Surnadal


Surnadal is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Skei. Other villages in Surnadal include Glærem, Mo, Stangvik, Surnadalsøra, Sylte, Todalsøra, and Åsskard.
A mild climate and rich soil make Surnadal well suited for agriculture. The local economy is based on agriculture, forestry, and industrial production, in addition to services.
The municipality is the 68th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Surnadal is the 161st most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 5,920. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 0.6% over the previous 10-year period.

General information

The parish of Surnadal was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. In 1858, the eastern district was separated from Surnadal to form the new Rindal Municipality. This left Surnadal with 3,105 residents. On 1 January 1877, part of Stangvik Municipality was transferred to Surnadal. In 1879, part of Surnadal was transferred to the neighboring Stangvik Municipality. On 1 January 1886, the Møklegjerdet farm, just west of the village of Glærem, was transferred from Stangvik to Surnadal. On 1 January 1897, the Sjøflot farm was also transferred from Stangvik to Surnadal. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1965, all of Åsskard Municipality and most of Stangvik Municipality were merged with Surnadal Municipality to create a new, larger municipality of Surnadal with a total population of 5,934.

Name

The Old Norse form of the name was Súrnardalr. The first element is the genitive case of the river name Surna and the last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". The meaning of the river name is unknown. Before 1918, the name was written Surendalen.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted in 1989. It shows two silver or white wavy lines on a green background. The wavy lines represent the many rivers in the municipality, the most notable one being the Surna.

Churches

The Church of Norway has five parishes within the municipality of Surnadal. It is part of the Indre Nordmøre prosti in the Diocese of Møre.
Parish Church nameLocation of the churchYear built
MoMo ChurchMo1728
StangvikStangvik ChurchStangvik1896
TodalenTodalen ChurchTodalsøra1861
Øye og RanesRanes ChurchRanes1869
Øye og RanesØye ChurchSkei1871
ÅsskardÅsskard ChurchÅsskard1876

Geography

The municipality is made up by the main valley, Surnadalen through which the river Surna runs. There are also many smaller side valleys including Stor-Bæverdalen, Settemsdalen, Øvstbødalen, Todalen, and Vinddøldalen. The municipality is bordered by the Trollheimen mountain range and Sunndal Municipality to the south, the neighboring Rindal Municipality to the east, Halsa Municipality to the north, and several fjords to the west: Trongfjorden, Stangvikfjorden, and Todalsfjorden. There are three main fjords that cut into the municipality: Åsskardfjorden, Hamnesfjorden, and Surnadalsfjorden.
The landscape is a combination of forests, fjords, and mountains. The highest mountain peak is Snota at above sea level. Other mountains include Vassnebba, Indre Sula and Ytre Sula, Neådalssnota, and Trollhetta. The river Surna runs through the valley from the east to the west, and forms a large delta where it enters the fjord near Surnadalsøra and Skei. This river is rich in salmon, which attract tourists from the rest of the country and abroad. The lakes Foldsjøen and Gråsjøen lie along the border with the municipality of Rindal in the east. The Grønkjølen Nature Reserve lies in the extreme northeast of the municipality.

Government

All municipalities in Norway, including Surnadal, 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 Surnadal 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 Surnadal :
Transportation services include ferries to the southwest and the northwest, which lead to the coastal areas of Møre og Romsdal, and a highway to the city of Trondheim to the east.

Notable residents