Møre og Romsdal
Introduction '''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 Halsa and Smøla 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, with a population of 52,626 in the agglomeration which it forms together with parts of Sula. Rank  Town/Urban Area  Municipality  Region  Population (2022)1ÅlesundÅlesund, SulaSunnmøre54,9832MoldeMoldeRomsdal21,4173KristiansundKristiansundNordmøre18,0474ØrstaØrstaSunnmøre7,2525VoldaVoldaSunnmøre6,8916UlsteinvikUlsteinSunnmøre5,9367AureSykkylvenSunnmøre4,3148NordstrandGiskeSunnmøre4,2629SunndalsøraSunndalNordmøre3,90710HareidHareidSunnmøre3,467===Municipalities===Møre og Romsdal has a total of 26 municipalities. MunicipalNumber  Name  Adm. Centre  Location inthe county  Established Includes (former municipalities)1505  30px Kristiansund  Kristiansund  80px  1 Jan 2008  ''1554 Bremsnes (part)1555 Grip1556 Frei''1506  30px Molde  Molde  80px  1 Jan 2020 ''1542 Eresfjord og Vistdal1543 Nesset1544 Bolsøy1545 Midsund1545 Sør-Aukra''1507  30px Ålesund  Ålesund  80px  1 Jan 2020 ''1523 Ørskog1529 Skodje1530 Vatne1531 Borgund1534 Haram1546 Sandøy (part)''1511  30px Vanylven  Fiskåbygd  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1512 Syvde1513 Rovde (part)''1514  30px Sande  Larsnes  80px  1 Jan 1867  ''1513 Rovde (part)''1515  30px Herøy  Fosnavåg  80px  1 Jan 1838 1516  30px Ulstein  Ulsteinvik  80px  1 Jan 1838 1517  30px Hareid  Hareid  80px  1 Jan 1917  1520  30px Ørsta  Ørsta  80px  1 Aug 1883  ''1521 Vartdal1522 Hjørundfjord''1525  30px Stranda  Stranda  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1523 Sunnylven''1528  30px Sykkylven  Aure  80px  1 Aug 1883  1531  30px Sula  Langevåg  80px  1 Jan 1977  1532  30px Giske  Valderhaugstrand  80px  1 Jan 1908  ''1533 Vigra''1535  30px Vestnes  Vestnes  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1536 Tresfjord''1539  30px Rauma  Åndalsnes  80px  1 Jan 1964  ''1537 Voll1537 Eid og Voll1538 Eid1539 Grytten1540 Hen1541 Veøy (part)''1547  30px Aukra  Falkhytta  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1546 Sandøy (part)''1554  30px Averøy  Bruhagen  80px  1 Jan 1964  ''1552 Kornstad1553 Kvernes1554 Bremsnes''1557  30px Gjemnes  Batnfjordsøra  80px  1 Sep 1893  ''1553 Kvernes (part)1558 Øre''1560  30px Tingvoll  Tingvollvågen  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1559 Straumsnes1564 Stangvik (part)''1563  30px Sunndal  Sunndalsøra  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1561 Øksendal1562 Ålvundeid1564 Stangvik (part)''1566  30px Surnadal  Skei  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1564 Stangvik (part)1565 Åsskard''1573  30px Smøla  Hopen  80px  1 Jan 1960  ''1573 Edøy1574 Brattvær1575 Hopen''1576  30px Aure  Aure  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1568 Stemshaug1570 Valsøyfjord1572 Tustna''1577  30px Volda  Volda  80px  1 Jan 1838  ''1444 Hornindal1518 Dalsfjord''1578  30px Fjord  Stordal  80px  1 Jan 2020  ''1524 Norddal1526 Stordal''1579  30px Hustadvika  Elnesvågen  80px  1 Jan 2020  ''1548 Fræna1549 Bud1550 Hustad1551 Eide''
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  of public roads, an increase of  since the previous year, as well as  of private roads,  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 are operated by the county, using the brand name Fram.
History The county (with its current borders) was established in 1671 - but after just four years (in 1675) it was divided into two amts (counties): Romsdal (which included Nordmøre) and Sunnmøre (which included Nordfjord). In 1680 (only 5 years later), Sunnmøre (including Nordfjord) was merged into Bergenhus amt. Then in 1689 (another 9 years later), the three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre, and Nordmøre were again merged into one amt/county: Romsdalen. Then in 1701 (another 11 years later) Romsdalen amt was split and divided between Trondhjems amt (which got Romsdal and Nordmøre) and Bergenhus amt (which got Sunnmøre). In 1704 (a mere 4 years later), the three regions of Romsdal, Sunnmøre, and Nordmøre were again merged into one county. The borders of the county have not been changed much since 1704.The annex parish of Vinje within the larger Hemne parish was transferred from Romsdalens amt to Søndre Trondhjems amt in 1838 (according to the 1838 Formannskapsdistrikt law, a parish could no longer be divided between two counties, so Vinje had to be in the same county as the rest of the parish). Edøy ChurchOn 1 January 2019, the municipality of Rindal was transferred from Møre og Romsdal county to the neighboring Trøndelag county. On 1 January 2020, the municipality of Halsa became part of the new municipality of Heim 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 *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 *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*Sande*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 *Bolsøy*Borgund*Brattvær*Bremsnes*Bud*Dalsfjord*Edøy*Eid*Eid og Voll*Eide*Eresfjord og Vistdal*Frei*Fræna*Grip*Grytten*Halsa*Haram*Hen*Hjørundfjord*Hopen*Hustad*Kornstad*Kvernes*Midsund*Nesset*Norddal*Rovde*Sandøy*Skodje*Stangvik*Stemshaug*Stordal*Straumsnes*Sunnylven*Syvde*Sør-Aukra*Tresfjord*Tustna*Valsøyfjord*Vartdal*Vatne*Veøy*Vigra*Voll*Øksendal*Øre*Ørskog*Ålvundeid*Åsskard
See also *Augustinius Neldal Lossius
References
External links * Møre og Romsdal county**