Rauma, Norway

Rauma is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Romsdal. The administrative centre is the town of Åndalsnes. Other settlements in Rauma include the villages of Måndalen, Innfjorden, Veblungsnes, Verma, Isfjorden, Eidsbygda, Rødven, Åfarnes, and Mittet. Most settlement in the municipality is located along the fjords and in the Romsdalen valley.

The municipality surrounds part of the southern end of Romsdalsfjorden and the Isfjorden and it also includes the Romsdalen valley and Romsdalsalpene mountains. In the lower part of the valleys and around Romsdal Fjord and Rødvenfjorden are driven agriculture with emphasis on livestock. The clothing industry has traditionally been a dominant industry in the municipality, especially in Isfjorden. In the summer, Rauma has a fairly large amount of tourist traffic. The top tourist attractions include mountain climbing/hiking, salmon fishing, Trollstigen, and the historic Rødven Stave Church. The 1449 km2 municipality is the 61st largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Rauma is the 143rd most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 7,046. The municipality's population density is 5.1 PD/km2 and its population has decreased by 5.1% over the previous 10-year period.

General information
The municipality of Rauma was established on 1 January 1964 when the old municipalities of Eid (population: 381), Grytten (population: 3,683), Hen (population: 1,663), Voll (population: 1,163), and the southern part of Veøy (population: 1,400) were all merged to form one larger municipality. On 1 January 2021, the 53 km2 Vågstranda area in the northwestern part of Rauma was transferred to the neighboring Vestnes Municipality.

Name
The municipality is named after the Rauma River (Raumr), which flows through the Romsdalen valley into the Romsdal Fjord. It is uncertain if the fjord is named after the river or the river is named after the fjord. The name likely comes from the word raum which has an unknown meaning, or it could come from the word raumr which means "roaring waterfall".

Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 4 November 1983. The official blazon is "Azure, three piles issuant from base argent" (I blått tre opprette sølv spisser). This means the arms have a blue field (background) and the charge is three piles pointing upwards from the base of the shield. The charge has a tincture of argent which means it is commonly colored white, but if it is made out of metal, then silver is used. The design was chosen to represent the sky and three local mountains (Vengetindane, Trolltindane and Romsdalshornet). The arms were designed by Jarle Skuseth. The municipal flag has the same design as the coat of arms.

Churches
The Church of Norway has six parishes (sokn) within the municipality of Rauma. It is part of the Indre Romsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Møre.

Geography
The municipality surrounds the eastern part of Romsdal Fjord, Isfjorden, and Rødvenfjorden, and it is south of the Langfjorden. It also surrounds the Romsdalen valley and the Rauma River from the mouth to the Innlandet county border.

The Kyrkjetaket and Gjuratinden mountains lie in the northeastern part of the municipality. The mountains Romsdalshornet, Store Trolltind, Trollryggen, Store Venjetinden, and the Troll Wall are all in the central part of the municipality in the Romsdalsalpene mountain range. The mountains Karitinden and Puttegga are located in the southwestern part of the municipality. Part of Reinheimen National Park lies within the municipality.

Transportation
European Route E136, Norwegian County Road 63, and Norwegian County Road 64 all pass through the municipality. The Trollstigen road is part of County Road 63 in Rauma, and it is a famous tourist attraction due to the many hairpin turns on the steep road.

The Rauma railway line also runs through the municipality, over the Kylling Bridge, and terminates at Åndalsnes Station. The nearest airports are Ålesund Airport, Vigra which is 135 km by road from Åndalsnes and Molde Airport which is 55 km by road plus a road ferry.

Government
Rauma Municipality is responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, welfare and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads and utilities. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor is indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council. The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Rauma is made up of 27 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party.

Mayors
The mayors (ordfører) of Rauma:


 * 1964-1971: Peder Mork (KrF)
 * 1972-1973: Lars Ramstad (H)
 * 1974-1985: Oddvar Morstøl (KrF)
 * 1986-1987: Knut Hauge
 * 1988-1989: Nils Valde (KrF)
 * 1990-1991: Ole S. Dahle
 * 1992-1993: Nils Valde (KrF)
 * 1994-1999: Torbjørn Ådne Bruaset (Sp)
 * 1999-2011: Torbjørn Rødstøl (Sp)
 * 2011-2019: Lars Olav Hustad (H)
 * 2019–present: Yvonne Wold (SV)

Attractions
Rauma is frequently visited by tourists, especially due to the major sights:
 * Trollveggen in Romsdalen valley
 * Trollstigen road to Geiranger
 * Rødven Stave Church (built around the year 1200)

Notable people

 * Mathias Soggemoen (1847 in Rauma – 1929), a railway worker and mountain climbing pioneer
 * Kirsten Utheim Toverud (1890 in Veblungsnes – 1949), a Norwegian pediatrician
 * Arne Randers Heen (1905 in Hen, Møre og Romsdal – 1991), a Norwegian mountain climber and member of the Norwegian resistance during WWII
 * Nils Bølset (1928 in Veøy – 2015), a Norwegian diplomat in Germany, Turkey, and Australia
 * Oddgeir Bruaset (born 1944 in Rauma), a Norwegian journalist and non-fiction writer
 * Ida Nilsson (born 1981), a Swedish long-distance runner, also competes in ski mountaineering
 * Aksel Berget Skjølsvik (born 1987 in Åndalsnes), a Norwegian former footballer with over 250 club caps
 * Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (born 1991 in Rauma), a Norwegian middle-, long- and steeplechase runner
 * Leo Skiri Østigård (born 1999 in Rauma), a Norwegian professional footballer