Oslo, Norway

Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of in 2019, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of in 2021.

During the Viking Age the area was part of Viken. Oslo was founded as a city at the end of the Viking Age in 1040 under the name Ánslo, and established as a ''kaupstad'' or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada. The city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in honour of the king. It became a municipality (''formannskapsdistrikt'') on 1 January 1838. The city functioned as the capital of Norway during the 1814–1905 union between Sweden and Norway. From 1877, the city's name was spelled Kristiania in government usage, a spelling that was adopted by the municipal authorities in 1897. In 1925, the city, after incorporating the village retaining its former name, was renamed Oslo. In 1948 Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which surrounded the capital and which was 27 times larger, thus creating the modern, much larger Oslo municipality.

Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme.

Oslo is considered a global city and was ranked "Beta World City" in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by ''fDi'' magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Worldwide Cost of Living study. Oslo was ranked as the 24th most liveable city in the world by Monocle magazine.

Oslo's population was increasing at record rates during the early 2000s, making it the fastest growing major city in Europe at the time. This growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. By 2010 the immigrant population in the city was growing somewhat faster than the Norwegian population, and in the city proper this had become more than 25% of the total population if the children of immigrant parents are included.

Urban region

The municipality of Oslo has a population of as of 31 March 2022. The urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the municipality into the surrounding county of Viken (municipalities of Asker, Bærum, Lillestrøm, Enebakk, Rælingen, Lørenskog, Nittedal, Gjerdrum, Nordre Follo); the total population of this agglomeration was in 2015. The city centre is situated at the end of the Oslofjord, from which point the city sprawls out in three distinct "corridors"—inland north-eastwards, and southwards along both sides of the fjord—which gives the urbanized area a shape reminiscent of an upside-down reclining "Y" (on maps, satellite pictures, or from high above the city).

To the north and east, wide forested hills (''Marka'') rise above the city giving the location the shape of a giant amphitheatre. The urban municipality (''bykommune'') of Oslo and county ('' fylke'') of Oslo are two parts of the same entity, making Oslo the only city in Norway where two administrative levels are integrated. Of Oslo's total area, is built-up and is agricultural. The open areas within the built-up zone amount to .

The city of Oslo was established as a municipality on 3 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was separated from the county of Akershus to become a county of its own in 1842. The rural municipality of Aker was merged with Oslo on 1 January 1948 (and simultaneously transferred from Akershus county to Oslo county). Furthermore, Oslo shares several important functions with Akershus county.

Boroughs

''As defined in January 2004 by the city council''

In addition is Marka (1,610 residents, 301.1 km²), that is administered by several boroughs; and Sentrum (1,471 residents, 1.8 km²) that is partially administered by St. Hanshaugen, and in part directly by the city council. As of 27 February 2020, there were 2,386 residents who were not allocated to a borough.

Name and seal

After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in the king's honour. The old site east of the Aker river was not abandoned however and the village of Oslo remained as a suburb outside the city gates. The suburb called Oslo was eventually included in the city proper. In 1925 the name of the suburb was transferred to the whole city, while the suburb was renamed "Gamlebyen", literally "the Old town", to avoid confusion.Han har kartlagt Christianias karthistorie
, ''Osloby'', 8 December 2014. The Old Town is an area within the administrative district Gamle Oslo. The previous names are reflected in street names like Oslo gate (Oslo street) and Oslo hospital.

Toponymy

The origin of the name ''Oslo'' has been the subject of much debate. It is certainly derived from Old Norse and was—in all probability—originally the name of a large farm at Bjørvika, however the meaning of that name is disputed. Modern linguists generally interpret the original ''Óslo'', ''Áslo'' or ''Ánslo'' as either "meadow at the foot of a hill" or "meadow consecrated to the Gods", with both considered equally likely.

Erroneously, it was once assumed that ''Oslo'' meant "the mouth of the Lo river", a supposed previous name for the river Alna. However, not only has no evidence been found of a river "Lo" predating the work where Peder Claussøn Friis first proposed this etymology, but the very name is ungrammatical in Norwegian: the correct form would have been ''Loaros'' (cf. Nidaros). The name ''Lo'' is now believed to be a back-formation arrived at by Friis in support of his dea aboutetymology for ''Oslo''.

Seal

Oslo is one of very few cities in Norway, besides Bergen and Tønsberg, that does not have a formal coat of arms, but which uses a city seal instead. The seal of Oslo shows the city's patron saint, St. Hallvard, with his attributes, the millstone and arrows, with a naked woman at his feet. He is seated on a throne with lion decorations, which at the time was also commonly used by the Norwegian kings.

Other names

Oslo has various nicknames and names in other languages. The city is sometimes known as "The Tiger City" ( no, Tigerstaden), probably inspired by an 1870 poem by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson which referenced then-Christiania in central Oslo. The nickname is mostly used by Norwegians from out of town, and rarely by people from the Oslo region.

History

During the Viking Age the area that includes modern Oslo was located in Viken, the northernmost province of Denmark. Control over the area shifted between Danish and Norwegian kings in the Middle Ages, and Denmark continued to claim the area until 1241.

According to the Norse sagas, Oslo was founded around 1049 by Harald Hardrada. Recent archaeological research, however, has uncovered Christian burials which can be dated to prior to AD 1000, evidence of a preceding urban settlement. This called for the celebration of Oslo's millennium in 2000.

It has been regarded as the capital city since the reign of Haakon V of Norway (1299–1319), the first king to reside permanently in the city. He also started the construction of the Akershus Fortress and the Oslo Kongsgård. A century later, Norway was the weaker part in a personal union with Denmark, and Oslo's role was reduced to that of provincial administrative centre, with the monarchs residing in Copenhagen. The fact that the University of Oslo was founded as late as 1811 had an adverse effect on the development of the nation.

Oslo was destroyed several times by fire, and after the fourteenth calamity, in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark and Norway ordered it rebuilt at a new site across the bay, near Akershus Castle and given the name ''Christiania''. Long before this, Christiania had started to establish its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The part of the city built starting in 1624 is now often called ' because of its orthogonal layout in regular, square blocks. Anatomigården is a historic timber framing house located on the north side of Christiania Torv.

The last Black Death outbreak in Oslo occurred in 1654. In 1814 Christiania once more became a real capital when the union with Denmark was dissolved.

Many landmarks were built in the 19th century, including the Royal Palace (1825–1848), Storting building (the Parliament) (1861–1866), the University, National Theatre and the Stock Exchange. Among the world-famous artists who lived here during this period were Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun (the latter was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature). In 1850, Christiania also overtook Bergen and became the most populous city in the country. In 1877 the city was renamed ''Kristiania''. The original name of Oslo was restored in 1925.

1000–1600

Under the reign of Olaf III of Norway, Oslo became a cultural centre for Eastern Norway. Hallvard Vebjørnsson became the city's patron saint and is depicted on the city's seal.

In 1174, Hovedøya Abbey was built. The churches and abbeys became major owners of large tracts of land, which proved important for the city's economic development, especially before the Black Death.

On 25 July 1197, Sverre of Norway and his soldiers attacked Oslo from Hovedøya.

During the Middle Ages, Oslo reached its heights in the reign of Haakon V of Norway. He started building Akershus Fortress and was also the first king to reside permanently in the city, which helped to make Oslo the capital of Norway.

At the end of the 12th century, Hanseatic League traders from Rostock moved into the city and gained major influence in the city. The Black Death came to Norway in 1349 and, like other cities in Europe, the city suffered greatly. The churches' earnings from their land also dropped so much that the Hanseatic traders dominated the city's foreign trade in the 15th century.

17th century

Over the years, a fire destroyed significant parts of the city many times, as many of the city's buildings were built entirely of wood. After the last fire in 1624, which lasted for three days, Christian IV of Denmark decided that the old city should not be rebuilt again. His men built a network of roads in Akershagen near Akershus Castle. He demanded that all citizens move their shops and workplaces to the newly built city of Christiania, named as an honor to the king.

The transformation of the city went slowly for the first hundred years. Outside the city, near Vaterland and Grønland near Old Town, Oslo, a new, unmanaged part of the city grew up filled with citizens of the lower class status.

18th century

In the 18th century, after the Great Northern War, the city's economy boomed with shipbuilding and trade. The strong economy transformed Christiania into a trading port.

19th century

In 1814 the former provincial town of Christiania became the capital of the independent Kingdom of Norway, in a personal union with Sweden. Several state institutions were established and the city's role as a capital initiated a period of rapidly increasing population. The government of this new state needed buildings for its expanding administration and institutions. Several important buildings were erected – The Bank of Norway (1828), the Royal Palace (1848), and the Storting (1866). Large areas of the surrounding Aker municipality were incorporated in 1839, 1859 an 1878. The 1859 expansion included Grünerløkka, Grønland and Oslo. At that time the area called ''Oslo'' (now ''Gamlebyen'' or Old Town) was a village or suburb outside the city borders east of Aker river. The population increased from approximately 10.000 in 1814 to 230.000 in 1900. Christiania expanded its industry from 1840, most importantly around Akerselva. There was a spectacular building boom during the last decades of the 19th century, with many new apartment buildings and renewal of the city center, but the boom collapsed in 1899.

1900–present

In 1948, Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which surrounded the capital and which was 27 times larger, thus creating the modern, vastly enlarged Oslo municipality. At the time, Aker was a mostly affluent, green suburban community, and the merger was unpopular in Aker.

The municipality developed new areas such as Ullevål garden city (1918–1926) and Torshov (1917–1925). City Hall was constructed in the former slum area of Vika from 1931 to 1950. The municipality of Aker was incorporated into Oslo in 1948, and suburbs were developed, such as Lambertseter (from 1951). Aker Brygge was constructed on the site of the former shipyard Akers Mekaniske Verksted, from 1982 to 1998.

The city and municipality used the name ''Kristiania'' until 1 January 1925 when the name changed to ''Oslo''. Oslo was the name of an eastern suburb – it had been the site of the city centre, until the devastating 1624 fire. King Christian IV of Denmark ordered a new city built with his own name; Oslo remained a poor suburb outside the city border. In the early-20th century, Norwegians argued that a name memorialising a Danish king was inappropriate as the name of the capital of Norway, which became fully independent in 1905.

Norway was invaded by Germany on 9 April 1940. Efforts to stop the invasion, most notably the sinking of Blücher, delayed the occupation of Oslo for a few hours which allowed King Haakon to escape the city. Oslo remained occupied throughout the war until Germany capitulated in 1945. During this time, the occupying troops were harried by saboteurs in acts of resistance. On 31 December 1944, allied bombers missed their intended target and hit a tram, resulting in 79 civilian deaths.

During the 2011 Norway attacks, Oslo was hit by a bomb blast that ripped through the Government Quarter, damaging several buildings including the building that houses the Office of the Prime Minister. Eight people died in the bomb attack.

On 25 June 2022, two people were killed and 21 others injured in a mass shooting at three sites, which was being treated by the police as an act of Islamic terrorism.

File:Medieval Oslo map.jpg, Map of medieval Oslo,
by Amund Helland
File:Harbour of Christiania (JW Edy plate 50).jpg, 1800-1820: Port of Christiania,
by John William Edy
File:Bridge, at Christiania (JW Edy plate 52).jpg, 1800-1820: The old Vaterland Bridge,
by John William Edy
File:Christiania Norway in 1814 by MK Tholstrup.jpg, 1814: Christiania seen from Ekeberg,
by M. K. Tholstrup
File:Homannsbyen.jpg, 1867: Homansbyen,
by Georg Andreas Bull
File:Hjula Veveri JWC.240.jpg, 1867: Hjula Veveri besides Akerselva,
by Carl Baagøe
File:Karl Johan 1880s.jpeg, 1890s: Karl Johans gate
File:0133. Christiania, Nationalteatret, 1897 - NB bldsa AL0133 2.jpg, 1897: The Christiania Theatre
File:2 Universitetet. Kristiania - no-nb digifoto 20151127 00220 bldsa PK09950 (cropped).jpg, 1800s-1900s: The University of Kristiania
File:Stortorvet 7, Stortorvet 8 med Kaffistova, Karl Johans gate 15, 1926, Anders Beer Wilse, Oslo Museum, OB.Y2962.jpg, 1926: Karl Johans gate 15
File:Oslo-oslo-sporveier-sl-2-601737.jpg, 1971: Tram (Frogner Line) at Frognerveien

Geography

Oslo occupies an arc of land at the northernmost end of the Oslofjord. The fjord, which is nearly bisected by the Nesodden peninsula opposite Oslo, lies to the south; in all other directions Oslo is surrounded by green hills and mountains. There are 40 islands within the city limits, the largest being Malmøya (), and scores more around the Oslofjord. Oslo has 343 lakes, the largest being Maridalsvannet (). This is also a main source of drinking water for large parts of Oslo.

Although Eastern Norway has a number of rivers, none of these flow into the ocean at Oslo. Instead Oslo has two smaller rivers: Akerselva (draining Maridalsvannet, which flows into the fjord in Bjørvika), and Alna. The waterfalls in Akerselva gave power to some of the first modern industry of Norway in the 1840s. Later in the century, the river became the symbol of the stable and consistent economic and social divide of the city into an East End and a West End; the labourers' neighbourhoods lie on both sides of the river, and the divide in reality follows Uelands street a bit further west. River Alna flows through Groruddalen, Oslo's major suburb and industrial area. The highest point is Kirkeberget, at . Although the city's population is small compared to most European capitals, it occupies an unusually large land area, of which two-thirds are protected areas of forests, hills and lakes. Its boundaries encompass many parks and open areas, giving it an airy and green appearance.

Climate

Oslo has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Dfb'') or, if the original Köppen winter threshold is used, an oceanic climate (''Cfb'') in the 1991–2020 base period. Oslo has pleasantly warm summers and fairly cold winters. Oslo receives moderate amount of rainfall during the year. The driest season is winter and spring, and the wettest is summer and autumn. Because of the city's northern latitude, daylight varies greatly, from more than 18 hours in midsummer, when it never gets completely dark at night (no darker than nautical twilight), to around 6 hours in midwinter.

The warmest month on record is July 1901 with mean , and the all-time high was also recorded in July 1901. The warmest month in more recent years is July 2018 with mean and average daily high . The record summer of 2018 also recorded the warmest May and May all-time high with on 30th, and 2018 was even the sunniest year on record with 2133 sunhours. On 27 July 2018, the temperature in Oslo rose to , the hottest recorded since 1937, when weather recordings started at Blindern.
In January, on average three out of four days are below freezing () and one out of four days is colder than (1961–1990). The coldest temperature recorded is , on 21 January 1841, while the coldest recorded at Blindern is in January 1941. The coldest month on record is January 1941 and also January 1947 with mean and average daily low . The average date for the first overnight freeze in autumn is 17 October (1981–2010 average for Oslo-Blindern). Oslo sits right on the border between hardiness zones 7a and 7b.

Parks and recreation areas

Oslo has many parks and green areas within the city core, as well as outside it.
*Frogner Park is a large park located a few minutes' walk away from the city centre. This is the biggest and best-known park in Norway, with a large collection of sculptures by Gustav Vigeland.
* Bygdøy is a large green area, commonly called the Museum Peninsula of Oslo. The area is surrounded by the sea and is one of the most expensive districts in Norway.
*Ekebergparken Sculpture Park in the southeast of the city.
*St. Hanshaugen Park is an old public park on a high hill in central Oslo. "St. Hanshaugen" is also the name of the surrounding neighbourhood as well as the larger administrative district (borough) that includes major parts of central Oslo.
*Tøyen Park stretches out behind the old Munch Museum, and is a vast, grassy expanse. In the north, there is a lookout point known as Ola Narr. The Tøyen area also includes the Botanical Garden and Museum belonging to the University of Oslo.
Oslo (with neighbouring Sandvika-Asker) is built in a horseshoe shape on the shores of the Oslofjord and limited in most directions by hills and forests. As a result, any point within the city is relatively close to the forest. There are two major forests bordering the city: '' Østmarka'' (literally "Eastern Forest", on the eastern perimeter of the city), and the very large '' Nordmarka'' (literally "Northern Forest", stretching from the northern perimeter of the city deep into the hinterland).
* Sognsvann is a lake in Oslomarka, located at the land border, just north of Oslo. Sognsvann was drinking water for Oslo from 1876 to 1967.
The lake's altitude above sea level is 183 metres. The water is in a popular hiking area. Near the water itself, it is great for barbecues, swimming, beach volleyball and other activities.

The municipality operates eight public swimming pools. Tøyenbadet is the largest indoor swimming facility in Oslo and one of the few pools in Norway offering a 50-metre main pool. Another in that size is the outdoor pool Frognerbadet.

Cityscape

Oslo's cityscape is being redeveloped as a modern city with various access-points, an extensive metro-system with a new financial district and a cultural city. In 2008, an exhibition was held in London presenting the award-winning Oslo Opera House, the urban regeneration scheme of Oslo's seafront, Munch/Stenersen and the new Deichman Library. Most of the buildings in the city and in neighbouring communities are low in height with only the Plaza, Posthuset and the highrises at Bjørvika considerably taller.

Architecture

Oslo's architecture is very diverse. The architect Carl Frederik Stanley (1769–1805), who was educated in Copenhagen, spent some years in Norway around the turn of the 19th century. He undertook some minor commissions for wealthy patrons in and around Oslo, but his major achievement was the renovation of the Oslo Katedralskole