Smøla is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hopen, other villages include Dyrnes, Råket, and Veiholmen.

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Smøla Municipality Smøla kommune
Municipality
View of Veiholmen
Flag Coat of arms
Møre og Romsdal within Norway
Smøla within Møre og Romsdal
Coordinates: 63°24′07″N 08°01′45″E
Country	Norway
County	Møre og Romsdal
District	Nordmøre
Established	1 Jan 1960
• Preceded by	Edøy, Brattvær, and Hopen municipalities
Administrative centre	Hopen
Government
• Mayor (2019)	Svein Roksvåg (Sp)
Area
• Total	271.91 km2 (104.99 sq mi)
• Land	261.10 km2 (100.81 sq mi)
• Water	10.81 km2 (4.17 sq mi)  4%
• Rank	#272 in Norway
Population  (2023)
• Total	2,158
• Rank	#270 in Norway
• Density	8.3/km2 (21/sq mi)
• Change (10 years)	−1%
Demonym	Smølværing[1]
Official language [2]
• Norwegian form	Neutral
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	NO-1573[3]
Website	Official website
Data from Statistics Norway

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The 272-square-kilometre (105 sq mi) municipality is the 272nd largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Smøla is the 270th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 2,158. The municipality's population density is 8.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (21/sq mi) and its population has decreased by 1% over the previous 10-year period.^[4][5]

The municipality of Smøla was established on 1 January 1960 after the merger of the municipalities of Edøy (population: 1,135), Brattvær (population: 1,361), and Hopen (population: 1,550). The initial population of Smøla was 4,046. The boundaries have not changed since that time.^[6]

The municipality of Smøla is located north of the town of Kristiansund, off the western coast of Norway. The municipality consists of the main island of Smøla and more than 3,000 smaller ones. The 216-square-kilometre (83 sq mi) main island is very flat, the highest peak reaches 64 m (210 ft) above sea level. The highest peak in the municipality is 70 m (230 ft) above sea level, being Ramndalshaugen on the island of Kuli. Almost all of the land area consists of marshes and cliffs; only 5% is cultivated into agricultural land. Other minor islands in the municipality include Edøya, Kuli, and Veiholmen. The municipality is separated from the rest of Norway by the Edøyfjorden to the south.

Due to the vast number of small islands surrounding Smøla, there are several lighthouses. The three most notable ones are Haugjegla Lighthouse (north of Smøla), Skalmen Lighthouse, (northwest of Smøla), and Tyrhaug Lighthouse (southeast of Smøla in the Edøyfjorden).

Scientists of the Institute of Geodesy and Geoinformationtechnique of the Technical University of Berlin were testing the antique maps of Ptolemy and recognized a pattern of calculation mistakes that occurred when one tried to convert the old coordinates from Ptolemy into modern cartographical maps. The scientists believe that, when one compensates for these mistakes, the mythological location Thule corresponds to the island of Smøla.^[13]

Smøla has a temperate oceanic climate, also known as a marine west coast climate (Cfb), with a cool summer and mild winter. The year amplitude is only 11.1 °C (20 °F) from the coldest to the warmest month. The driest season is from April - July, and the wettest season is autumn and winter. The record high is from July 2018, and the record low is from February 2010.

Smøla 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.^[16] The municipality is under the jurisdiction of the Møre og Romsdal District Court and the Frostating Court of Appeal.

The newspaper Nordvestnytt has been published in Smøla since 1988.^[31]

On 5 September 2002, Statkraft announced the opening of the Smøla Wind Farm, a 40-megawatt (54,000 hp) wind project comprising twenty 2-megawatt (2,700 hp) wind turbines by Norway's King Harald V. This corresponds to phase one of the wind project, which when completed will have a total installed capacity of more than 110 megawatts (150,000 hp). Phase two was opened in September 2005 and included forty-eight 2.3-megawatt (3,100 hp) wind turbines. All in all, the wind energy production project consists of 68 windmills, making it among the largest wind projects in Europe. With a total generating capacity of 150 megawatts (200,000 hp), the Smøla wind farm's 68 turbines account for more than half of the installed wind power capacity in Norway. The total generating capacity is equivalent to 450 GWh of electricity per year, which corresponds to the average annual power consumption of 22,500 Norwegian households.^[32]

• Veiholmen is a large fishing village, north of the main island.
• Kulisteinen (the Kuli stone), probably one of the best remains which tells about early Christianity in Norway. On one side it has a large cross, which was well known for a long time. Less well known was a runic inscription on the rim of the stone.
• Old Edøy Church, a restored church dating back to about the year 1190.
• Deep-sea fishing is a part of the natural environment of Smøla. Smøla provides facilities, guided fishing trips and possibilities for renting fisherman's boats and needed equipment. Participants can expect to catch a large selection of deep sea fish in this area: herring, cod, redfish, perch, monkfish, Atlantic halibut, plaice, carp, char, mackerel, and others.

• Oluf Skarpnes (1932 in Smøla - 2019), a Norwegian jurist and public servant
• Kåre Bryn (born 1944 in Smøla), a Norwegian diplomat
• Ingar Knudtsen (born 1944 in Smøla), a Norwegian novelist and poet
• Marianne Schröder (born 1977 in Smøla), a Norwegian model