Åsele Municipality () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Västerbotten County Västerbotten County ( sv, Västerbottens län) is a county or ''län'' in the north of Sweden. It shares the borders with the counties of Västernorrland, Jämtland, and Norrbotten, as well as the Norwegian county of Nordland and the Gulf of Bo ...

in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in the town of

Åsele Åsele () is a locality and the seat of Åsele Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 1,798 inhabitants in 2010. Its elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed refe ...

. It is located in the southernmost fringe of Lapland.

History

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

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

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 Dorotea ( Southern Sami: ''Kraapohke'') is a locality and the seat of Dorotea Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden, with 1,543 inhabitants in 2010. European route E45 and the Inland Line both pass through Dorotea. ...

and

Vilhelmina Vilhelmina ( sma, Vualtjere) is a locality and the seat of Vilhelmina Municipality in Västerbotten County, province of Lapland, Sweden with 3,657 inhabitants in 2010. Climate Vilhelmina has a subarctic climate that is less severe than typica ...

, but Åsele refused to take any of these names, as they were proud of themselves and the town. In 1974 the former market town (''

köping ''Köping'' was a Swedish denomination for a market town since the Middle Ages, derived from the Old Norse word ''kaupang''. The designation was officially abolished with the municipal reform of 1971, when Sweden was subdivided into the Municip ...

'') Åsele (1959-1970) was amalgamated with Dorotea and Fredrika. In 1980 the Dorotea part was detached, forming a new

Dorotea Municipality Dorotea Municipality (; sma, Kraapohken tjïelte) is a municipality in Västerbotten County in northern Sweden. Its seat is located in Dorotea. When the first local government acts were implemented in Sweden in 1863 Dorotea parish was made a r ...

Geography

Geographically, the

Ångerman River __NOTOC__ The Ångerman or Angerman ( sv, Ångermanälven) is one of Sweden's longest rivers with a total length of . It also has the third largest flow rate, after the Göta and Lule. Name The name was formerly written Ångermann or Angermann. ...

flows from Vilhelmina through Åsele Municipality, and many electric power stations are built around it. The town Åsele is located in the middle of the municipality. It has a wooden church, a small historical (open-air) museum, and a nine-hole golf course.

Localities

There are two localities (or urban areas) in Åsele Municipality: The municipal seat in bold

Elections

Riksdag

These are the results of the elections to the Riksdag for Åsele Municipality since the 1972 municipal reform. SCB did not publish the party's results for the Sweden Democrats between 1988 and 1998 because of the party's small size nationally. Blocs This lists the relative strength of the socialist and centre-right blocs since 1973, but parties not elected to the Riksdag are inserted as "other", including the Sweden Democrats results from 1988 to 2006, but also the Christian Democrats pre-1991 and the Greens in 1982, 1985 and 1991. The sources are identical to the table above. The coalition or government mandate marked in bold formed the government after the election. New Democracy got elected in 1991 but are still listed as "other" due to the short lifespan of the party.

Other

The municipality has recently received some recognition as the future site of Europe's largest Thai Buddhist

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

.Fact sheet on the official site
/ref>

References

External links

Åsele Municipality
- Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Asele Municipality Municipalities of Västerbotten County