Fjotland (municipality)

Fjotland is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The 600 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until 1841 and again from 1858 until its dissolution in 1963. The administrative centre was the village of Fjotland where Fjotland Church is located. The municipality covered the northern part of the Kvinesdalen valley in the present-day municipality of Kvinesdal.

History
The parish of Fjotland was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law), but the municipality was short-lived. In 1841, Fjotland (population: 980) was merged into the neighboring municipality of Kvinesdal. This union, however, only lasted until 1858 when Fjotland was separated to form its own municipality again. At that time, Fjotland had a population of 1,044.

On 1 January 1874, an unpopulated area of Fjotland was transferred to neighboring Sirdal municipality. On 1 January 1903, a small area of Sirdal (population: 63) was transferred to Fjotland. During the 1960s, many Norwegian municipalities were consolidated due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1963, Fjotland (population: 1,244) was dissolved and it was merged with Kvinesdal (again) and Feda municipality to form a new, larger municipality of Kvinesdal.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Fjotland farm (Fjósaland). The first element is the plural genitive case of the word which means "cow barn". The last element is which means "land" or "district".

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 Fjotland 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.