Feda (municipality)

Feda is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 66 km2 municipality existed from 1900 until its dissolution in 1963. The administrative centre was the village of Feda where the Feda Church is located. Feda encompassed the far southern tip of the present-day municipality of Kvinesdal in what is now Agder county. It surrounded both sides of the 13 km long Fedafjorden and the surrounding valleys.

History
The municipality of Feda was created on 1 January 1900 when the old municipality of Kvinesdal was split into two separate municipalities: Feda (population: 1,090) and Liknes (population: 2,937). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Feda municipality was dissolved and it was merged with Kvinesdal municipality (in 1917 Liknes was renamed Kvinesdal) and Fjotland to create a new, larger municipality of Kvinesdal. Prior to the merger, Feda had 576 inhabitants.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fede farm (Feta). The farm was named after the local river, now known as the Fedaelva (which flows into the Fedafjorden near the farm). The meaning of the name comes from the Old Norse word which means "lush meadow on the banks of a river". Historically, the name of the municipality was spelled Fede. On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Feda.

Government
While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of directly elected representatives. The mayor was indirectly elected by a vote of the municipal council.

Municipal council
The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Feda was made up of representatives that were elected to four year terms. The tables below show the historical composition of the council by political party.