Sogndalsstranda is a picturesque, old fishing village, which may have inspired the municipality in becoming Norway's first member of Cittaslow.

[4][5] The parish of Soggendal (later Sokndal) was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt law).

In 1845, the small lading place of Sogndal (population: 348) was separated from Sokndal as a municipality of its own.

On 12 December 1868, a small part of Sokndal (population: 41) was transferred to neighboring Eigersund municipality.

On 1 July 1944, the small lading place of Sogndal (population: 311) was reincorporated into Sokndal.

The municipality (originally the parish) is named after the Soknedalen valley (Old Norse: Sóknardalr) since the first Sokndal Church was built there.

On 3 November 1917, a royal resolution changed the spelling of the name of the municipality to Sokndal.

The official blazon is "Or, three pickaxes bendwise sable" (Norwegian: I gull tre svarte hakker, 2-1).

The coastline of Sokndal is fairly smooth, although there are two larger fjords which cut into the municipality: the Rekefjorden and Jøssingfjorden.

The municipal council (Kommunestyre) of Sokndal is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four year terms.