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Rana Museum, department for cultural history

Mo i Rana is a town in the municipality of Rana, Nordland, Norway, located just south of the Arctic Circle and in the region Helgeland. The town is called "Mo i Rana" to distinquish it from other places named Mo - most notably the town of Mosjøen, also in Helgeland - though locally the town is usually just called Mo. The postal address Mo was changed to Mo i Rana in 1999. As of 1 January 2008, Mo had a population of 17,750^[1] and thus was the largest (in population) city in Helgeland.

[edit] History

From the end of the Second World War until the early 1990s, Mo i Rana, with the town's steel mill as its cornerstone, was dependent upon heavy industry. Norsk Jernverk employed approximately 4,500 of the 25,000 town's inhabitants around 1978.^[2] Following the decline of heavy industry, new service industries have now grown in the town. The town is located on the Nordlandsbanen railway line in addition to being served by Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvoll. Mo i Rana houses a division of the National Library of Norway.

The name "Mo" comes from an old farm that was situated near the modern town. The name of the farm comes from the Norse Móar, which means sand or grass lowland. The name Rana probably comes from Norse too. Rana means quick or fast, probably because the fast water flow in the fjord outside town. The town was an old trade centre in Helgeland. Farmers have lived in the area since the Iron Age.

Mining, building boats (Nordlands boats), and hunting/fishing used to be the main ways of life. Starting the summer 1730, there was a Sámi market in town. The market was held on the main church grounds until 1810. In 1860, wholesale merchant L.A. Meyer started a trade center, on licence from the royal authority. Meyer traded flour, herring and tobacco, reindeer meat, skins and venison with the Swedes. The trade with Sweden increased.

The municipality is rich on iron ores, and water-power to produce power. This was very important in industry development. Dunderland Iron Ore Company (1902-1947) established the first mines in Mo i Rana. Rana Gruber (established in 1937), also a mining company, is still in service. In 1946 the Norwegian Parliament approved plans for the construction of an iron factory. A/S Norwegian Iron Work Company (Norwegian: A/S Norsk Jernverk) was established just outside the city centre. It produced steel for Norway and other countries. However, the company closed down in 1988. There are now 130 industrial companies at the industrial estate where the Norwegian Iron Work was situated. Today, area is called Mo Industrial Park. The companies have activity in the iron and steel industry, the engineering industry, the research and development service industry and the information technology industry. In total, the companies employ approximately 2000 people.

The ladested (town) Mo was separated from Mo municipalty in 1923. In 1964 the town was incorporated with Nord-Rana municipality and a parts of the municipalities Sør-Rana and Nesna, to create the new municipality Rana.

[edit] Geography and climate

Mo church

Mo i Rana is located at the head of Ranfjord, just on the southern side of the Saltfjellet mountains with the Svartisen glacier, Norway's second largest. The river Ranelva meets the Ranfjord in Mo i Rana. Rana and Saltfjellet are famous for their numerous caves.^{[citation needed]} Two of the caves are open to the public, Grønligrotta and Setergrotta. Mo i Rana is situated about 80 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle.

The climate in Mo i Rana varies a lot throughout the year. The Norwegian Current (extension of Gulf Stream), follows the coast line of Norway all the way north. The stream has a heavy influence on the climate, helping to keep the temperatures from getting too low in the winter, despite the city being located about 70 kilometres from the coast line. The distance from the coast, however, does give it slightly lower temperatures in the winter than towns nearer the coast. The weather can be very unpredictable, and change quickly. Blizzards can go on for hours, potentially creating traffic difficulties and cancelling flights. Because of Mo i Rana's latitude, summer days are very long and winter days are very short on daylight. In the winter season, the Northern Light can be seen on the night sky. It varies in intensity, coloured from white green to deep red, and comes in different shapes, such as beams, arches and draperies.

The summer is short; July and August are the warmest months. The 24-hr average temperature in July is 13.2 °C (55.8 °F).^[3] This is based on the 1961-1990 base period; recent years have tended to be warmer in this area. There are usually two to three warm periods during the summer, when the average temperature is between 20 and 26 °C (68 and 79 °F) at daytime. The warm days may last for 2–14 days, with the temperature peaking at 31 °C (88 °F). Occasionally, the temperatures stay over 20 °C (68 °F) even at night time, a phenomenon called tropenatt in Norwegian. In the winter, the sun is low on the horizon, and is only visible for a few hours. Mountains block the sunlight when the sun is low on the horizon, which means that the sun is not visible at all during the month of January. During November, fresh water and rivers start to freeze. The trees lose their leaves in October, and the flowers disappear. Only the spruce forest stays green throughout the winter. There are normally two to three very cold periods in the winter with temperature dipping close to -30 °C. The cold periods normally last 3–7 days. Average precipitation is 1400 mm/year.^[3]

Weather data for Mo i Rana (10 last years)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average high °C (°F)	-2 (28)	-3 (27)	-1 (30)	4 (39)	9 (48)	14 (57)	17 (63)	14 (57)	13 (55)	6 (43)	2 (36)	-2 (28)
Average low °C (°F)	-5 (23)	-6 (21)	-6 (21)	0 (32)	5 (41)	10 (50)	12 (54)	10 (50)	8 (46)	3 (37)	-1 (30)	-5 (23)
Source: ^[4] 2009-12-04

[edit] Industry

Nordland theater

Norwegian Iron Work (A/S Norsk Jernverk), established in 1946, produced steel for the country until 1988, when it was divided into several new companies. The iron mill had a significant impact on the town development. In 1955, the city's population had grown from approximately 2000 to 20,000. Mo Industrial Park is one of Norway's largest industrial parks. It is important for the local society, giving work to approximately 2000 people. The iron and steel factory Jernverket consumes more power than the entire Oslo municipality.^{[citation needed]} The National Library of Norway has a division in Mo i Rana. HelgelandsKraft supplies electric power to the Helgeland region. NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) has a division in Mo i Rana. Rana Blad is the town's local newspaper. Radio 3 Rana is the local radio station.

[edit] Culture

Havmann (English: The Man from the Sea) is a sculpture made from Arctic granite located in the Ranfjord. It was made in 1995 by the English sculptor Antony Gormley. It's a part of Artscape Nordland, which can be seen from the city centre. The festival Havmanndagene is held in the town every year in May. Nordland Theater is a regional theater that tours in Nordland. It was established in 1979, and is situated in a new theater building with three stages. Rana Museum, department of Helgeland Museum, is situated in the city centre. The main exhibit focuses on everyday life in the town in the 20th century. It has a photo gallery with about 80,000 images, and a folk music archive. The museum also contains a miniature model of the city from around 1930. Natural History museum is situated in the old part of town, known as Moholmen. It focuses on exhibitions of the animal life in the region. The county library of Nordland is situated in Mo i Rana. Arctic Circle Raceway is a motorsports and road racing track, situated 30 km north of Mo i Rana.

[edit] Mo Church

Mo Church is the oldest building in Mo i Rana. Built in 1724, it is made of wood and has 400 seats. The church was built on the initiative of Thomas von Westen, a Norwegian priest and missionary who worked among the Sami. Numerous victims of World War II are buried in the graveyard, which receives visitors from the entire world in search of relatives.