- List of towns and cities in Norway
-
Map of Norway with important cities
This is a list of towns and cities in Norway.
The Norwegian word for town or city is by. Cities were formerly categorized as kjøpstad (market town) or ladested (small seaport),[1] each with special rights. The special trading rights for cities were abolished in 1857, and the classification was entirely rescinded in 1952 and replaced by the simple classification by.
From 1 January 1965 the focus were moved from the individual cities to their corresponding municipalities. Norwegian municipalities were classified as bykommune (urban municipality) or herredskommune (rural municipality). The distinction was rescinded by The Local Government Act of 1992. The municipalities were ordered by so-called municipality numbers, four-digit codes based on ISO 3166-2:NO which in 1946 were assigned to each municipality. Urban municipalities got a municipality number in which the third digit was a zero.[1]
Between 1960 and 1965 many Norwegian municipalities were merged. For instance when the urban municipality Brevik merged with the urban municipality Porsgrunn and the rural municipality Eidanger, the new municipality was called Porsgrunn and retained its municipality number. As a result, Brevik was considered an urban municipality/town no longer. On another note, when the urban municipality Hønefoss was merged with the rural municipalities Hole, Norderhov, Tyristrand and Ådal to form the new municipality Ringerike, Ringerike retained the old municipality number of Hønefoss.[2] The same thing happened to Egersund and Florø.
Before 1996 city status was awarded by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. Now the issue is decided by each municipality council and formally accepted by the state. Since 1997 a municipality must have a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants in order to declare city status for one of its settlements. In 1999 the municipality council of Bardu declared city status for Setermoen, only to be rejected because the municipality fell short of the population limit. One exception is Honningsvåg in Nordkapp, where the municipality actually has less than 5,000 inhabitants but declared city status before the limit was implemented by law in 1997.[3]
Because of the new laws, Norway witnessed a rapid rise in the number of cities after 1996. Interestingly, a number of relatively small settlements are now called by, such as Brekstad with 1,828 inhabitants and Kolvereid with 1,448 inhabitants.[4] Among the cities of today which got this status before 1996, Tvedestrand with 1,983[4] inhabitants is the smallest. On another note, the laws of 1996 allowed some settlements which lost their city status in the 1960s to regain it.
Oslo, founded in year 1000, is the largest city in Norway as well as the capital.
Contents
Cities and towns in Norway
Note that in most cases the population listed here is that of the municipality, including other villages, not just the urban centre.
City or town status since before 1996
Bergen
Kristiansand
Sandnes
Drammen
SkienCity/town Municipality County City/town status Population Arendal Arendal Aust-Agder 1723 39,826 Bergen Bergen Hordaland[5] 1070 252,051 Bodø Bodø Nordland 1816 46,049 Drammen Drammen Buskerud 1811 60,145 Egersund Eigersund Rogaland 1798 13,418 Farsund Farsund Vest-Agder 1795 9,392 Flekkefjord Flekkefjord Vest-Agder 1842 8,918 Florø Flora Sogn og Fjordane 1860 8,296 Fredrikstad Fredrikstad Østfold 1567 71,976 Gjøvik Gjøvik Oppland 1861 27,500 Grimstad Grimstad Aust-Agder 1816 19,809 Halden[6] Halden Østfold 1665 28,063 Hamar Hamar Hedmark 1248 31,593 Hammerfest Hammerfest Finnmark 1789 9,261 Harstad Harstad Troms 1904 23,242 Haugesund Haugesund Rogaland 1854 31,738 Holmestrand Holmestrand Vestfold 1752 9,515 Horten Horten Vestfold 1858 24,671 Hønefoss Ringerike Buskerud 1852 13,930 Kongsberg Kongsberg Buskerud 1624 23,997 Kongsvinger Kongsvinger Hedmark 1854 17,380 Kristiansand Kristiansand Vest-Agder 1641 80,000 Kristiansund Kristiansund Møre og Romsdal 1742 22,661 Larvik Larvik Vestfold 1671 41,221 Lillehammer Lillehammer Oppland 1842 25,070 Mandal Mandal Vest-Agder 1921 13,840 Molde Molde Møre og Romsdal 1742 24,421 Moss Moss Østfold 1720 28,800 Namsos Namsos Nord-Trøndelag 1845 12,426 Narvik Narvik Nordland 1902 18,512 Notodden Notodden Telemark 1913 12,359 Oslo Oslo Oslo 1000 584,292 Porsgrunn Porsgrunn Telemark 1842 33,550 Risør Risør Aust-Agder 1630 6,938 Sandefjord Sandefjord Vestfold 1845 42,333 Sandnes Sandnes Rogaland 1860 63,032 Sarpsborg Sarpsborg Østfold 1839 (1016) 50,115 Skien Skien Telemark 1000 50,595 Stavanger Stavanger Rogaland 1125 121,610 Steinkjer Steinkjer Nord-Trøndelag 1857 20,672 Tromsø Tromsø Troms 1794 64,782 Trondheim Trondheim Sør-Trøndelag 997 168,257 Tønsberg Tønsberg Vestfold 871 38,914 Vadsø Vadsø Finnmark 1833 6,187 Vardø Vardø Finnmark 1789 2,396 Ålesund Ålesund Møre og Romsdal 1848 41,385 City status since after 1996
City Municipality County Town status Population Alta Alta Finnmark 1999 17,440 Askim Askim Østfold 1996 14,703 Brekstad Ørland Sør-Trøndelag 2005 1,865 Brevik Porsgrunn Telemark 1845-1963
later regained2,700 Brumunddal Ringsaker Hedmark 2010 8,890 Bryne Time Rogaland 2001 9,627 Brønnøysund Brønnøy Nordland 1923-1963
regained 20005,000 Drøbak Frogn Akershus 1842-1961
regained 200613,358 Elverum Elverum Hedmark 1996 18,992 Fauske Fauske Nordland 1998 6,000 Fagernes Nord-Aurdal Oppland 2007 1,762 Finnsnes Lenvik Troms 2000 5,500 Fosnavåg Herøy Møre og Romsdal 2000 3,598 Førde Førde Sogn og Fjordane 1997 9,248 Hokksund Øvre Eiker Buskerud 2002 8,000 Honningsvåg Nordkapp Finnmark 1996 2,575 Jørpeland Strand Rogaland 1998 6,168 Kirkenes Sør-Varanger Finnmark 1998 6,000 Kolvereid Nærøy Nord-Trøndelag 2002 1,448 Kopervik Karmøy Rogaland 1866-1964
regained 19969,000 Kragerø Kragerø Telemark 1666-1959
later regained10,505 Langesund Bamble Telemark 1765-1963
regained 19975,500 Leirvik Stord Hordaland 1997 11,342 Leknes Vestvågøy Nordland 2002 10,764 Levanger Levanger Nord-Trøndelag 1836-1961
later regained18,355 Lillesand Lillesand Aust-Agder 1830-1961
later regained8,952 Lillestrøm Skedsmo Akershus 1997 14,000 Lyngdal Lyngdal Vest-Agder 2001 7,216 Mo i Rana Rana Nordland 1923-1963
later regained17,750 Mosjøen Vefsn Nordland 1875-1961
later regained10,000 Mysen Eidsberg Østfold 1996 6,084 Måløy Vågsøy Sogn og Fjordane 2004 3,003 Odda Odda Hordaland 2004 7,468 Otta Sel Oppland 2000 2,750 Rjukan Tinn Telemark 1996 3,386 Sandnessjøen Alstahaug Nordland 1999 5,716 Sandvika Bærum Akershus 2003 108,144 Sauda Sauda Rogaland 1999 4,878 Ski Ski Akershus 2004 26,588 Skudeneshavn Karmøy Rogaland 1857-1964
later regained5,000 Sortland Sortland Nordland 1997 9,509 Stathelle Bamble Telemark 1774-1963
regained 19978,000 Stavern[7] Larvik Vestfold 1946-1988
regained 19993,000 Tananger[8] Sola Rogaland 2009 5,000 Ulsteinvik Ulstein Møre og Romsdal 2000 5,156 Verdalsøra Verdal Nord-Trøndelag 1998 7,396 Åkrehamn Karmøy Rogaland 2002 10,070 Åndalsnes Rauma Møre og Romsdal 1996 3,000 Former towns
City Municipality County Town status Holmsbu Hurum Buskerud 1847–1964 Hvitsten Vestby Akershus 1837–1964 Hølen Vestby Akershus 1837–1943 Røros[9] Røros Sør-Trøndelag 1683- Setermoen Bardu Troms 1999
(later rejected)Sogndal Sokndal Rogaland 1798–1944 Son Vestby Akershus 1604-1963 Åsgårdstrand Horten Vestfold 1650-1964 See also
Notes and references
- Soot-Ryen, Tron (28 June 2006). "Norges nye byer" (in Norwegian). NRK P1. http://www.nrk.no/programmer/radio/norgesglasset/5727491.html. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
- ^ a b Statistics Norway (2003). About the statistics: Population changes in municipalities 1951-1999. http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/02/folkendrhist_en/about.html.
- ^ Dag Jukvam / Statistics Norway (1999). Historisk oversikt over endringer i kommune- og fylkesinndelingen. http://www.ssb.no/emner/00/90/rapp_9913/rapp_9913.pdfl.
- ^ Kommunal Rapport (23 June 2005). Byer i Norge. http://www.kommunal-rapport.no/index.db2?id=3725.
- ^ a b Population count applies to the tettsted (urban settlement), which is a continuous built-up area with less than 50 metres between the houses. Statistics Norway (2007). Urban settlements. Population and area, by municipality. 1 January 2007. http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/02/01/10/beftett_en/tab-2007-06-07-01-en.html.
- ^ Bergen was a separate county until 1 January 1972.
- ^ Previously known as Fredrikshald
- ^ Previously known as Fredriksvern
- ^ Previously known as Krim Jacobs Hamn
- ^ Røros chose to be referred to as bergstad (mining town).
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- City Population: Norway (statistics & map)- Municipalities & Urban Settlements
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