Subdivisions of Norway

Norway's elongated shape, numerous geographical barriers, and distributed population barriers has led to a number of conventions for it subdivisions. These have changed somewhat over time, and various reforms are under continuous consideration.

Formal subdivisions

The political administration of Norway takes place at three levels:
* Kingdom, covering all of metropolitan Norway including it's integral overseas areas of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Whereas Svalbard is subject to an international treaty with some limits to Norwegian sovereignty, Jan Mayen shares county governor (fylkesmann) with Nordland county.
* Counties, known in Norwegian as "fylker" (singular "fylke"), of which there are 19. These derive in part from divisions that preceded Norway's constitution in 1814 and independence in 1905. The counties also function as constituencies during elections for Parliament.
* Municipalities, known in Norwegian as "kommuner" (singular "kommune") of which there are 430 [cite web|url=http://www.ks.no/templates/Page.aspx?id=46423|title= Kristiansund + Frei = Sant |accessdate =2008-01-09|publisher=www.ks.no|language=Norwegian] . In addition the Longyearbyen local authority has some similarieties with a municipality.

As infrastructure for travel and communication has improved over the years, the benefits of consolidation are under ongoing discussion. The number of municipalities has decreased from 744 in the early 1960s to today's number, and more mergers are planned. Similarly, the political responsibilities of the counties has been decreased, and there was talk of combining them into 5–9 regions by 2010. These plans were, however, recently abandoned.

Within the government administration, there are a few exceptions to the county subdivision:
* The Norwegian court system is divided into six appellate districts.
* The state Church of Norway is divided into eleven dioceses.
* The 13 constituencies for elections to the Sámi Parliament of Norway, which is a part of the Norwegian state apparatus, do not follow the county borders - sometimes encompassing several counties. They do, however, follow municipality borders.

Informal subdivisions

In addition, there are a number of informal subdivisions that sometimes also play a political role:
* Regions, known in Norway as "landsdeler" (singular "landsdel"), of which there are five: Nord-Norge, Østlandet, Sørlandet, Trøndelag, and Vestlandet. Alternately, one may subdivide the country into North, Middle and South: Nord-Norge, "Midt-Norge" and "Sør-Norge". The second region consists of Trøndelag plus one of the Vestlandet counties, while the rest of the country ends up in the last region.
* Districts, typically organized by common language, culture, or geographical barriers. There is no fixed number, as the boundaries are interpreted in subjective ways.
* The Sápmi region is the Sámi "homeland" that spans across North Europe. In Norway, Nord-Norge is commonly included, along with the northern and inner parts of Trøndelag, and sometimes the northernmost parts of Østlandet. While the region has not been defined by any Norwegian law, 12 of the Sámi electoral constituencies are located roughly within the Sápmi region - the southernmost of the twelve being called the "South Sámi Area", and the entire region south of this "South Norway". Thus, the Sámi Parliament has delimited what is definitely "not" part of Sápmi.
* In cities there are often "city sections", known as "bydeler", and even suburban communities such as Bærum are organized into such sections.
* Rural communities also have "informal subdivisions", including "tettsteder" – concentrations of commercial activity similar to villages, and clusters of farms known variously as "grender", or by their names.
* Norwegian meteorologists often employ subdivisions that are distinct from any other use, typically that reflect observed weather patterns.

ee also

*Subdivisions of the Nordic countries

References