Bodin

Bodin is a parish and former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1968. It was a large municipality encompassing all of the mainland area around the town of Bodø and part of the land on the southern shore of the Saltfjorden. The municipality also included over of islands, notably the islands of Helligvær, Landegode, Bliksvær, and Givær plus numerous others. In all there were over 700 islands, islets, and skerries in Bodin Municipality. All of what was Bodin Municipality now lies entirely inside the present-day Bodø Municipality. The present-day parish of Bodin represents the mainland area immediately surrounding the town of Bodø and the western islands. The main church for the parish is the historic Bodin Church. The municipality of Bodø landdistrikt was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law). It included the rural areas surrounding the town of Bodø. In 1896, the name of the municipality was changed to Bodin. On 1 July 1938, an area of Bodin (population: 559) was transferred to the town of Bodø. On 1 January 1959, another area of Bodin (population: 1,303) was transferred to the town of Bodø. On 1 January 1963, an area of Skjerstad (population: 224) was transferred to Bodin Municipality. During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, the majority of the municipality of Kjerringøy (population: 524) and the Øyjord area of Sørfold Municipality (population: 81) were merged into Bodin. Then on 1 January 1968, the municipality of Bodin (population: 13,323) was merged with the town of Bodø (population: 14,252) to create a new, much larger, Bodø Municipality. Upon merging, Bodin had a population of 13,323 and Bodø had a population of 14,252. Until 1896, the name of the municipality was Bodø landdistrikt, meaning "the rural district of Bodø". The town of Bodø is named after the old Bodøgård farm meaning "the farm (gård) of Bodø".