Astafjord
| Astafjord herred | |
|---|---|
| Former Municipality | |
 Astafjord herred
|
|
| Coordinates: 68°40′29″N 17°07′28″E / 68.67472°N 17.12444°ECoordinates: 68°40′29″N 17°07′28″E / 68.67472°N 17.12444°E | |
| Country | Norway |
| Region | Northern Norway |
| County | Troms |
| District | Central Hålogaland |
| Municipality ID | NO-1918 |
| Adm. Center | Grov |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+01:00) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+02:00) |
| Created from | Ibestad in 1926 |
| Merged into | Skånland in 1964 |
Astafjord is a former municipality in Troms county, Norway. It is located in the eastern part of the present-day municipality of Skånland. The administrative center of the former municipality is the village of Grov (population: 289). The Astafjorden (strait) flowed along the northern part of the municipality.
Historically, Astafjord was a parish that encompassed a large part of southern Troms county, including the present-day municipalities of Bardu, Gratangen, Ibestad, Lavangen, Salangen, and most of Skånland. When municipalities were created in Norway in 1838, however, the old parish was divided up into several municipalities (see formannskapsdistrikt).
The municipality of Astafjord was established on 1 July 1926 when the old municipality of Ibestad was divided into four municipalities: Andørja, Astafjord, Gratangen, and Ibestad. Initially, Astafjord had a population of 1,018. On 1 January 1964, Astafjord (population: 1,120) was merged into the neighboring municipality of Skånland.
The strait and the municipality were named after the old Ånstad farm (Old Norse: Arnastaðafjǫrðr). The first element of the old name comes from the male name Arna or "Arne", the second element staða means "home" or "farm", and the last element fjǫrðr is identical with the word for "fjord". Thus, the fjord by Arne's farm.
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