Nordfold (municipality)

Nordfold is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1906 until its dissolution in 1964. The municipality surrounded the Nordfolda branch off of the Folda fjord in what is now Steigen Municipality, plus a small portion of the present-day Sørfold Municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Nordfold, where the Nordfold Church is located. The municipality of Nordfold was established on 1 January 1906 when the old Nordfold-Kjerringøy Municipality was split into two new municipalities: Nordfold (population: 1,485) and Kjerringøy (population: 857). During the 1960s, there were many municipal mergers across Norway due to the work of the Schei Committee. On 1 January 1964, Nordfold municipality ceased to exist. The eastern Mørsvikbotn district surrounding the Mørsvikfjorden in Nordfold (population: 268) was merged into the neighboring Sørfold Municipality. The rest of Nordfold (population: 1,212) was merged the following locations to create a new, much larger Steigen Municipality: the Brennsund area of Kjerringøy (population: 30), all of Leiranger Municipality (population: 1,397), a small part of Hamarøy Municipality (population: 77), and all of Steigen Municipality (population: 1,829). The municipality is named after the local Folda fjord (Fold). The first element is the prefix nord which means "northern". The last element is fold which has an unknown meaning (maybe "the broad one"). The inner part of the fjord is divided into two arms Nordfolda ("the northern Folda") and Sørfolda ("the southern Folda"). While it existed, this municipality was responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment, social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. During its existence, this municipality was governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elected a mayor. The municipal council (Herredsstyre) of Nordfold was made up of 17 representatives that were elected to four year terms.