Astafjord

Astafjord herred
Former municipality

Troms within
Norway

Astafjord within Troms
Coordinates: 68°40′29″N 17°07′28″E / 68.67472°N 17.12444°E / 68.67472; 17.12444Coordinates: 68°40′29″N 17°07′28″E / 68.67472°N 17.12444°E / 68.67472; 17.12444
Country Norway
County Troms
District Central Hålogaland
Established 1 July 1926
Disestablished 1 Jan 1964
Administrative centre Grov
Area
 • Total 310 km2 (120 sq mi)
  *Area at municipal dissolution.
Population (1964)
 • Total 1,120
 • Density 3.6/km2 (9.4/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code NO-1918
Preceded by Ibestad in 1926
Succeeded by Skånland in 1964
Data from Statistics Norway

Astafjord is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. The 310-square-kilometre (120 sq mi) municipality existed from 1926 until its dissolution in 1964. It was located in the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Skånland, surrounding the Grovfjorden. The administrative center of the former municipality was the village of Grov where Astafjord Church is located. The Astafjorden (strait) flowed along the northern part of the municipality and it was the namesake for the municipality.[1][2]

History

Historically, Astafjord was a prestegjeld that encompassed a large part of southern Troms county, including the present-day municipalities of Bardu, Gratangen, Ibestad, Lavangen, Salangen, and most of Skånland. When municipalities were created in Norway in 1838, the old parish was created as Ibestad Municipality (see formannskapsdistrikt).[1]

The municipality of Astafjord was established on 1 July 1926 when the large Ibestad Municipality was separated into four municipalities: Ibestad (population: 1,768), Andørja (population: 1,420), Astafjord (population: 1,018), and Gratangen (population: 1,967). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Astafjord (population: 1,120) was merged with the part of Skånland municipality on the mainland (population: 2,246) to create a new larger Skånland Municipality (the rest of the old Skånland on the island of Rolla joined Ibestad Municipality).[3]

Name

The municipality was named after the Astafjorden strait which was named after the old Ånstad farm (Old Norse: Arnastaðafjǫrðr). The first element of the old name comes from the male name Arna or "Arne", the second element staða means "home" or "farm", and the last element fjǫrðr is identical with the word for "fjord". Thus, the name literally means the "fjord by Arne's farm".[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Thorsnæs, Geir, ed. (2018-04-04). "Astafjord". Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  2. ↑ "Astafjord kommune" (in Norwegian). LokalHistorieWiki.no. Retrieved 2018-07-29.
  3. ↑ Jukvam, Dag (1999). "Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen" (PDF) (in Norwegian). Statistisk sentralbyrå.
  4. ↑ Rygh, Oluf (1911). Norske gaardnavne: Troms amt (in Norwegian) (17 ed.). Kristiania, Norge: W. C. Fabritius & sønners bogtrikkeri. p. 48.
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