Administrative divisions of Norway
Norway is divided into 21 first-level administrative divisions:
Largest cities in Norway
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | OsloCapital | 835,000 |
| 2 | Bergen | 213,585 |
| 3 | Stavanger | 173,132 |
| 4 | Trondheim | 147,139 |
| 5 | Bærum | 113,659 |
| 6 | Drammen | 90,722 |
| 7 | Skien | 73,330 |
| 8 | Kristiansand | 63,814 |
| 9 | Tromsø | 52,436 |
| 10 | Ålesund | 47,772 |
Oslo is the largest urban area in Norway with about 835,000 people.
Terrain, rivers & lakes
Highest terrain in Norway: ≈ 2,407 m — read from the global elevation model, so summit heights are approximate. The physical map paints elevation bands from green lowlands to brown highlands.
🌊 Rivers
- Vorma
- Dalälven
- Glomma
- Klarlven
- Patsoyoki
- Indalsälven
🏞️ Lakes
- Lake
- Femunden
- Aursund
- Øyeren
- Foxen
- Tyrifjorden
- Snåsavatnet
- Røssvatnet
- Mjøsa
Ethnic groups in Norway
Norwegian 81.5% (includes about 60,000 Sami), other European 8.9%, other 9.6% (2021 est.)
Regionally, Norwegian is the most common ethnic group across most of the 21 divisions.
Source: CIA World Factbook (2021 est.) · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Religions in Norway
Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran - official) 67.5%, Muslim 3.1%, Roman Catholic 3.1%, other Christian 3.8%, other 2.6%, unspecified 19.9% (2021 est.)
Regionally, Church of Norway is the most common religious group across most of the 21 divisions.
Source: CIA World Factbook (2021 est.) · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
Languages in Norway
Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Regionally, Bokmal Norwegian is the most common language group across most of the 21 divisions, while Nynorsk Norwegian predominates in 2 divisions (Sogn og Fjordane, Møre og Romsdal).
Source: CIA World Factbook · regional dominance compiled by Glostats from censuses and surveys
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PolandSources: boundaries, cities, rivers and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain, 1:10m); elevation from the AWS Open Data terrain tiles (SRTM/GMTED); ethnic, religious and language shares from the CIA World Factbook; regional dominance compiled by Glostats from national censuses and surveys. Page generated 2026-10-19. More about our data.