aukra (Akerø)
Aure
Austefjord
Bergmo
Bjørke
Bolsøy
Borgund
Brattvåg
Brattvær
Bremsnes
Bud (Boe)
Dalsfjord
Edøy
Old Edøy
Eid
Eide
Eikesdal
Ellingsøy
Eresfjord
Fiksdal
Fjørtoft
Frei (Fredøe)
Fræna
Geiranger
Giske
Gjemnes
Gjøra
Godøy
Grip
Grytten
Gullstein
Gursken
Halsa
Hamnsund
Haram
Hareid
Harøy
Hen
Herøy
Hildre
Hjørundfjord
Hof
Holm
Hopen
Hov
Hustad
Ikornnes
Indre Fræna
Indre Herøy
Indre Sula
Kilsfjord
Kirkelandet
Kleive
Kornstad
Kors
Kristiansund
Kvernes
Kvernes Stave
Langevåg
Larsnes
Leikanger
Liabygda
Mo
Molde
Myrbostad
Nesset
Nord Aukra
Nord-Heggdal
Nordbyen
Norddal
Nordlandet
Otrøy
Otterøy
Ranes (Skei)
Rindal
Roald
Romfo
Rovde
Røbekk
Rød
Rødven
Rødven Stave
Røvik
Saint Jetmund
Sande
Sandøy
Sekken
Sira Church (Nesset)
Skarbøvik
Skei
Skodje
Smøla
Spjelkavik
Stangvik
Stemshaug
Old Stordal
Stordal
Stranda
Straumsnes
Sunndal
Sunnylven
Surnadal (Surendal)
Sykkylven
Sylte
Syvde
Sør Aukra
Sør-Tustna
Tingvoll
Todalen
Tresfjord
Tustna
Ulstein
Valderøy
Valsøyfjord
Vanylven
Vartdal
Vatne
Vestnes
Veøy
Old Veøy
Vigra
Vike
Vistdal
Volda
Voll
Volsdalen
Vågstranda
Vågøy
Ytre Fræna
Øksendal
Øre
Ørskog
Ørsta
Øverdalen
Øvre Rindal
Øye
Ålesund
Ålvundeid
Åram
Åsskard
Kristiansund Branch (LDS, 1904–1923)
Ålesund Branch (LDS, early-1923)

Villages

Main article: list of villages in Møre og Romsdal

Alnes
Angvik
Aukrasanden
Aure, Aure
Aure, Sykkylven
Austnes
Batnfjordsøra
Boggestranda
Brandal
Brattvåg
Bremsnes
Bruhagen
Bud
Dravlaus
Dyrkorn
Eggesbønes
Eide
Eidsbygda
Eidsdal
Eidsvik
Eidsvåg
Eikesdalen
Eiksund
Elnesvågen
Eresfjord
Fiksdal
Fiskåbygd
Flemma
Flåskjer
Fyrde
Geiranger
Gjemnes
Gjøra
Glærem
Grip
Grøa
Gullstein
Gursken
Haddal
Halsanaustan
Hareid
Hausbygda
Heggem
Helle
Hellesylt
Helsem
Hjelset
Hjørungavåg
Hoelsand
Hoffland
Hollingen
Hopen
Hovland
Hustad
Ikornnes
Innfjorden
Isfjorden
Jordalsgrenda
Kleive
Kornstad
Kvalsund
Kvernes
Kårvåg
Langevåg
Larsnes
Langøy
Leikong
Leira
Leitebakk
Liabygda
Liabøen
Longva
Løvika
Malme
Malmefjorden
Mauseidvåg
Midsund
Mittet
Mo
Myklebost, Sandøy
Myklebost, Vanylven
Myklebostad
Myklebost
Måndalen
Nedre Frei
Nesjestranda
Nord-Heggdal
Norddal
Nordstrand
Ona
Rausand
Rensvik
Roald
Romfo
Rovdane
Råket
Røbekk
Rødven
Røssøyvågen
Røvika
Sjøholt
Skei
Skodje
Slagnes
Spjelkavik
Stangvik
Steinshamn
Stemshaug
Stordal
Store Standal
Stranda
Straumgjerde
Straumshamn
Sunndalsøra
Surnadalsøra
Sylte, Fræna
Sylte, Norddal
Sylte, Surnadal
Syvde
Sølsnes
Søvik
Sæbø
Sætre
Tafjord
Tennfjord
Tingvollvågen
Todalen
Todalsøra
Tomrefjord
Tornes
Torvikbukt
Tresfjord
Tusvik
Tømmervåg
Valle
Valsøybotnen
Valsøyfjord
Varhaugvika
Vatne
Veblungsnes
Veiholmen
Verma
Vestnes
Vevang
Vik
Vikebukt
Visnes
Vistdal
Volda
Voll
Vågstranda
Øksendalsøra
Øre
Ørsta
Åfarnes
Åheim
Ålvund
Ålvundeidet
Åram
Årset
Åsskard

Former Municipalities

Main article: list of former municipalities of Norway

Bolsøy Municipality
Borgund Municipality
Brattvær Municipality
Bremsnes Municipality
Bud Municipality
Dalsfjord Municipality
Edøy Municipality
Eid Municipality
Eid og Voll Municipality
Eide Municipality
Eresfjord og Vistdal Municipality
Frei Municipality
Fræna Municipality
Grip Municipality
Grytten Municipality
Halsa Municipality
Hen Municipality
Hjørundfjord Municipality
Hopen Municipality
Hustad Municipality
Kornstad Municipality
Kvernes Municipality
Midsund Municipality
Nesset Municipality
Norddal Municipality
Rovde Municipality
Sandøy Municipality
Skodje Municipality
Stangvik Municipality
Stemshaug Municipality
Stordal Municipality
Straumsnes Municipality
Sunnylven Municipality
Syvde Municipality
Sør-Aukra Municipality
Tresfjord Municipality
Tustna Municipality
Valsøyfjord Municipality
Vartdal Municipality
Vatne Municipality
Veøy Municipality
Vigra Municipality
Voll Municipality
Øksendal Municipality
Øre Municipality
Ørskog Municipality
Ålvundeid Municipality
Åsskard Municipality

References

''Norske stedsnavn/stadnamn''. Oslo: Grøndahl. 1975. p. 72. {{ISBN. 8250401042.
''Norsk allkunnebok''. Oslo: Fonna. 1959.
''Norske stedsnavn/stadnamn''. Oslo: Grøndahl. 1975. p. 71. {{ISBN. 8250401042.
"Civic heraldry of Norway - Norske Kommunevåpen". Heraldry of the World.
(2018). "Population in densely and sparsely populated areas. County. 1. January". Statistics Norway.
Statistisk sentralbyrå. (1 January 2022). "Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality".
[[:nb:Liste over norske kommunenummer#Møre og Romsdal. List of Norwegian municipality numbers]]
moderniseringsdepartementet, Kommunal-og. (2017-10-27). "Nye kommune- og fylkesnummer fra 2020".
"Statistics Norway - Church of Norway.".
"Statistics Norway - Members of religious and life stance communities outside the Church of Norway, by religion/life stance. County. 2006-2010".
"Avinor.no".
(2007). "Statistikkbanken". Statistics Norway.
"FRAM - FRAM".
https://www.nrk.no/mr/more-og-romsdal-fylkeskommune-har-store-okonomiske-utfordringar-og-kan-hamne-pa-robek-lista-1.16822935. NRK.no. Retrieved 2024-04-03
[https://lovdata.no/lov/2018-06-22-83 Lov om kommuner og fylkeskommuner]
(2012-05-26). "Statistikkbanken".
(27 November 2019). "Ancient Viking ship discovered buried next to the church using breakthrough georadar technology". The Independent.

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