Ofoten (municipality)

Ofoten is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 2998.3 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1884. The municipality included the areas on both sides of the inner part of the Ofotfjorden mostly in what is now the municipalities of Narvik, Ballangen, and Evenes. The administrative centre of Ofoten was the village of Narvik (which later became a town in 1902). After the municipality was dissolved in 1884, the name Ofoten 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 law). On 1 January 1884, the municipality ceased to exist when it was split into two municipalities: Ankenes (population: 1,734) in the east and Evindnæs (population: 2,397) in the west.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the local Ofotfjorden (Ófóti) since the fjord is the central feature of the area as well as the name of the whole Ofoten region. The first element of the name has an uncertain meaning. The last element is which means "foot". The oldest form of the name could have been Úffóti. In this case, the first element is úfr which means "Eurasian eagle-owl". The three inner branches of the Ofotfjord might have been compared with the three claws of an owl.

Government
During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor.

Mayors
The mayors of Ofoten:


 * 1838–1844: Johan Klitzing Iversen
 * 1844–1846: unknown
 * 1846–1848: Johan Klitzing Iversen
 * 1848–1852: Peder Slangerup Schjønning
 * 1852–1854: unknown
 * 1854–1856: Johan Klitzing Iversen
 * 1857–1858: Martinius P. Hønich Jensen
 * 1859–1866: Johan Christian Dahlsen
 * 1867–1872: Hans Olai Christoffersen
 * 1873–1875: Johan T.S. Østberg
 * 1875–1881: Esten A. Osmark
 * 1882–1884: Bertheus Normann