is a town in the municipality of
VefsnVefsn is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mosjøen....
in
Nordlandis a county in Norway, 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 in Bodø. The remote Arctic...
county,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. The town has approximately 10,000 inhabitants.
Mosjøen was separated from Vefsn as a town, and municipality of its own, in 1876. It was again merged with Vefsn January 1, 1962. It is the oldest town in the
HelgelandHelgeland is the most southerly district in North 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 almost 18,000 km², with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...
region, and the second oldest in Nordland.
The town is situated in the lower part of the Vefsn valley where the rivers
VefsnaThe Vefsna is the largest river in Nordland county, Norway. It is 163 km long and drains a watershed of 4,122 km². Its headwaters lie in the Børgefjell mountains and it forms the border between Norway and Sweden for part of its course...
and Skjerva flow into the
VefsnfjordThe Vefsnfjord is a fjord in Helgeland traditional district, Nordland county, Norway. It is about 50-60 km long. The fjord begins at Tjøtta on the south side of Alstenøya and meets Leirfjord at Sundøya before turning southerly as it proceeds inland to Mosjøen...
(Vefsnfjorden means "the Vefsn
fjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:Fjords are formed when a glacier cuts a v-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age...
"); the town centre lies in between these two rivers on flat land near the head of the fjord.
is a town in the municipality of
VefsnVefsn is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Mosjøen....
in
Nordlandis a county in Norway, 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 in Bodø. The remote Arctic...
county,
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. The town has approximately 10,000 inhabitants.
Mosjøen was separated from Vefsn as a town, and municipality of its own, in 1876. It was again merged with Vefsn January 1, 1962. It is the oldest town in the
HelgelandHelgeland is the most southerly district in North 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 almost 18,000 km², with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...
region, and the second oldest in Nordland.
Geography
The town is situated in the lower part of the Vefsn valley where the rivers
VefsnaThe Vefsna is the largest river in Nordland county, Norway. It is 163 km long and drains a watershed of 4,122 km². Its headwaters lie in the Børgefjell mountains and it forms the border between Norway and Sweden for part of its course...
and Skjerva flow into the
VefsnfjordThe Vefsnfjord is a fjord in Helgeland traditional district, Nordland county, Norway. It is about 50-60 km long. The fjord begins at Tjøtta on the south side of Alstenøya and meets Leirfjord at Sundøya before turning southerly as it proceeds inland to Mosjøen...
(Vefsnfjorden means "the Vefsn
fjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:Fjords are formed when a glacier cuts a v-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Many such valleys were formed during the recent ice age...
"); the town centre lies in between these two rivers on flat land near the head of the fjord. The Vefsna river is the largest in Nordland by waterflow. In addition to the rivers and the fjord, the town is surrounded by mountains, green hills and forests. The Øyfjellet mountain (814 m) just west of the town is a well known landmark.
History
Mosjøen was founded in the 1600s or 1700s 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
HelgelandHelgeland is the most southerly district in North 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 almost 18,000 km², with nearly 79,000 inhabitants...
region and the second oldest town in
Nordlandis a county in Norway, 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 in Bodø. The remote Arctic...
county||-|Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities...
.
Alcoathe river: Alcoa RiverAlcoa, Inc. is the world's third largest producer of aluminum, behind Rio Tinto Alcan and Rusal. From its operational headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alcoa conducts operations in 44 countries...
has an aluminium plant in Mosjøen.
Communications
The town is served by the
Mosjøen Airport, KjærstadMosjøen Airport, Kjærstad is a regional airport serving Mosjøen in Nordland, Norway. In 2007 Mosjøen Airport had 76,294 passengers. It is owned and operated by the state owned Avinor.-Service:...
that opened in 1987. The
E6E 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...
road goes through Mosjøen, as does the
NordlandsbanenThe Nordland Line is a railway line between Trondheim and Bodø in Norway. Running for approximately 729 km, it is the Norwegian railway system's longest line, and the only one in Norway to cross the Arctic Circle. It is owned by the Norwegian National Rail Administration...
railway line. Mosjøen is 390 km north of
Trondheimis a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. The city of Trondheim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...
by road, and 90 km south of
Mo i RanaMo i Rana is a town in the municipality of Rana, Nordland, Norway, located just south of the Arctic Circle and in the region Helgeland. The town is called "Mo i Rana" to distinquish it from other places named Mo - most notably the town of Mosjøen, also in Helgeland - though locally the town is...
.
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External links
- http://www.mosjoen.com/
- http://www.vefsnslektshistorielag.com/ (Genealogy)