User:Punkmorten/Municipalities of Norway

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Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties (fylker, singular - fylke), and 431 municipalities (kommuner, cf. communes). The capital city Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality.

Municipalities are the atomic unit of local government in Norway and are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. Law enforcement and church services are provided at a national level in Norway. Municipalities do not collect taxes directly but are instead awarded block grants through the national budget.

Municipalities are undergoing continuous consolidation. In 1930, there were 747 municipalities in Norway. At this writing there are 431, and there are plans for further mergers and political pressure to do so. See the list of former municipalities of Norway for further detail.

The consolidation effort is complicated by a number of factors. Since block grants are made by the national government to the municipalities based on an assessment of need, there is little incentive for the municipalities to lose local autonomy. The national policy is that municipalities should only merge voluntarily, and studies are underway to identify potential gains.

There are also an alphabetical list of municipalities in Norway and a list by municipality number.

[edit] Overview

County	Municipalities	County	Municipalities
Akershus	?	Aust-Agder	?
Buskerud	?	Finnmark	?
Hedmark	?	Hordaland	?
Møre og Romsdal	?	Nordland	?
Nord-Trøndelag	?	Oppland	?
Oslo	1	Østfold	?
Rogaland	?	Sogn og Fjordane	?
Sør-Trøndelag	?	Telemark	?
Troms	?	Vest-Agder	?
Vestfold	?	Total	431

[edit] List by county

[edit] Akershus

Crest	Municipality	Area		Population		Density		No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
Crest	Municipality	Km²	Rank	Total	Rank	Pop/km²	Rank	No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
	Asker	?	?	51,484	11	?	?	?
	Aurskog-Høland	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
	Bærum	?	?	105,928	5	?	?	?
	Lørenskog	?	?	30,929	25	?	?	?
	Skedsmo	?	?	43,201	15	?	?	?

The county administration is seated in Oslo.

[edit] Aust-Agder

[edit] Buskerud

[edit] Finnmark

[edit] Hedmark

Crest	Municipality	Area		Population		Density		No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
Crest	Municipality	Km²	Rank	Total	Rank	Pop/km²	Rank	No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
	Hamar	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

[edit] Hordaland

[edit] Møre og Romsdal

[edit] Nordland

[edit] Nord-Trøndelag

[edit] Oppland

[edit] Oslo

Crest	Municipality	Area		Population		Density		No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
Crest	Municipality	Km²	Rank	Total	Rank	Pop/km²	Rank	No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
	Oslo	?	?	538,411	1	?	?	?

[edit] Østfold

[edit] Rogaland

Crest	Municipality	Area		Population		Density		No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
Crest	Municipality	Km²	Rank	Total	Rank	Pop/km²	Rank	No. of Parishes	Ruling Party[1]
	Utsira	?	?	215	433^[1]	?	?	?

[edit] Sogn og Fjordane

[edit] Sør-Trøndelag

[edit] Telemark

[edit] Troms

[edit] Vest-Agder

[edit] Vestfold

[edit] Notes

1. The colors in the "ruling party" field indicate the following party alignment of the mayor (in brackets, the number of presidencies):

	— Red (?)
	— Socialist Left Party (?)
	— Labour Party (?)
	— Centre Party (?)
	— Coastal Party (?)
	— Venstre (?)
	— Christian Democratic Party (?)
	— Conservative Party (?)
	— Progress Party (?)
	— Local lists (?)
	— Independents (?)

2. All mayors were elected in the Norwegian local elections, 2003, held on September ??.^{[citation needed]}

3. A cell with a celadon background denotes a municipality placed within the first twenty positions of the corresponding ranking.^{[citation needed]} A terra cotta background denotes a municipality placed within the last twenty positions of the corresponding ranking.

4. All population, and therefore, all population density data is as of ????.^{[citation needed]}

5. A municipality with a bolded name indicates the location of the district capital.

[edit] Largest municipalities

With population as of January 1, 2006 (source: SSB[1])

Oslo, 538.411 inhabitants
Bergen, 242.158
Trondheim, 158.613
Stavanger, 115.157
Bærum, 105.928
Kristiansand, 76.917
Fredrikstad, 70.791
Tromsø, 63.596
Sandnes, 58.947
Drammen, 57.759
Asker, 51.484
Skien, 50.761
Sarpsborg, 50.115
Bodø, 44.992
Skedsmo, 43.201
Sandefjord, 41.555
Larvik, 41.211
Ålesund, 40.801
Arendal, 39.826
Karmøy, 37.928
Tønsberg, 36.919
Porsgrunn, 33.550
Ringsaker, 31.923
Haugesund, 31.738
Lørenskog, 30.929

[edit] References

^ Norway had 433 municipalities in 2004.

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[edit] External link

Coats of Arms of Norwegian counties and municipalities

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