Mo i Rana
Encyclopedia
Mo i Rana is a town in the municipality
Municipalities of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 of Rana
Rana, Norway
Rana is the second largest municipality in Nordland county – and the third largest in North Norway – by population. By area, Rana is largest in Norway south of Finnmark , taking in large areas of mountains and forested valleys. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region...

, Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, located just south of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

 and in the region Helgeland
Helgeland
Helgeland is the most southerly district in Northern Norway. Generally speaking, Helgeland refers to the part of Nordland county that is located south of the Arctic Circle. The district covers an area of about , with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...

. The town is called "Mo i Rana" to distinquish it from other places named Mo - most notably the town of Mosjøen
Mosjøen
-History:Mosjøen was founded in the 17th century as local farmers met here to trade, and has been growing since then. Sawmills were built here in 1866 by a British company, and Mosjøen got township rights in 1875. It is the oldest town in the Helgeland region and the second oldest town in Nordland...

, also in Helgeland - though locally the town is usually just called Mo. The postal address Mo was changed to Mo i Rana in 1999. As of 1 January 2008, Mo had a population of 17,750 and thus was the most populous city in Helgeland.

History

The name "Mo" comes from an old farm that was situated near the modern town. The name of the farm comes from the Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 Móar, which means sand or grass lowland. The name Rana
Rana, Norway
Rana is the second largest municipality in Nordland county – and the third largest in North Norway – by population. By area, Rana is largest in Norway south of Finnmark , taking in large areas of mountains and forested valleys. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region...

probably comes from Norse too. Rana means quick or fast, probably because the fast water flow in the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...

 outside town. The town was an old trade centre in Helgeland. Farmers have lived in the area since the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

.

Mining, building boats (Nordlands boats), and hunting/fishing used to be the main ways of life. Starting the summer 1730, there was a Sámi
SAMI
SAMI is a Microsoft accessibility initiative released in 1998. The structured markup language is designed to simplify creating captions for media playback on a PC, i.e. not for broadcast purposes....

 market in town. The market was held on the main church grounds until 1810. In 1860, wholesale merchant L.A. Meyer started a trade center, on licence from the royal authority. Meyer traded flour, herring and tobacco, reindeer
Reindeer
The reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...

 meat, skins and venison with the Swedes. The trade with Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 increased.

The municipality is rich on iron ores, and water to produce power. This was very important in industry development. Dunderland Iron Ore Company (1902–1947) established the first mines in Storforshei
Storforshei
Storforshei is a village in Rana municipality, Norway, located northeast of Mo i Rana. Its population is 690 . It is the location of the Rana Mine and the Arctic Circle Raceway....

 (27 km North of Mo i Rana). Rana Gruber was established in 1937, also a mining company. In 1946 the Norwegian Parliament approved plans for the construction of an Iron mill in Norway. The Parliament selected Mo i Rana. A/S Norwegian Iron Work Company was established. In 1955 the first steel was produced to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and other countries. The construction of the iron works took nine years.

During this period the village of Mo i Rana was changed to a industrial city. People from all over the country moved to Mo i Rana in order to obtain work. The community needed homes for thousands of new residents. Construction of houses and residential blocks started immediately. It was also established electricity and water supply to the city. In 1930, the population was 1300 people, this increased to 7,000 in 1955. In 1978 The Iron Mill employed approximately 4,500 of the 25,000 town's inhabitants.

The Norwegian Parliament resolved in June 1988 to phase out state ownership of the company. Today there are 119 industrial companies at the industrial estate (Mo Industrial Park
Mo Industrial Park
Mo Industrial Park is one of Norways largest industrial parks, situated in the town of Mo i Rana, North Norway. The company Mo Industrial Park produces oxygen, nitrogen and compressed air, and also provides security, telephone-switchboard and mail services to the other companies in the park...

). The companies have activity in the iron and steel industry, the engineering industry, the research and development service industry and the information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 industry. In total, the companies employ approximately 1900 people.

From the end of the Second World War until the early 1990s, Mo i Rana, with the town's steel mill as its cornerstone, was dependent upon heavy industry. Following the decline of heavy industry, new service industries have now grown in the town.

The ladested (town) Mo was separated from Mo municipalty in 1923. In 1964 the town was incorporated with Nord-Rana municipality and a parts of the municipalities Sør-Rana and Nesna, to create the new municipality Rana.

Geography and climate

Mo i Rana is located at the head of Ranfjord
Ranfjord
The Ranfjord is a fjord in the Helgeland district. The largest part of the fjord is in Rana municipality, Nordland county, Norway. The Ranelva meets the Ranfjord in Mo i Rana at the head of the fjord....

, just on the southern side of the Saltfjellet
Saltfjellet
Saltfjellet is a mountain area in Nordland, Norway that separates the two regions of Helgeland and Salten. It is also a cultural border between the Southern and Central parts of Sápmi.-Geography and environment:...

 mountains with the Svartisen
Svartisen
Svartisen is a collective term for two glaciers located in northern Norway. The system consists of two separate glaciers,* Vestre Svartisen , which is the second largest glacier on the Norwegian mainland after Jostedalsbreen* Østre Svartisen , which...

 glacier, Norway's second largest. The river Ranelva meets the Ranfjord in Mo i Rana. Rana and Saltfjellet are famous for their numerous caves. Two of the caves are open to the public, Grønligrotta and Setergrotta. Mo i Rana is situated about 80 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....

.

Mo i Rana's climate is usually classified as subarctic
Subarctic climate
The subarctic climate is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...

 (Köppen
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 Dfc), with long, cold winters, and short, warm summers. The Norwegian Current (extension of Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream
The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Drift, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic ocean current that originates at the tip of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland before crossing the Atlantic Ocean...

), follows the coast line of Norway all the way north. The stream has a heavy influence on the climate, helping to keep the temperatures from getting too low in the winter, despite the city being located about 70 kilometres from the coast line. The distance from the coast, however, does give it slightly lower temperatures in the winter than towns nearer the coast. The weather can be very unpredictable, and change quickly. Blizzards can go on for hours, potentially creating traffic difficulties and cancelling flights. Because of Mo i Rana's latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...

, summer days are very long and winter days are very short on daylight
Daylight
Daylight or the light of day is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight outdoors during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and both of these reflected from the Earth and terrestrial objects. Sunlight scattered or reflected from objects in outer space is...

. In the winter season, the Northern Light can be seen on the night sky. It varies in intensity, coloured from white green to deep red, and comes in different shapes, such as beams
Beams
Beams is a Japanese clothing brand, established in 1976, whose chief executive officer is Yo Shitara. Besides stores in many places in Japan, they have branch offices in New York, Milan, London, and Paris....

, arches
Arches
-Places:* Arches National Park in the U.S. state of Utah* Arches, Cantal, a commune of the Cantal département, in France* Arches, Vosges, a commune of the Vosges département, in France-Other:* Arches of the foot...

 and draperies.

The summer is short; July and August are the warmest months. The 24-hr average temperature in July is 13.2 °C (55.8 °F). This is based on the 1961-1990 base period; recent years have tended to be warmer in this area. There are usually two to three warm periods during the summer, when the average temperature is between 20 and 26 °C (68 and 78.8 F) at daytime. The warm days may last for 2–14 days, with the temperature peaking at 31 °C (87.8 °F). Occasionally, the temperatures stay over 20 °C (68 °F) even at night time, a phenomenon called tropenatt in Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...

. Autumn begins in September. The trees lose their leaves in October, and the flowers disappear. During November, fresh water and rivers start to freeze, and the landscape is covered with snow. Only the spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

 forest stays green throughout the winter. In the winter, the sun is low on the horizon, and is only visible for a few hours. Heating through sunlight is limited because of Mo i Rana's high-latitude location. Mountains block the sunlight when the sun is low on the horizon, which means that the sun is not visible at all during the month of December. There are normally two to three very cold periods in the winter with temperature dipping close to minus 30 °C. The cold periods normally last 3–7 days. Average precipitation is 1400 mm/year.

Industry

Norwegian Iron Work (A/S Norsk Jernverk), established in 1946, produced steel for the country until 1988, when it was divided into several new companies. The iron mill had a significant impact on the town development. In 1978, the city's population had grown from approximately 2000 to 25,000. Mo Industrial Park
Mo Industrial Park
Mo Industrial Park is one of Norways largest industrial parks, situated in the town of Mo i Rana, North Norway. The company Mo Industrial Park produces oxygen, nitrogen and compressed air, and also provides security, telephone-switchboard and mail services to the other companies in the park...

 is one of Norway's largest industrial parks. It is important for the local society, giving work to approximately 1900 people. The iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

 and steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 factory Jernverket consumes more power than the entire Oslo municipality. The National Library of Norway has a division in Mo i Rana. HelgelandsKraft
HelgelandsKraft
HelgelandsKraft is a power company that serves Helgeland in Norway. It owns eight hydro electric Power Plants with average annual production of 678 GWh as well as the power grid in the fourteen municipalities of Helgeland, that also own the company...

 supplies electric power to the Helgeland region. NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) has a division in Mo i Rana. Rana Blad is the town's local newspaper. Radio 3 Rana is the local radio station.

Transport

Mo i Rana has a regional airport, Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll
Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll
Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll is a regional airport serving Mo i Rana in Nordland, Norway. In 2005 Mo i Rana Airport had 71,454 passengers. It is operated by Avinor.-Service:...

, situated 10 km north of the city. The airport is a part of the Norwegian STOLport
STOLport
A STOLport or STOLPORT is an airport designed with STOL operations in mind, normally having a short single runway; shorter than . The term does not appear to be in common usage as of 2008...

 network. Mo i Rana is connected to the railway Nordland Line. This is a railway line between Trondheim and Bodø. The main north-south road in Norway, European route E6
European route E6
European route E 6 is the designation for the main north-south road in Norway, and the west coast of Sweden, running from the southern tip of Sweden, at Trelleborg, into Norway and through almost all of the country north to Finnmark. The route ends close to the Norwegian border with Russia...

, passes through the city. The European route E12
European route E12
European route E 12 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Mo i Rana, Norway, tranverses Sweden and ends in Helsinki, Finland, with a ferry line between Sweden and Finland. The part within Finland is Finnish national highway 3...

 begins in Mo i Rana and connect the city to Sweden. A bus network runs throughout most of the city and its suburbs.

Culture

Havmann (The Man from the Sea) is a sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 made from Arctic granite located in the Ranfjord
Ranfjord
The Ranfjord is a fjord in the Helgeland district. The largest part of the fjord is in Rana municipality, Nordland county, Norway. The Ranelva meets the Ranfjord in Mo i Rana at the head of the fjord....

. It was made in 1995 by the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 sculptor Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley
Antony Mark David Gormley OBE RA is a British sculptor. His best known works include the Angel of the North, a public sculpture in the North of England, commissioned in 1995 and erected in February 1998, Another Place on Crosby Beach near Liverpool, and Event Horizon, a multi-part site...

. It's a part of Artscape Nordland
Artscape Nordland
Artscape Nordland is an international art project that aims to bring art to people where they live, art museums being few and far apart in the sparsely populated county of Nordland....

, which can be seen from the city centre. The festival Havmanndagene is held in the town every year in May. Nordland Theater is a regional theater that tours in Nordland
Nordland
is a county in Norway in the North Norway region, bordering Troms in the north, Nord-Trøndelag in the south, Norrbottens län in Sweden to the east, Västerbottens län to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is...

. It was established in 1979, and is situated in a new theater building with three stages. Rana Museum, department of Helgeland Museum, is situated in the city centre. The main exhibit focuses on everyday life in the town in the 20th century. It has a photo gallery with about 80,000 images, and a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 archive. The museum also contains a miniature model of the city from around 1930. Natural History
Natural History
Natural history is the scientific study of plants or animals.Natural History may also refer to:In science and medicine:* Natural History , Naturalis Historia, a 1st-century work by Pliny the Elder...

 museum is situated in the old part of town, known as Moholmen. It focuses on exhibitions of the animal life in the region. The county library of Nordland is situated in Mo i Rana. Arctic Circle Raceway
Arctic Circle Raceway
Arctic Circle Raceway is the biggest race track in Norway. It is south of the Arctic Circle and north of Mo I Rana. The track was opened in 1995....

 is a motorsports and road racing track, situated 30 km north of Mo i Rana.

Mo Church

Mo Church is the oldest building in Mo i Rana. Built in 1724, it is made of wood and has 400 seats. The church was built on the initiative of Thomas von Westen, a Norwegian priest and missionary who worked among the Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

. Numerous victims of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 are buried in the graveyard, which receives visitors from the entire world in search of relatives.

Twin towns — Sister cities

Mo i Rana is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with: Fairbanks
Fairbanks
Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...

, USA Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk
Petrozavodsk is the capital city of the Republic of Karelia, Russia. It stretches along the western shore of the Lake Onega for some . The city is served by Petrozavodsk Airport. Municipally, it is incorporated as Petrozavodsky Urban Okrug . Population:...

, Karelia
Karelia
Karelia , the land of the Karelian peoples, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 Skellefteå
Skellefteå
-Industry:*Boliden AB, a big mining and smelting company*Alimak*Natural User Interface Technologies AB - NUITEQ, a promising emerging technology start-up company-Sports:*Skellefteå AIK, an ice hockey team in the highest Swedish league, Elitserien....

, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....


External links




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