Eikefjord is a former municipality in the

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the souther ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

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 t ...

. The municipality existed from 1923 until 1964 when it joined

Flora Municipality Flora is a former municipality in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway. It was located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre was the town of Florø, which was founded in 1860. Florø has 8,957 inhabitants (2017) and the ...

(now part of

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 ...

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 ...

county). 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 A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or ...

of the former municipality was the village of Eikefjord, where

Eikefjord Church Eikefjord Church ( no, Eikefjord kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Eikefjord. It is the church for the Eikefjord parish which is part of the Sunnfjo ...

is located. The municipality of Eikefjord was located at the end of the Eikefjorden, about east of the town of

Florø is a town and the administrative centre of the municipality of Kinn, Vestland, Norway. The town was founded by royal decree in 1860 as a ladested on the island of Florelandet, located between the Botnafjorden and Solheimsfjorden. Florø is No ...

. The lake

Endestadvatnet Endestadvatnet is a lake in the municipality of Kinn in Vestland county, Norway. The lake is located about east of the village of Eikefjord and west of the lake Emhjellevatnet in neighboring Gloppen municipality. See also *List of lakes in Nor ...

was part of the municipality. The municipality encompassed the immediate area around the village of Eikefjord and to the east and south of the village.

History

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 or m ...

of Eikefjord 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 1923 when the large municipality 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 ...

was divided into three:

(population: 2,508) in the west, Bru (population: 1,560) in the centre, and Eikefjord (population: 929) in the east. 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, Eikefjord Municipality (population: 919) was merged with the town of

(population: 2,040),

(population: 3,567), the parts of Bru Municipality located north of the Førdefjorden (population: 1,155), the Husefest and Breivik areas of

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 ...

(population: 9), and the Steindal area of Vevring Municipality (population: 25) were combined to form the newly created

Name

The municipality (originally the

) is named after the old '' Eikefjord'' farm ( non, Eikifjǫrðr) since the first

was built there. The farm was named after the local

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, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Ice ...

. The first element comes form the word which means "

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

". The last element is which means "

" or "

firth Firth is a word in the English and Scots languages used to denote various coastal waters in the United Kingdom, predominantly within Scotland. In the Northern Isles, it more usually refers to a smaller inlet. It is linguistically cognate to ''fj ...

Government

During its existence, this municipality was governed by a

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 counci ...

directly elected Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...

representatives. The

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

was

indirectly elected An indirect election or ''hierarchical voting'' is an election in which voters do not choose directly among candidates or parties for an office (direct voting system), but elect people who in turn choose candidates or parties. It is one of the old ...

by a vote of the municipal council.

Mayors

The

mayors In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities ...

of Eikefjord: * 1923-1925: Henrik Svarthumle * 1926-1928: Kristoffer Langedal * 1929-1934: Abraham Storøy * 1935-1940: Ludvig Langedal * 1941-1945: Leiv Vasset * 1945-1945: Ludvig Langedal * 1946-1959: Alf Svarthumle * 1960-1961: Erik Dreyer Hovland * 1962-1963: Alf Svarthumle

Municipal council

The

of Eikefjord was made up of 13 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 feature f ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links

*
Weather information in Eikefjord
{{use dmy dates, date=May 2023 Kinn Former municipalities of Norway 1923 establishments in Norway 1964 disestablishments in Norway