African immigration to Norway

African immigration to Norway

Yaw Ihle Amankwah Alexander Tettey Mira Craig Madcon
Total population
81,080[1] 1.66% of the Norwegian population
Regions with significant populations
Eastern Norway 46,701 Western Norway 11,085
Languages
Norwegian, Afro-Asiatic languages, Niger–Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages
Religion
Christianity, Islam

African immigration to Norway refers to immigrants to Norway from Africa. An estimated 81,080 people in Norway are either first or second generation immigrants from Africa.^[1]

Distribution

North and Northeast Africans

Immigration from countries in Africa to Norway increased slightly from the end of the 1980s, but grew markedly from 2000 onwards. The increase is owed mainly to a rise in the number of immigrants from North and Northeast Africa, including Somalia (25,496), Morocco (8,058), Eritrea (5,789) and Ethiopia (5,156).^[2]

Other Africans

Compared to North and Northeast Africans, the percentage of Africans from other regions as a proportion of recent immigrants to Norway from Africa is relatively low.

Most other Africans in Norway come from West Africa, especially Ghana (2,034), Gambia (1,409) and Nigeria (1,247).^[2] There is also a sizeable population of Africans from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,050).

Demographics

Country of origin

Most African Norwegians have a background from the following countries:

Country	Population (1970)[3]	Population (1980)	Population (1990)	Population (2000)[4]	Population (2010)[2]	Increase (2000–2010)
Total	1,179	3,188	10,069	26,521	67,169	153.26%
Somalia	3	26	1,303	8,386	25,496	204.03%
Morocco	401	1,130	2,380	5,409	8,058	48.97%
Eritrea	0	3	18	733	5,789	689.76%
Ethiopia	8	214	1,398	2,525	5,156	104.19%
DR Congo	12	12	83	236	2,050	768.64%
Ghana	8	29	730	1,341	2,034	51.67%
Algeria	64	130	435	880	1,497	70.11%
Gambia	19	143	568	984	1,409	43.19%
Kenya	16	114	303	642	1,275	98.59%
Sudan	6	25	57	371	1,318	255.25%
Nigeria	11	108	284	504	1,247	147.42%
Burundi	0	0	3	62	1,119	1704.83%
Tunisia	39	100	358	607	1,106	82.20%
Liberia	3	8	23	26	1,075	4034.61%

Regional distribution

Most Norwegians with African background live in the following regions:

County	African Norwegian[5]	Percent
Oslo	28,641	4.88%
Akershus	5,572	1.03%
Hordaland	4,740	0.99%
Rogaland	4,391	1.02%
Østfold	3,188	1.17%
Buskerud	2,760	1.07%
Sør-Trøndelag	2,491	0.85%
Telemark	2,066	1.22%
Vestfold	1,785	0.77%
Nordland	1,642	0.69%
Troms	1,531	0.97%
Vest-Agder	1,470	0.86%
Hedmark	1,368	0.71%
Møre og Romsdal	1,287	0.51%
Oppland	1,321	0.71%

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Statistics Norway - Persons with immigrant background by immigration category, country background and sex. 1 January 2010
2. ^ ^{a b c} Statistics Norway - Persons with immigrant background by immigration category and country background. 1 January 2010
3. ^ StatBank Norway
4. ^ Statistisk Sentralbyrå - Folkemengd etter tre variantar av landbakgrunn, fødeland og statsborgarskap. 1. januar 2000
5. ^ Statistics Norway - Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by country background and county. 1 January 2010