Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

is commonly divided into five major geographical regions (''landsdeler''). These regions are purely geographical, and have no administrative purpose. However, in 2017 the government decided to abolish the current

counties of Norway Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties (singular no, fylke, plural nb, fylker; nn, fylke from Old Norse: ''fylki'' from the word "folk", sme, fylka, sma, fylhke, smj, fylkka, fkv, fylkki) which until 191 ...

(''fylker'') and to replace them with fewer, larger administrative regions (''regioner''). The first of these new areas came into existence on 1 January 2018, when Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag merged to form

Trøndelag Trøndelag (; sma, Trööndelage) is a county in the central part of Norway. It was created in 1687, then named Trondhjem County ( no, Trondhjems Amt); in 1804 the county was split into Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag by the King of Denma ...

. According to most definitions, the counties of Norway are divided into the following regions (these groupings are approximate): *

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the lar ...

(''Nord-Norge''/''Nord-Noreg'') ** Troms og Finnmark **

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

(alt. ''Midt-Norge''/''Midt-Noreg'') **

* Western Norway (''Vestlandet'') ** Møre og Romsdal **

Vestland Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the cit ...

Rogaland Rogaland () is a county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 479,892. The admin ...

* Southern Norway (''Sørlandet'' or ''Agder'') ** Agder * Eastern Norway (''Østlandet''/''Austlandet'') **

Vestfold og Telemark Vestfold og Telemark (; ) is a county under disestablishment in Norway. The county is the southernmost one of Eastern Norway and consists of two distinct and separate traditional regions: the former counties of Telemark and (most of) Vestfol ...

** Viken **

Innlandet Innlandet is a county in Norway. It was created on 1 January 2020 with the merger of the old counties of Oppland and Hedmark (the municipalities of Jevnaker and Lunner were transferred to the neighboring county of Viken on the same date). ...

Oslo 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 ...

The division into regions is, by convention, based on geographical and also

dialectical Dialectic ( grc-gre, διαλεκτική, ''dialektikḗ''; related to dialogue; german: Dialektik), also known as the dialectical method, is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing t ...

differences, but it also follows the county borders approximately. Other regions exist for various purposes of government. Administratively, the traditional regions as listed above play less of a role – the major administrative units are at county level. Norske landsdeler H

The region Midt-Norge/Midt-Noreg ( Central Norway) is often used as a synonym to Trøndelag, but also includes Møre og Romsdal (according to some definitions only Nordmøre and parts of Romsdal). The southernmost part of Nordland ( Helgeland) is also sometimes considered to be part of Central Norway. Similarly, Rogaland, or parts of Rogaland, is sometimes grouped with Southern Norway instead of Western Norway.

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group rang ...

is not a county and is not usually considered part of Northern Norway. The governor of Svalbard ('' sysselmannen'') reports to the Department of Justice, whereas the county governors ('' fylkesmenn'') report to the Department of Administration. Also

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: larger ...

is an integrated geographical body of Norway. Since 1995 it has been administered by the county governor (fylkesmann) of Nordland. Bouvet Island in the south

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

, Queen Maud Land and

Peter I Island Peter I Island ( no, Peter I Øy) is an uninhabited volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea, from continental Antarctica. It is claimed as a dependency of Norway and, along with Bouvet Island and Queen Maud Land, composes one of the three ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

are Norwegian dependencies.

References

External links

Regionalization and devolution: Proposed new regions of Norway (powerpoint slide show)
{{Europe topic, Regions of *