M re og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. In 2002 there were 243,855 inhabitants, which is 5.3% of the total population of Norway. The county's area is 15,104 km². The county administration is located in Molde.
The county consists of three districts: Nordmøre (northernmost), Romsdal (in the middle) and Sunnmøre (to the south). In addition to usual trade and cultural relations between county internal districts, there have been traditionally strong connections between Nordmøre and Sør-Trøndelag in the north, Romsdal and Oppland in the east, and Sunnmøre and Sogn og Fjordane in the south. Differences in dialects between the three districts bear clear evidence of this. Due to its geography, Møre og Romsdal has been very dependent on boat traffic, and its main car ferry company, MRF, has existed since 1921.
Municipalities
Nordmøre
- Aure (county's biggest wooden church; Liquid natural gas (LNG) pipeline from offshore gas field, w/refinery, methanol plant)
- Averøy (site of district's largest grotto, the Bremsnes cave, with traces of 10,000 yr old settlements of the Fosna culture)
- Eide (traditional and modern limestone (marble) quarries and related crafts industry; the Atlanterhavsvegen coastal road)
- Frei (location of 955 AD Viking battle Battle of Rastarkalv, between Haakon the Good and the sons of Erik Bloodaxe)
- Gjemnes (south anchorage of KRIFAST suspension bridge Gjemnessundbrua with 108 m high towers and a free span of 623 m)
- Halsa (traditional wooden boat building; Hollywood whale Keiko's voluntary retirement home and final resting place)
- Kristiansund (district capital, the county's oil industry capital, known for its export of cod for bacalao to Spain and Portugal)
- Rindal (traditionally known for very snowy winters and lots of cross-country skiing, former home of several ski factories)
- Smøla (home of the Kulisteinen from 1034 AD, the rune stone with the first known mention of the country's name "Norway")
- Sunndal (county's largest-area municipality, deep U-shape valley, location of Europe's soon-to-be-largest aluminium works)
- Surnadal (location of Surna, one of the country's richest and most popular salmon rivers, a European scale tourist attraction)
- Tingvoll (medieval stone church from ca 1180 AD; 4000–5000 yr old artistic rock carvings; self-declared "ecology municipality")
- Tustna (location of the 976 AD Battle of Solskjel, between King Harald Fairhair and the northwestern minor kings)
Romsdal
- Aukra (site of Norway's best-known shipwreck and rescue operation of the 1900s, of cargo vessel Rokta April 4, 1938)
- Fræna (70 m deep limestone grotto Trollkirka, lit. "Troll's Church"; marble industry; heavy machinery producer Moxy Trucks)
- Midsund (site of stone wall constituting westernmost coastal part of border between Denmark-Norway and Sweden 1658–1660)
- Molde (district capital and county administrative capital, host of the annual Molde International Jazz Festival since 1961)
- Nesset (childhood home of Nobel prize winning author and playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson; also: Mardalsfossen waterfall)
- Rauma (with Åndalsnes, terminus of county's only railroad, Raumabanen, connected to Dovrebanen at Dombås, Oppland)
- Sandøy (county's smallest-area municipality; 871 isles, 5 inhabited; known for its Ona lighthouse of 1867, and local pottery)
- Vestnes (traditional shipbuilding, now evolved into modern shipyards; dairy industry exporting unique cheese Ridderost)
Sunnmøre
