Oslo

This article is about the capital of Norway. For other uses, see Oslo (disambiguation).
Oslo
Capital city, municipality and county
Oslo kommune (Norwegian)
Osloven tjïelte (Southern Sami)
Flag of Oslo
Flag
Official logo of Oslo
Seal
Motto(s): 
Unanimiter et constanter (Latin)
"United and constant"
Oslo highlighted in red in Norway
Oslo highlighted in red in Norway
Oslo highlighted in red within Akershus County
Oslo highlighted in red within Akershus County
Oslo is located in Akershus
Oslo
Oslo
Location within Norway
Oslo is located in Norway
Oslo
Oslo
Oslo (Norway)
Oslo is located in Europe
Oslo
Oslo
Oslo (Europe)
Coordinates: 59°54′48″N 10°44′20″E / 59.91333°N 10.73889°E / 59.91333; 10.73889
CountryNorway
DistrictØstlandet
CountyOslo
Established1048
Government
 • MayorAnne Lindboe (H)
 • Governing mayorEirik Lae Solberg (H)
Area
[1]
480 km2 (190 sq mi)
 • Land454.20 km2 (175.37 sq mi)
 • Water26.64 km2 (10.29 sq mi)
 • Rural
310 km2 (120 sq mi)
Highest elevation
(Kjerkeberget)
631 m (2,070 ft)
Lowest elevation
(Oslofjorden)
1 m (3 ft)
Population
 (31 December 2022)[2][3][4]
709,037Increase
 • Urban
1,064,235
 • Metro
[5][6]
1,588,457
GDP
 • Capital city, municipality and county€70.970 billion (2021)[7]
 • Metro€132.716 billion (2021)[8]
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (Central European Time)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (Central European Summer Time)
Postal code
0001 – 1299 [9]
ISO 3166 codeNO-03
HDI (2021)0.980[10]
very high · 1st
Websitewww.oslo.kommune.no
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Oslo[12] (Norwegian: [ˈʊ̂ʂlʊ] ⓘ or [ˈʊ̂slʊ, ˈʊ̀ʂlʊ]; Southern Sami: Oslove[13]) 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 709,037 in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022,[14] and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1,546,706 in 2021.[15]

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 the year 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, although 'Christiania' was also used. 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.[16] 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.[17] A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo.[18] 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.[19] Oslo was ranked as the 24th most liveable city in the world by Monocle magazine.[20]

Oslo's population was increasing at record rates during the early 2000s, making it the fastest growing major city in Europe at the time.[21] 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,[22] and in the city proper this had become more than 25% of the total population if the children of immigrant parents were included.[23]

  1. ^ "Arealstatistikk for Norge". Kartverket.no. Kartverket. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  2. ^ "Population, 1 January 2016". Statistics Norway. 19 February 2016. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Population and land area in urban settlements, 1 January 2014". Statistics Norway. 9 April 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  4. ^ "Population and population changes, Q2 2015". Statistics Norway. 20 August 2015. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  5. ^ regionaldepartementet, Kommunal- og (9 May 2003). "St.meld. nr. 31 (2002–2003)". Regjeringen.no (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Folketalet ved nyttår var 5 258 000". ssb.no (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by metropolitan regions". ec.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 15 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices by NUTS 3 regions". ec.europa.eu.
  9. ^ "Finn postnummer og adresser i Norge og utlandet". Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  11. ^ The number pertains to Oslo S: "Oslo Sentralstasjon" (in Norwegian). Bane Nor. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  12. ^ (/ˈɒzloʊ/ OZ-loh, US also /ˈɒsloʊ/ OSS-loh, "Oslo". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 22 April 2019. "Oslo". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  13. ^ Ballovara, Mette (7 March 2015). "Noereh med lokallag i Oslo". NRK (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 14 November 2022. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  14. ^ "De største byene og tettstedene i Norge". SSB (in Norwegian Bokmål). Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  15. ^ "Osloregionen" [The Osloregion]. SNL (in Norwegian). 15 August 2021. Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  16. ^ "GaWC – The World According to GaWC 2008". Lboro.ac.uk. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  17. ^ Rachel Craig (13 February 2012). "European Cities and Regions of the Future 2012/13". fDiIntelligence.com. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  18. ^ "Sydney rockets up the list of the world's most expensive cities". ECA International. 8 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  19. ^ George Arnett; Chris Michael (14 February 2014). "The world's most expensive cities". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  20. ^ "Quality of Life Survey: top 25 cities, 2019 – Film". Monocle. Archived from the original on 1 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  21. ^ "Oslo europamester i vekst – Nyheter – Oslo". Aftenposten.no. Archived from the original on 1 May 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  22. ^ "Ola og Kari flytter fra innvandrerne – Nyheter – Oslo". Aftenposten.no. 4 January 2010. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  23. ^ "Immigration and immigrants". Ssb.no. 1 January 2009. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2009.