Vikedal (municipality)

Vikedal is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The 134 km2 municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. It was located along the Vindafjorden and Sandeidfjorden in the northern part of the Ryfylke district. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Vikedal, where Vikedal Church is located.

History
The parish of Vikedal was created as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). On 1 January 1923, the 290 km2 municipality was divided in three. The northwestern part became the 66 km2 municipality of Sandeid (population: 558), the central part remained as the 134 km2 municipality of Vikedal (population: 924), and the southeastern part became the 90 km2 municipality of Imsland (population: 604).

On 1 January 1965, a major municipal reform took place resulting from the recommendations of the Schei Committee. The municipality of Vikedal was dissolved on that date and it was split up among two municipalities. The Hapnes and Dokskar farms (population: 2) were merged into the neighboring municipality of Tysvær to the southwest. The rest of Vikedal (population: 978) was merged with the municipality of Sandeid and parts of the municipalities of Imsland, Vats and Skjold to form the new municipality called Vindafjord.

Name
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the old Vikedal farm (Víkadalr) since the first Vikedal Church was built there. The first element is the plural genitive case of which means "bay" or "cove". The last element is which means "valley" or "dale". The farm is located at the mouth of the main river that runs through the valley where it flows out into a bay along the fjord.

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 Vikedal was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows: