In 2017 the 2.23-square-kilometre (550-acre) town had a population of 2,403 and a population density of 1,078 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,790/sq mi).[1]
Åndalsnes is located at the mouth of the river Rauma, at the shores of the Romsdalsfjord, one of the first Norwegian rivers to host English fly fishermen in the nineteenth century. The river's salmon population is currently undergoing restoration after seeing strong declines in the 1980s following an infestation of Gyrodactylus salaris, a freshwater fish parasite that mainly affects salmon. As with many other infested rivers, the Rauma is experiencing an increase in the population of sea trout.
The river flows through the Romsdalen valley, which features some of the most spectacular scenery in the entire country. Trollveggen (the Troll Wall) one of the cliff formations in the valley, has a vertical drop of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It was an early launch site for European BASE jumpers.
Trains on the Rauma Line terminate at the port of Åndalsnes, with bus connections to the nearby towns of Molde and Ålesund.
History
The village of Åndalsnes was the administrative centre of the old Grytten Municipality from 1838 until 1964, when Grytten was merged with several other municipalities to form the new Rauma Municipality. Åndalsnes then became the administrative centre of the new municipality of Rauma.
At the waterfront here, rigs were built to develop off-shore oil and gas wells in the North Sea, with the railroad bringing steel, etc.to the water's edge, and the rigs taken out to sea, past Ålesund, through the fiord waters.
