Ofoten is a former municipality in

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, N ...

county,

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 1838 until its dissolution in 1884. The municipality included the areas on both sides of the inner part of the

Ofotfjorden Ofotfjord ( or ) is a fjord in Nordland county, Norway. It is an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, located about north of the Arctic Circle. The long Ofotfjord is Norway's 12th longest fjord and it is also the 18th deepest, with a maximum depth of . ...

mostly in what is now the municipalities of

Narvik ( se, Áhkanjárga) is the third-largest municipality in Nordland county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Narvik. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Ankenesstranda, Ball ...

Ballangen Ballangen ( sme, Bálák) is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1925 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of th ...

, and

Evenes Evenes ( sme, Evenášši) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bogen. Other villages in Evenes include Liland, Tårst ...

. The

administrative centre 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 Ofoten was the village of

(which later became a town in 1902). After the municipality was dissolved in 1884, the name

Ofoten Ofoten is a traditional district in Nordland county in Northern Norway. It consists of the municipalities of Tysfjord, Ballangen, Evenes, Tjeldsund, Narvik, and Lødingen. It is named after the main fjord, Ofotfjorden, which is at the center o ...

has been used to refer to the region that once was this municipality.

History

The municipality of Ofoten was established on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 January ...

law). On 1 January 1884, the municipality ceased to exist when it was split into two municipalities:

Ankenes Ankenes is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1884 until 1974. It encompassed most of the present-day Narvik Municipality, surrounding of the town of Narvik which was once its own municipality. T ...

(population: 1,734) in the east and Evindnæs (population: 2,397) in the west.

Name

The municipality was named after the local

(

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Ófóti''). The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is derived from the Old Norse word ''fótr'' which means "

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

". The oldest form of the name could have been ''Úffóti''. In this case, the first element is ''úfr'' which means "

Eurasian eagle-owl The Eurasian eagle-owl (''Bubo bubo'') is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Palearctic, Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe. It is one of the largest species of owl, ...

". The three inner branches of the Ofotfjord might have been compared with the three claws of an owl.

References

{{Authority control Narvik Former municipalities of Norway 1838 establishments in Norway 1884 disestablishments in Norway

History

Name

See also

References