Molde is a municipality and a town in Romsdal in Møre og Romsdal.
Today's municipality was established on 1 January 2020 by merging
Nesset, Midsund and Molde. The municipality borders in the west to
Aukra, in the southwest to Ålesund, in the north to Hustadvika and
in the east to Gjemnes, Tingvoll and Sunndal and in the south to
Vestnes and Rauma and to Lesja in the Inland. The city of Molde is
the center of the municipality.
The municipality belongs to
the Molde sheriff's district in Nordmøre and Romsdal police
district, Romsdal parish and Frostating district. Molde previously
covered the two parishes Molde and Bolsøy in Molde domprosti.
Molde became a market town in 1742 and originally covered the
area that is now the city center.
In 1915 and 1952, the city
boundaries were adjusted by incorporating parts of the surrounding
Bolsøy county in Molde and in 1964 the two municipalities were
merged. At the same time, parts of Veøy county, as well as the
Mordal district in Nord-Aukra county were incorporated in Molde.
With this, the population increased from 8,289 to 17,118. In 2020,
Molde, Nesset and Midsund were merged into one large municipality
that stretches from Lesja and Sunndal in the south and east and
towards Ålesund in the west.
The name is believed to come
from a Norse farm name, Moldar, a plural form of mold. The city coat
of arms, a whale that chases herring into a barrel, refers to the
herring fishery that saved the city from famine in the 1740s. At the
same time, the whale, which followed the herring shoals into the
fjords, was a sure sign that the spring herring fishing could begin.