6205_not-searchable
/en/befolkning/statistikker/beftett/arkiv
6205
4 in 5 lives in towns and cities
statistikk
2006-07-05T10:00:00.000Z
Population;Nature and the environment
en
beftett, Population and land area in urban settlements, densely populated areas, sparsely populated areas, residents, population, population density, population size, centre zones, geo-referenced addressArea , Population count, Population, Nature and the environment
false

Population and land area in urban settlements, 1 January 2006

Content

Published:

This is an archived release.

Go to latest release

4 in 5 lives in towns and cities

78 per cent of the population of Norway lives in urban settlements. The number of inhabitants in urban settlements increased by 1.3 per cent during 2005.

The population in urban settlements increased with 47 000 people in 2005 bringing the total number of town and citydwellers up to 3 607 813 in altogether 905 urban settlements in Norway as of 1. January 2006.In the same period the urban settlement area increased by about 44 km2 (2 per cent), while the population of Norway increased by 0.7 per cent.

Last year the counties of Akershus and Rogaland had the highest growth in the urban population with nearly 2 per cent.

Major regional differences

How many that lives in urban settlements varies between the counties. In the county of Oslo nearly 100 per cent lives in urban settlements, while in the counties of Hedmark, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane and Nord-Trøndelag about 55 per cent of the population lives in urban settlements.

High growth in the largest cities

Slightly above 1 370 000 inhabitants live in the four largest urban settlements Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger/Sandnes and Trondheim, or about 38 per cent of the total population in urban settlements as of 1.January 2006. In 2005 these urban settlements increased their population by nearly 25 000 inhabitants, or about 1.9 per cent. 30 per cent of the total population of Norway lives in these four urban settlements.

Residents in and areas of urban settlements, by population size
  2006 Change from 2005 to 2006
  Residents Area. km2 Number of
urban settlements 		Residents Area. km2 Number of
urban settlements
Total 3 607 813     2 263.10  905     47 676 43.88 -4
200-499 residents  114 912  162.80  330 -454 1.95 -4
500-999 residents  154 617  188.49  221  785 4.37 0
1 000-1 999 residents  207 771  209.92  146 2 292 5.56 0
2 000-19 999 residents 1 020 790  761.39  189 12 450 15.88 0
20 000-99 999 residents  739 200  434.08 15 7 624 7.25 0
100 000 or more residents 1 370 523  506.42 4 24 979 8.88 0

Many smaller urban settlements

As many as 697 urban settlements (77 per cent) had less than 2000 residents as of 1. January 2006. They constitute only 13 per cent of the total population in urban settlements, but as much as 25 per cent of total land area covered by urban settlements.

Urban settlements are densely built-up areas with at least 200 inhabitants. Last year four urban settlements have been omitted and no new urban settlements have been established.

High increase in land area covered by urban settlements

In total 2 263 km2 of the land area in Norway was urban settlements as of 1. January 2006. The urban settlement area increased by nearly 44 km2 in 2005.

The population density for urban settlements is averaged to 1 594 residents per km2 as of 1. January 2006.

Changes in area and population through the years can to some degree be due to delay in registrations and changes in system of registration, particularly for smaller urban settlements and municipalities.

Tables: