Munkedal Municipality
Encyclopedia
Munkedal Municipality is a municipality
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...

 in Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County
Västra Götaland County is a county or län on the western coast of Sweden.The county is the second largest of Sweden's counties and it is subdivided into 49 municipalities . Its population of 1,550,000 amounts to 17% of Sweden's population...

 in western 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....

. Its seat is located in the town of Munkedal
Munkedal
Munkedal is a locality and the seat of Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3,704 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...

.

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
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

. The geography is a varied terrain, covered with part forests, part mountains, part plains and part lakes and streams.

Localities

Inhabitants 2005:
  • Munkedal
    Munkedal
    Munkedal is a locality and the seat of Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 3,704 inhabitants in 2005.- References :...

      3,838 (seat)
  • Dingle
    Dingle, Sweden
    Dingle is a locality situated in Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 891 inhabitants in 2005....

      889
  • Hällevadsholm
    Hällevadsholm
    Hällevadsholm is a locality situated in Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 781 inhabitants in 2005. An Iron Age grave field, Stenehed, is located nearby....

      723
  • Hedekas
    Hedekas
    Hedekas is a locality situated in Munkedal Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 378 inhabitants in 2005....

      358

History

This area in western 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....

, by the Norwegian
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...

 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
Petroglyph
Petroglyphs are pictogram and logogram images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images...

 area called Lökeberg på Tungenäset, dated to the Nordic Bronze Age
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...

.

In the medieval age
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

 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
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 also portrait a medieval scroll and writing pen, characteristics for monks.

Subdivisions

Munkedal has 8 parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

es, the sub divisioning used by the Church of Sweden
Church of Sweden
The Church of Sweden is the largest Christian church in Sweden. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. With 6,589,769 baptized members, it is the largest Lutheran church in the world, although combined, there are more Lutherans in the member churches of...

. 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: http://www.munkedal.se/net/Munkedalskommun/Kommunen/Statistik

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
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 Swedish
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....

 armies, has several defence structures that can be visited. In addition, there are many old churches from the medieval age
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 of interest.

External links

  • Munkedal Municipality - Official site Article Munkedal from Nordisk Familjebok
    Nordisk familjebok
    Nordisk familjebok is a Swedish encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.- History :The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899. The first edition is known as the "Iðunn edition" because of the picture of Iðunn on the cover...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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