Molde

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Molde (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈmɔ̂ldə] (listen)) is a city in Molde Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The city is located along the Moldefjorden and the river Molde. The city is the largest urban and commercial centre of the Romsdal region as well as the administrative centre of Molde Municipality and of Møre og Romsdal county. The Church of Norway's Diocese of Møre is also based at the Molde Cathedral.Molde has a maritime, temperate climate, with cool-to-warm summers, and relatively mild winters. It is nicknamed The Town of Roses. It is an old settlement that emerged as a trading post in the late Middle Ages. Formal trading rights as a shipping port were granted in 1614, and the town was incorporated through a royal charter in 1742. Molde Municipality was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).The town continued to grow throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, becoming a centre for the Norwegian textile and garment industry, as well as the administrative centre for the region, and a major tourist destination. After World War II, Molde experienced accelerated growth, merging with Bolsøy Municipality and parts of Veøy Municipality and Nord-Aukra Municipality on 1 January 1964, making the municipality much larger than the urban area of the town of Molde. On 1 January 2020, the municipality was expanded again through the incorporation of the neighboring municipalities of Midsund and Nesset. The 9.08-square-kilometre (2,240-acre) town has a population (2019) of 21,103 and a population density of 2,324 inhabitants per square kilometre (6,020/sq mi).