Davik is a former municipality in the traditional district of

Nordfjord Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the muni ...

in the old

Sogn og Fjordane Sogn og Fjordane (; English: "Sogn and Fjordane") was, up to 1 January 2020, a county in western Norway, when it was merged to become part of Vestland county. Bordering previous counties Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, Buskerud, and Hordaland, the cou ...

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

(now

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The former municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 and it encompassed all the lands surrounding the outer part of the large Nordfjorden on both sides of the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Förden and East Jutland Fjorde, Germany, ...

. Davik was located in parts of the present-day municipalities of

Kinn Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of ...

, Bremanger, and Stad. The

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the former municipality was the village of Davik which is located on the southern shore of the Nordfjorden, although some of the municipal services were based out of the village of

Bryggja Bryggja is a village in southwestern part of Stad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the mainland, along the northern shore of the Nordfjorden. The village is located about east of the urban areas of Måløy– Dekn ...

on the north side of the fjord, since that village was the largest village in Davik municipality. Davik kirke T304 01 0055

Davik Church Davik Church ( no, Davik kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Davik. It is the church for the Davik parish which is part of the Nordfjord prosti ...

was the main church for the municipality, and it was located in the village of Davik, in the central part of the municipality.

Rugsund Church Rugsund Church ( no, Rugsund kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the Hessevågen farm on the mainland side of the village of Rugsund, on the southern coast of t ...

(in the village of

Rugsund Rugsund is a village in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland along the shore of the Nordfjorden. The village is home to Rugsund Church, the local church for this part of the municipality. Ther ...

) served the western part of the municipality and

Ålfoten Church Ålfoten Church ( no, Ålfoten kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Ålfoten, very close to the shore of the Ålfotfjorden. It is the church for ...

(in the village of

Ålfoten Ålfoten is a village in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located along the Ålfotfjorden, a branch of the main Nordfjorden and has a population of about 200. The village has an elementary school, a grocery s ...

) served the eastern part of the municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

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 ...

) is named after the old ''Davik'' farm ( non, Dafvíkr), since the first

was located there. The first element () means "

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

" and the last element () is identical with the word ''vik'' which means " inlet", so the name appears to be referring to the long, skinny spear-like shape of the local

. Historically, the municipal name was spelled ''Davigen'' or ''Davig'', using the old spelling forms that have changed over time.

History

Davik was established as 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 ...

on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1913, the Mettenes farm (population: 3, located on the south shore of the Nordfjorden in extreme eastern Davik) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of

Gloppen Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the ...

. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II. It convened in 1946, and its formal name was (The 1946 Committee on Municip ...

. On 1 January 1964, Davik municipality ceased to exist and its territory was divided between the neighboring municipalities of Bremanger, Eid, and

as follows: *The islands of Husevågøya, Grindøya, Gangsøya, Risøya, and all of Davik that was north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal went to the new Vågsøy municipality. The population of this area was 1,216 at the time of the merger. *All of Davik south of the Nordfjorden and all the islands that did not go to

Kinn Municipality Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of ...

went to

Bremanger Municipality Bremanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village of Svelgen is the administrative centre of the municipality. Other villages include Bremanger, Berle, Davik, Isane, Kalvåg, Svelgen, Rugsund, and Ålfoten. Bremanger i ...

. The population of this area was 1,567 at the time of the merger. *All of Davik north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal (including Lefdal) went to Eid Municipality. The population of this area was 654 at the time of the merger.

Government

Municipal council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

of Davik was made up of 29 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links