Davik is a former municipality in the traditional district of Nordfjord in the old Sogn og Fjordane county (now Vestland),

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The former municipality existed from 1838 until 1964 and it encompassed all the lands surrounding the outer part of the large Nordfjorden on both sides of the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord or fiord () is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Alaska, Antarctica, British Columbia, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Icela ...

. Davik was located in parts of the present-day municipalities of

Kinn Kinn is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the on ...

Bremanger Bremanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village of Svelgen is the administrative centre of the municipality. Other villages include Bremanger, Berle, Davik, Isane, Kalvåg, Svelgen, Rugsund, and Ålfoten. Bremanger i ...

, and Stad. The

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, L ...

of the former municipality was the village of Davik which is located on the southern shore of the Nordfjorden, although some of the municipal services were based out of the village of

Bryggja Bryggja is a village in southwestern part of Stad Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located on the mainland, along the northern shore of the Nordfjorden. The village is located about east of the urban areas of Måløy– Dekne ...

on the north side of the fjord, since that village was the largest village in Davik municipality. Davik kirke T304 01 0055

Davik Church Davik Church ( no, Davik kyrkje) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Bremanger Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the Davik (village), village of Davik. It is the church for the Davik parish which is part of the No ...

was the main church for the municipality, and it was located in the village of Davik, in the central part of the municipality. Rugsund Church (in the village of Rugsund) served the western part of the municipality and Ålfoten Church (in the village of Ålfoten) served the eastern part of the municipality.

Name

The municipality (originally the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

) is named after the old ''Davik'' farm ( non, Dafvíkr), since the first

was located there. The first element () means "

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

" and the last element () is identical with the word ''vik'' which means "

inlet An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ma ...

", so the name appears to be referring to the long, skinny spear-like shape of the local

. Historically, the municipal name was spelled ''Davigen'' or ''Davig'', using the old spelling forms that have changed over time.

History

Davik was established as a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

on 1 January 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () is the name for Norwegian local self-government districts that were legally enacted on 1 January 1838. This system of municipalities was created in a bill approved by the Parliament of Norway and signed into law by King Carl Johan on 14 Janua ...

law). On 1 January 1913, the Mettenes farm (population: 3, located on the south shore of the Nordfjorden in extreme eastern Davik) was transferred to the neighboring municipality of

Gloppen Gloppen is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordfjord. Gloppen is generally subdivided into three areas: Hyen in the west, Gloppen in the center, and Breim in the east. Each of the ...

. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the

Schei Committee The Schei Committee ( no, Schei-komitéen) was a committee named by the Government of Norway to look into the organization of municipalities in Norway post-World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWI ...

. On 1 January 1964, Davik municipality ceased to exist and its territory was divided between the neighboring municipalities of

Eid Eid as a name may refer to: Islamic holidays An Eid is a Muslim religious festival: * ''Eid Milad un Nabi'', alternate name for Mawlid (, "Birth of the Prophet"), the date of observance of the birthday of the Islamic prophet Muhammad * Eid al ...

, and

as follows: *The islands of

Husevågøy Husevågøy is an island in Kinn Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The island is mountainous with few trees. The island lies in the mouth of the Nordfjorden, between the islands of Vågsøy and Bremangerlandet. In 2018, there wer ...

a, Grindøya, Gangsøya, Risøya, and all of Davik that was north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal went to the new Vågsøy municipality. The population of this area was 1,216 at the time of the merger. *All of Davik south of the Nordfjorden and all the islands that did not go to

Kinn Municipality Kinn is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It was established on 1 January 2020. It is in the traditional districts of Nordfjord and Sunnfjord. The municipality is the only non-contiguous municipality in Norway since the municipality of ...

went to

Bremanger Municipality Bremanger is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village of Svelgen is the administrative centre of the municipality. Other villages include Bremanger, Berle, Davik, Isane, Kalvåg, Svelgen, Rugsund, and Ålfoten. Bremanger is ...

. The population of this area was 1,567 at the time of the merger. *All of Davik north of the Nordfjorden and east of the village of Lefdal (including Lefdal) went to

Municipality. The population of this area was 654 at the time of the merger.

Government

Municipal council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural coun ...

of Davik was made up of 29 representatives that were elected to four year terms. The

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

breakdown of the final municipal council was as follows:

References

External links