is a municipality in the county of Vestland, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Nordhordland. The administrative centre is the village of Dalekvam. Other villages in Vaksdal include Dalegarden, Flatkvål, Helle, Nesheim, Stamneshella, Stanghelle, and Vaksdal.
The municipality is the 160th largest by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Vaksdal is the 205th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 3,867. The municipality's population density is and its population has decreased by 6.5% over the previous 10-year period.
In 2016, the chief of police for Vestlandet formally suggested a reconfiguration of police districts and stations. He proposed that the police station in Solund be closed.
The municipality of Vaksdal was created on 1 January 1964 after a major municipal restructuring after the Schei Committee's recommendations. Vaksdal was formed from the following places:
All of Bruvik municipality, except for the Bruvikbygda area on Osterøy island (population: 5,264)
The Bergsdalen and Eksingedalen valleys from the municipality of Evanger (population: 251)
The rest of the Eksingedalen valley that was located in the municipality of Modalen (population: 151)
The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the village of Vaksdal (Vágsdalr), one of the main villages in the municipality. The first element is the genitive case of the word vágr which means "bay" or "inlet". The last element is dalr which means "valley" or "dale". Alternately, the first part of the name could be derived from a local river name spelled Vaxa or Veksa which would mean the valley of the river Vaxa/Veksa.
On 1 January 1964, the new municipality of Vaksdal was established upon the merger of Bruvik municipality with some neighboring areas. The old coat of arms for Bruvik Municipality was carried over to the new municipality. Bruvik's arms were granted on 14 December 1960, just a few years earlier, and they were in use until 16 November 1990 when a new design was approved.