Munkedal Municipality

Munkedal Municipality Munkedals kommun
—  Municipality  —
Coat of arms
Country	Sweden
County	Västra Götaland County
Seat	Munkedal
Area[1]
- Total	679.51 km2 (262.4 sq mi)
- Land	638.43 km2 (246.5 sq mi)
- Water	41.08 km2 (15.9 sq mi)
	Area as of January 1, 2010.
Population (June 30, 2010)[2]
- Total	10,225
- Density	15/km2 (39/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code
ISO 3166 code	SE
Province	Bohuslän and Dalsland
Municipal code	1430
Website	www.munkedal.se

Munkedal Municipality (Munkedals kommun) is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of Munkedal.

The nation-wide municipal reform of 1952 saw the creation of Munkedal, Svarteborg, Sörbygden and Ödeborg as larger rural municipalities. Already in 1967 Ödeborg was dissolved and parts of it added to Munkedal. Finally, in 1974 Svarteborg and Sörbygden were meged into Munkedal forming the present unit.

Geography

Munkedal is located 110 km north of Gothenburg. The geography is a varied terrain, covered with part forests, part mountains, part plains and part lakes and streams.

Localities

Inhabitants 2005:

• Munkedal 3,838 (seat)
• Dingle 889
• Hällevadsholm 723
• Hedekas 358

History

This area in western Sweden, by the Norwegian border, has been inhabited perhaps longer than any other in Sweden. Distinctives for Munkedal are some tools that have been dated to 8000 BC, found around 1900 at a farm named Herregårda. There is also a petroglyph area called Lökeberg på Tungenäset, dated to the Nordic Bronze Age.

In the medieval age, a monastery of Dragsmark was located within the current municipal borders. It subsequently led to the name Munkedal, and the names chosen for the municipality when it was established in 1974 with the reform. The coat of arms also portrait a medieval scroll and writing pen, characteristics for monks.

Subdivisions

Munkedal has 8 parishes, the sub divisioning used by the Church of Sweden. Their inhabitants January 1, 2005 and changes since January 1, 2004 are:

• Foss 5,020 -52
• Svarteborg 2,683 +12
• Krokstad 1,043 +-0
• Håby 468 +12
• Hede 495 +10
• Bärfendal 248 +8
• Valbo Ryr 262 -9
• Sanne 186 -10

Source: [1]

Notability

The Munkedal Railroad, a narrow gauge museum railroad, inaugurated in 1896. A railroad museum is also situated by it.

The area, troubled by battles between Norwegian and Swedish armies, has several defence structures that can be visited. In addition, there are many old churches from the medieval age of interest.

References

1. ^ "Statistiska centralbyrån den 1 januari 2010" (in Swedish) (Microsoft Excel). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/Statistik/MI/MI0802/2010A01/mi0802tab3_2010.xls. Retrieved 2010-08-21. 
2. ^ "SCB, Befolkningsstatistik 30 juni 2010" (in Swedish). Statistics Sweden. http://www.scb.se/Pages/TableAndChart____244147.aspx. Retrieved 2010-08-19. 

External links

• Munkedal Municipality - Official site
• (Swedish) Article Munkedal from Nordisk Familjebok

Coordinates: 58°29′N 11°41′E / 58.483°N 11.683°E / 58.483; 11.683