There are 16 statistical
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
s in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, of which six count as "Greater City Regions" (''Storbyregioner'') and ten as "City Regions" (''Byregioner''). The classification comes from ''Storbymeldingen'' (The Greater City Report) from the
Norwegian Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. This report was composed in 2002–2003 to create a coherent policy for the development of metropolitan areas within Norwegian society.
It was presented by then
Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Erna Solberg
Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Part ...
on 12 March 2003.
The Greater City Regions contain cities with numbers of inhabitants ranging from around 60,000 to 1.4 million, while the City Regions range from around 45 to 175 thousand. This is out of a national population of around 5.2 million citizens.
The three most populous regions are the
Greater Oslo Region, the
Greater Bergen Region, and the
Greater Stavanger Region.
Greater City Regions
Six Norwegian cities are considered Greater Cities (''Storbyer''). This classification is the result of an overall evaluation of these cities' population and their importance as regional centres.
The six cities are
Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) 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 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
,
Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
,
Trondheim
Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
,
Stavanger
Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...
,
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
and
Tromsø
Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...
. According to ''Storbymeldingen'', these regions contained the following number of municipalities and inhabitants as of 1 July 2009 (the right-hand column shows the number of inhabitants in the main city, within the boundaries of its municipality):
City Regions
In addition to these six regions, there are ten lesser regions referred to as City Regions (''Byregioner''). The City Regions of
Drammen
Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...
and
Moss
Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...
are for many purposes considered part of the Greater Oslo Region, bringing the number down to eight.
The City Regions, according to the same report, are the following (these regions do not all contain one, main city, so here this category is not included):
See also
*
Counties of Norway
There are 15 counties in Norway. The 15 county, counties are administrative division, administrative regions that are the first-level administrative divisions of Norway. The counties are further subdivided into 357 municipalities of Norway, ...
*
List of municipalities of Norway
Municipalities in Norway are the basic unit of local government. Norway is divided into 15 administrative regions, called Counties of Norway, counties. These counties are subdivided into 357 municipality, municipalities (as of 2024). The capital c ...
*
List of towns and cities in Norway
This is a list of towns and cities in Norway. The Norwegian language word means a town or city–there is no distinction between the two words as there is in English. Historically, the designation of town/city was granted by the king, but sin ...
*
Regions of Norway
Norway is commonly divided into five major geographical regions (). These regions are purely geographical and cultural, and have no administrative purpose. However, in 2017 the government decided to abolish the current counties of Norway () and ...
References
{{Reflist
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
Lists of populated places in Norway
Lists of subdivisions of Norway