Åmål Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
fullname=Åmåls kommun


county=Västra Götaland County
province=Dalsland
capital=Åmål


arearank=131st
area=894.93
arealand=484.06
populationrank=177th
population=12,716
densityrank=146th
populationdensity=26.3
website=http://www.amal.se/
footnotes=Area & population from SCB as of December 31, 2006

Åmål Municipality ("Åmåls kommun") is a municipality in Västra Götaland County in western Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Åmål.

The present municipality was created in 1971 through the amalgamation of the former "City of Åmål" and the former rural municipality of Tössbo (the latter created in 1952).

Geography and natural resources

The city of Åmål is located in a scenic bay of Lake Vänern, the largest lake in Sweden. The municipality has a small archipelago with some 30 islands, called "Tösse skärgård", to the south of the city. The islands are protected as a nature preserve; many of the islands are wooded, but a few are used for farming. They provide habitat for a number of bird species, including heron, osprey, mallard, goldeneye, goosander, the black-throated diver and hobby in the bays; on the cobs are colonies of herring gull, seagull and the common tern; while on the fir-covered islands are capercaillie, woodpeckers and other birds.

Fishing was once a major industry, as indicated by the fish appearing on the bottom of the coat of arms. Logging was also of importance.

Trivia

Åmål was made famous worldwide through the movie "Fucking Åmål" ("Show Me Love"), directed by Lukas Moodysson.

ister Cities

Åmål have seven twin towns:

External links

* [http://www.amal.se Åmål Municipality] - Official site
*sv icon [http://runeberg.org/nfcm/0547.html Article "Åmål"] - From Nordisk Familjebok