Åsele Municipality

Infobox_Kommun2
name=Åsele
fullname=Åsele kommun
isocode=
capital=Åsele
governor=
county=Västerbotten County
province=Lapland
arearank=21st
area=4,276
areapercent=x.x
population_as_of=2005
populationrank=286th
population=3,375
populationpercent=x.x
populationdensity=0.79




location=64_10_N_17_20_E
locationReadable=64° 10′ N 17° 20′ E

Åsele Municipality ("Åsele kommun") is a municipality in Västerbotten County, northern Sweden. The municipal seat is in the town Åsele.

In 1974 the former market town ("köping") Åsele (1959-1970) was amalgamated with "Dorotea" and "Fredrika". In 1980 the Dorotea part was detached, forming a new Dorotea Municipality.

The municipality has recently received some recognition as the future site of Europe's larget buddhist temple. [http://www.welcometovasterbotten.se/default.asp?P=1458&LID=1] .

Geography

Geographically, the Ångerman River flows from Vilhelmina through Åsele Municipality, and many electric powerstations are built around it.

The town Åsele is located in the middle of the municipality. It has a nice looking church, a small historical (open air) museum and a golf course.

History

The first Swedish settlement in Åsele (it was already inhabited by the native Sami people) was in Gafsele in south of Åsele. The settlers was Nils Andersson and his wife Brita. They came from Finland in 1674, trying to avoid the war with Russia.

Fredrika is a parish in the municipality. It was created in 1799 and named in honour of Queen Frederica Dorothea Wilhelmina of Sweden. Other nearby parishes were named Dorotea and Vilhelmina, but Åsele refused to take any of these names, as they were very proud of themselves and the town.

External links

* [http://www.asele.se Åsele] - Official site