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, it is the largest municipality in Møre og Romsdal county. The important occupations in Sunndal include industry, public services, retail, and farming.
The municipality is the 47th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway and it is the largest in Møre og Romsdal county. Sunndal is the 140th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,036. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 3.5% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Sunndal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1854, the northern part of the municipality was separated to form the new municipality of Øksendal. This left 2,188 residents in Sunndal. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1960, the neighboring municipalities of Ålvundeid and Øksendal were merged with Sunndal to form a new, larger Sunndal municipality. Both Ålvundeid and Øksendal were historically part of the municipality before 1854. Then, on 1 January 1965, the Ålvund-Ålvundfjord area of the neighboring Stangvik Municipality was transferred to Sunndal.

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 ; during the period from 1870–1917, it was spelled Sundalen; and since 1918, it has been spelled Sunndal.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 12 April 1983. The arms show a Norwegian wormwood 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.

Churches

The Church of Norway has four parishes within the municipality of Sunndal. It is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
HovHov ChurchSunndalsøra1887
RomfoRomfo ChurchRomfo1821
RomfoGjøra ChapelGjøra1935
ØksendalØksendal ChurchØksendalsøra1894
ÅlvundeidÅlvundeid ChurchÅlvundeidet1848

Geography

Sunndal is bordered on the west by Nesset Municipality and Tingvoll Municipality, on the north by Surnadal Municipality, on the east by Oppdal Municipality and on the south by Lesja Municipality.
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, Innerdalstårnet, Salhøa, Såtbakkollen, Skarfjellet, and Vassnebba. The Vinnufossen and Svøufallet waterfalls both lie near the river Driva.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Sunndal, are responsible for primary education, outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Nordmøre District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council

The municipal council of Sunndal is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Mayor

The mayors of Sunndal :