Romsdalshalvøya, sometimes translated as the Romsdal Peninsula is a 1560 square kilometres (602.3 sq mi) peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

 located in the Romsdal

Romsdal

Romsdal is the name of a traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Sandøy, and Vestnes. It is named for the valley of Romsdalen, which covers part of Rauma.The...

 district of Møre og Romsdal

Møre og Romsdal

is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...

 county

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties . The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 430 municipalities...

 in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. The peninsula encompasses the western Norwegian municipalities

Municipalities of Norway

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties , and 430 municipalities...

 of Molde

Molde

is a city and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Romsdal region. The municipality is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord...

, Gjemnes

Gjemnes

Gjemnes is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal peninsula. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is Batnfjordsøra, which lies along the Batnfjorden and is a former steamship landing place...

, Fræna

Fræna

Fræna is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Romsdal. The municipality is located on the Romsdal peninsula surrounding the Frænfjorden, the eastern shore of the Julsund strait, and includes most of the Hustadvika area...

, Eide

Eide

Eide is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the region of Nordmøre. It is located on the Romsdal peninsula, along the Kornstadfjord and the Kvernesfjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Eide...

, and the northern part of Nesset

Nesset

Nesset is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal Peninsula. The administrative centre is the village of Eidsvåg. Other population centers include Rausand, Boggestranda, Myklebostad, Eresfjord, and Eikesdalen....

.

The Romsdal peninsula is connected to the mainland by a 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) wide isthmus

Isthmus

An isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas usually with waterforms on either side.Canals are often built through isthmuses where they may be particularly advantageous to create a shortcut for marine transportation...

 between Eidsvåg

Eidsvåg, Nesset

Eidsvåg is a village in the municipality of Nesset in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is the administrative centre of the municipality. Eidsvåg is located at the end of the Langfjorden on the isthmus connecting the Romsdal peninsula to the Norwegian mainland...

 and Eidsøra in Nesset

Nesset

Nesset is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal Peninsula. The administrative centre is the village of Eidsvåg. Other population centers include Rausand, Boggestranda, Myklebostad, Eresfjord, and Eikesdalen....

. The peninsula is flanked by a number of fjords: Langfjord and Romsdalsfjord

Romsdalsfjord

Romsdalsfjord is the ninth longest fjord in Norway. It is long and located in the Romsdal district of Møre og Romsdal county. It flows through the municipalities of Midsund, Haram, Vestnes, Molde, Nesset, and Rauma...

 to the south, Julsund

Julsund

Julsundet is a long strait between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Romsdalsfjord, about 15 minutes west of Molde, Norway. It runs through the municipalities of Fræna, Aukra, Molde, and Midsund, flowing north-south from Bud to Julneset . It is between the Romsdal peninsula and the islands of...

 (to the west), Hustadvika

Hustadvika

Hustadvika is a long section of coastline outside the municipality of Fræna in Romsdal, Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the shipping route between Molde and Kristiansund. The area is shallow and is full of little islands and reefs...

 to the north, Kornstadfjord

Kornstadfjord

Kornstadfjord is a fjord in the municipalities of Averøy and Eide in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long fjord runs between the Romsdal peninsula and the island of Averøya...

 and Kvernesfjord

Kvernesfjord

Kvernesfjord is a fjord between the municipalities of Gjemnes, Kristiansund, Averøy, and Eide in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The fjord is about long....

 to the north-east, and Tingvollfjorden

Tingvollfjorden (Møre og Romsdal)

The Tingvollfjorden is a fjord in the municipalities of Tingvoll, Gjemnes, Nesset, and Sunndal. The inner part of the fjord is called the Sunndalsfjord. The fjord begins at the island of Bergsøya and stretches about to the village of Sunndalsøra. The river Driva flows into the fjord at its start...

 and Sunndalsfjord

Sunndalsfjord

Sunndalsfjord is a fjord in the municipality of Sunndal in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The long Sunndalsfjord comprises the southern end of the Tingvollfjorden. It begins at Ballsneset, at the municipal boundary of Sunndal and extends south to the village of Sunndalsøra. Other villages along...

to the east.

About 42,000 people live on the peninsula, with another 5,000 on the adjacent islands.