Ofoten

Leigastind (mountain) near Bjerkvik, Narvik municipality, on 28.September 2010.

Bjerkvik is an important road junction; E10 goes west to Lofoten and E6 goes north to Troms.

Tøtta (1234 m / 4200 ft), a steep mountain rising from the Rombaken fjord, Narvik municipality. Ofoten is home to innumerable mountains.

Ofoten is a district in North Norway, consisting of the municipalities Tysfjord, Ballangen, Evenes, Tjeldsund, Narvik and Lødingen. It is named after the main fjord Ofotfjord, which is at the center of this landscape. Ofoten is characterised by fjords surrounded by mountains reaching up to 1700 meter (1900 meters near the border with Sweden), with forest at the lower elevations (lower than 500 meter). To the west is Lofoten, and the eastern part of Ofoten borders northern Sweden. To the north is Troms county, and to the south is Salten district.

The name

The district is named after Ofotfjord (Norse Ófóti). The meaning of the first element is unknown, the last element is derived from Norse fótr m 'foot'. (See also Lofoten.)

(The oldest form of the name could have been *Úffóti, and the first element is thus úfr m 'Eurasian Eagle-owl'. The three inner branches of the Ofotfjord might have been compared with the three claws of an owl.)

History

Ofoten was formerly a municipality, being created as a formannskapsdistrikt in 1837. It was dissolved in 1884 to create Ankenes and Evenes (Evindnæs).

Subalpine birch forest with river in Evenes