Mo I Rana

Geography

The city is located at the bottom of the Ranfjord, at equal distance of the coast and the Swedish border. It is in the vicinity immediate of the glacier of Svartisen, the second of Norway by the size. It is with Mo I Rana that the Ranelva river is thrown in Ranfjord. The average temperature is of -6°C in January and 13°C in July. Average precipitations are of 1400 mm per annum.

History

Mo I Rana was a long time an interface - in particular a market of exchange - between populations of fishermen and foresters. The city develops on the initiative of Hans Meyer who, in 1860, acquires immense grounds and the communal privileges. He encourages the trade with the cities close to Sweden and Norway. Especially starting from the beginning of the XXe century the exploitation of the mines of the area develops: initially the Iron then the Lead, the Aluminum, the Zinc… the foundries and steel-works which settled there consequently of did one of the most important industrial centers of Norway: recently still the factories consumed more energy than the commune of very whole Oslo. The population passes from 3 000 with 20 000 inhabitants between 1946 and 1988, accompanied soon by public services, new industries, trade and institutions. Since the decline of these heavy industries, the city largely turned to the services and tourism.

Mo I Rana today

The area contains many caves. Grønligrotta is undoubtedly most known for its natural beauties. Another of them is used as stock room for the National library of Norway ( Nasjonalbiblioteket ), which was installed on the Mo site I Rana in 1989.

The city saw especially tourism, thanks to the beauty of the landscapes around and with its exceptional situation. However, in spite of cultural activities (Rana Museum, Nordland Teater…), the roughness of the climate makes that the city has problems: it is in particular famous to be the first of Norway for the consumption of Drogue.

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