Ofoten is a traditional district in Nordland county in Northern Norway. It consists of Evenes Municipality, Narvik Municipality, and Lødingen Municipality. It is named after the main fjord, Ofotfjorden, which is at the center of this district. The 7829 km2 district was home to 29,968 residents in 2016, with almost half of the residents living in the town of Narvik.

Geography

Ofoten is characterized by fjords surrounded by many mountains with high, jagged peaks reaching up to 1900 m in height. About 43% of the area lies above 600 m. Below elevations of 500 m there are forests. Only 11% of the land is below an elevation of 60 m. The mountains are high especially in the east. In the interior parts of the municipality, there are a number of glaciers, such as Gihtsejiegŋa, and also many lakes. Besides the Ofotfjorden, there are a number of other fjords that cut into the landscapes, often with steep shorelines. The traditional district of Lofoten lies to the west of Ofoten, to the south is the traditional district of Salten, to the east is northern Sweden, and to the north is Troms county.

History

The old Ofoten Municipality 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 Municipality (population: 1,734) and Evindnæs Municipality (population: 2,397).

Name

The district is named after Ofotfjorden. The meaning of the first element is unknown and the last element is derived from the Old Norse word 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.

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