Modalen

Modalen Municipality
Modalen kommune
View of Mo in Modalen
View of Mo in Modalen
Vestland within Norway
Vestland within Norway
Modalen within Vestland
Modalen within Vestland
Coordinates: 60°52′50″N 05°55′31″E / 60.88056°N 5.92528°E / 60.88056; 5.92528
CountryNorway
CountyVestland
DistrictNordhordland
Established1 Jan 1910
 • Preceded byHosanger Municipality
Administrative centreModalen
Government
 • Mayor (2023)Linda Neset (LL)
Area
 • Total412.01 km2 (159.08 sq mi)
 • Land379.08 km2 (146.36 sq mi)
 • Water32.90 km2 (12.70 sq mi)  8%
 • Rank#236 in Norway
Population
 (2023)
 • Total380
 • Rank#355 in Norway
 • Density1.0/km2 (3/sq mi)
 • Change (10 years)
Decrease −0.8%
DemonymModøl[1]
Official language
 • Norwegian formNynorsk
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeNO-4629[3]
WebsiteOfficial website

Modalen is a municipality in the Nordhordland district in the central part of Vestland county in Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Mo. The other main village in the municipality is Øvre Helland. Most of the residents of Modalen live in the main Modalen valley which extends eastwards from the end of the Romarheimsfjorden.

The small population, combined with a large income from hydro-electric power production, has given the municipality the ability to give all its residents free wireless internet access in the municipality. They also were the first Norwegian municipality to buy a computer for all students in the municipality in 1993.

The 412-square-kilometre (159 sq mi) municipality is the 236th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Modalen is the 355th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 380 (making it the second smallest municipality in Norway after Utsira). The municipality's population density is 1 inhabitant per square kilometre (2.6/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 0.8% over the previous 10-year period.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Navn på steder og personer: Innbyggjarnamn" (in Norwegian). Språkrådet.
  2. ^ "Forskrift om målvedtak i kommunar og fylkeskommunar" (in Norwegian). Lovdata.no.
  3. ^ Bolstad, Erik; Thorsnæs, Geir, eds. (26 January 2023). "Kommunenummer". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget.
  4. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "Table: 06913: Population 1 January and population changes during the calendar year (M)" (in Norwegian).
  5. ^ Statistisk sentralbyrå. "09280: Area of land and fresh water (km²) (M)" (in Norwegian).