Sunndal

This article is about the municipality in Nordmøre, Norway. For the village in Kvinnherad, Norway, see Sundal.
Sunndal kommune
Municipality

Coat of arms

Møre og Romsdal within
Norway

Sunndal within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 62°36′46″N 8°38′3″E / 62.61278°N 8.63417°E / 62.61278; 8.63417Coordinates: 62°36′46″N 8°38′3″E / 62.61278°N 8.63417°E / 62.61278; 8.63417
Country Norway
County Møre og Romsdal
District Nordmøre
Administrative centre Sunndalsøra
Government
  Mayor (2009) Ståle Refstie (Ap)
Area
  Total 1,713.41 km2 (661.55 sq mi)
  Land 1,647.90 km2 (636.26 sq mi)
  Water 65.51 km2 (25.29 sq mi)
Area rank 40 in Norway
Population (2010)
  Total 7,205
  Rank 137 in Norway
  Density 4.4/km2 (11/sq mi)
  Change (10 years) -2.8 %
Demonym(s) Sunndaling[1]
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code NO-1563
Official language form Neutral
Website www.sunndal.kommune.no
Data from Statistics Norway

 Sunndal  is a municipality in the Nordmøre region located in the northeast part of Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Sunndalsøra. Other villages include Gjøra, Grøa, Hoelsand, Jordalsgrenda, Romfo, Ålvund, Ålvundeidet, and Øksendalsøra.

With an area of 1,712 square kilometres (661 sq mi), it is the largest municipality in Møre og Romsdal county. The important occupations in Sunndal include industry (with Hydro Aluminium Sunndal as the biggest employer), public services, retail, and farming.

General information

View of Giklingdalshytta in Innerdalen

Sunndal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The northern part of the municipality was separated in 1854 as the new municipality of Øksendal. On 1 January 1960, Ålvundeid (which was originally a part of Øksendal) and Øksendal were merged back into Sunndal. On 1 January 1965, the Ålvund-Ålvundfjord area of Stangvik (population: 508) was transferred to Sunndal.[2]

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Sunndalr. The first element is sunnr which means "southern" and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Before 1870, the name was written Sunddalen (or Sunndalen); during the period from 1870–1917, it was spelled Sundalen; and since 1918, it has been spelled Sunndal.[3]

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from modern times. They were granted on 12 April 1983. The arms show a Norwegian wormwood (Artemisia norvegica) plant in white on a green background. This species has its main European distribution in Sunndal and Oppdal in the Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella National Park and in Trollheimen landscape protected area. Small populations also in Ryfylke, Scotland, and the Ural Mountains, with another subspecies in the mountains of Northern America. It can be found in abundance in many places in the mountains of Sunndal well above tree line.[4]

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Sunndal. It is part of the Indre Nordmøre deanery in the Diocese of Møre.

Churches in Sunndal
Parish (Sokn)Church NameLocation of the ChurchYear Built
HovHov ChurchSunndalsøra1887
RomfoRomfo ChurchRomfo1821
Gjøra ChapelGjøra1935
ØksendalØksendal ChurchØksendalsøra1894
ÅlvundeidÅlvundeid ChurchÅlvundeidet1848

Geography

View of the Jordalsgrenda area

Sunndal is bordered on the west by Nesset Municipality and Tingvoll Municipality, on the north by Surnadal Municipality, on the east by Oppdal Municipality (in Sør-Trøndelag county) and on the south by Lesja Municipality (in Oppland county).

In the southern part of the municipality lies the Dovrefjell–Sunndalsfjella National Park, home to a plentiful amount of impressive muskox. In the northern part is the Trollheimen and Innerdalen landscape protection areas.

The municipality centers around the Sunndalsfjorden and the river Driva. There are also many towering mountains including: Trolla, Storskrymten, Vinnufjellet (with peaks Dronningkrona and Kongskrona), Innerdalstårnet, Såtbakkollen, Skarfjellet, and Vassnebba. The Vinnufossen waterfall lies near the river Driva.

References

  1. "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  2. Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  3. Rygh, Oluf (1908). Norske gaardnavne: Romsdals amt (in Norwegian) (13 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 388.
  4. "Kommunevåpen Sunndal" (in Norwegian). Sunndal Kommune. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
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