Smøla

Infobox_Kommune
name=Smøla
idnumber=1573
county=Møre og Romsdal
landscape=Nordmøre
capital=Hopen
governor=Iver Nordseth (V)
governor_as_of=2005
arearank=285
area=282
arealand=270
areapercent=0.09
population_as_of=2004
populationrank=321
population=2,248
populationpercent=0.05
populationdensity=8
populationincrease=-14.0
language=Neutral
lat_deg=63| lat_min=24| lat_sec=7| lon_deg=8| lon_min=1| lon_sec=45
utm_zone=32V| utm_northing=7030748 |utm_easting=0451509| geo_cat=adm2nd




munwebpage=www.smola.kommune.no

Smøla is a municipality in the county of Møre og Romsdal, Norway.

The municipality was created January 1, 1960 - after the merging of Edøy, Brattvær and Hopen.

Name

The municipality is named after the main island of Smøla (Old Norse "Smyl" or "Smjöl"). The name is probably derived from "smuler" 'crumbs' - referring to the thousands of small islands and islets around the main island.

Geography

Smøla is located outside Kristiansund and Tustna, it consists of one main island (214 km²) and more than 3,000 smaller ones. The main island is very flat, the highest peak reaches 63 m (206.5 ft) above sea level. Almost all of the land area consists of marshes and cliffs; only 5% is cultivated into agricultural land.

On 5 September 2002, Smøla Wind Farm, a 40 MW wind project comprising 20 x 2 MW wind turbines was opened by Norway's King Harald V. This corresponds to phase one of the wind project, which when completed will have a total installed capacity of more than 110 MW. Phase two was opened in September 2005 and included 48 x 2.3 MW wind turbines. All in all, the wind energy production project consists of 68 windmills, making it among the largest wind projects Europe. With a total generating capacity of 150 MW, the Smøla wind farm's 68 turbines account for more than half of the installed wind power capacity in Norway. The total generating capacity is equivalent to 450 GWh of electricity per year, which corresponds to the average annual power consumption of 22,500 Norwegian households.

Coat-of-arms

The coat-of-arms is from 1989, and shows two seagulls. See also the coat-of-arms of Hasvik.

Points of interest

is one of the largest fishing villages in southern Norway.
Kulisteinen (the Kuli stone), probably one of the best remains which tells about early Christianity in Norway. On one side it has a large cross, which was well known for a long time. Less well known was a runic inscription on the rim of the stone.

ee also

*Smøla Wind Farm

External links

* [http://www.statkraft.com Statkraft]
* [http://www.veiholmen.com Veiholmen.com]
* [http://www.statkraft.com/wbch3.exe?ce=300102 Statkraft and Nuon co-operate on wind-based green electricity] (Press release from Statkraft, 27 March 2003)