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Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties (Norwegian: singular ''fylke'', plural ''fylker'' (Bokmål) / ''fylke'' (Nynorsk); until 1918 known as ''amt'', pl. ''amter'' / ''amt''). The counties form the primary first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 431 municipalities (''kommune'', pl. ''kommuner'' / ''kommunar''). The capital Oslo is considered as both a county and a municipality.
There is some political disagreement on whether counties are a practical, economical or even necessary level of administration. See politics of Norway for more information.

Contents

List of counties

History

''Len''

''Len'' in 1536

''Len'' in 1660

''Amt''

''Amt'' in 1671

''Amt'' in 1730

''Fylke''

References & notes

See also

External links

List of counties

Below is a list of the Norwegian counties as they have been since 1919, with their current administrative centres. The county numbers are from the official numbering system , which follows the coastline from the Swedish border in the southeast to the Russian border in the northeast. The number 13 was dropped from the system when the city of Bergen (county no. 13) was merged into Hordaland (county no. 12) in 1972.

1. Østfold – Sarpsborg


2. Akershus – Oslo


3. City and county of Oslo


4. Hedmark – Hamar


5. Oppland – Lillehammer


6. Buskerud – Drammen


7. Vestfold – Tønsberg


8. Telemark – Skien


9. Aust-Agder – Arendal


10. Vest-Agder – Kristiansand


11. Rogaland – Stavanger


12. Hordaland – Bergen


14. Sogn og Fjordane – Leikanger


15. Møre og Romsdal – Molde


16. Sør-Trøndelag – Trondheim


17. Nord-Trøndelag – Steinkjer


18. Nordland – Bodø


19. Troms – Tromsø


20. Finnmark – Vadsø

History

''Len''

Formerly the term ''len'' (plural ''len'') in Norway signified an administrative region roughly equivalent to today's counties. The historic ''len'' was an important administrative entity during the period of Dano-Norwegian unification after their amalgamation as one state, which lasted for the period 1536^[1]–1814.

At the beginning of the 1500s the political divisions were variable, but consistently included four main ''len'' and approximately 30 smaller sub-regions with varying connections to a main ''len''. Up to 1660 the four principle ''len'' were headquartered at the major fortresses Bohus Fortress, Akershus Fortress, Bergenhus Fortress and the fortified city of Trondheim^[2]. The sub-regions corresponded to the church districts for the Lutheran church in Norway.

''Len'' in 1536

★ Båhus len (later termed Bohuslän after Denmark-Norway ceded it to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658)

★ Akershus len

★ Trondheim len

★ Bergenhus len (which included Northern Norway)
These four principal ''len'' were in the 1530s divided into approximately 30 smaller regions. From that point forward through the beginning of the 1600s the number of subsidiary ''len'' was reduced, while the composition of the principle ''len'' became more stable.^[3]

''Len'' in 1660

From 1660 Norway had nine principle ''len'' comprising 17 subsidiary ''len'':

★ Akershus len

★ Tunsberg len

★ Bratsberg len

★ Agdesiden len

★ Stavanger len

★ Bergenhus len

★ Trondheim len

★ Nordlandene len

★ Vardøhus len
''Len'' written as ''län'' continues to be used as the administrative equivalent of county in Sweden to this day. Each ''len'' was governed by a ''lenman''. ^[4]

''Amt''

With the royal decree of February 19, 1662, each ''len'' was designated an ''amt'' (plural ''amt'') and the ''lenmann'' was titled ''amtmann'', from German ''Amt'' (office), reflecting the bias of the Danish court of that period.^[5]

''Amt'' in 1671

After 1671 Norway was divided into four principle ''amt'' or ''stiftsamt'' and there were nine subordinate ''amt'':

★ Stiftsamt: Akershus amt (headquarter: Christiania)

★
★ Amt: Smålenene amt, Brunla amt

★ Stiftsamt: Agdesiden amt (headquarter: Kristiansand)

★
★ Amt: Bratsberg amt, Stavanger amt

★ Stiftsamt: Bergenhus amt (headquarter: Bergen)

★
★ Amt: Halsnøy klostergods, Hardanger amt, Nordlandene amt

★ Stiftsamt: Trondheim amt (headquarter: Trondheim)

★
★ Amt: Romsdalen amt, Vardøhus amt

''Amt'' in 1730

From 1730 Norway had the following ''amt'':

★ Vardøhus amt (now: Finnmark county)

★ Tromsø amt (now: Troms county)

★ Nordlands amt (now: Nordland county)

★ Nordre Trondhjems amt (now: Nord-Trøndelag county)

★ Søndre Trondhjems amt (now: Sør-Trøndelag county)

★ Romsdalen amt (now: Møre og Romsdal county)

★ Nordre Bergenhus amt (now: Sogn og Fjordane county)

★ Søndre Bergenhus amt (now: Hordaland county)

★ Stavanger amt (now: Rogaland county)

★ Lister og Mandals amt (now: Vest-Agder county)

★ Nedenes amt (now: Aust-Agder county)

★ Bratsberg amt (now: Telemark county)

★ Buskerud amt (now: Buskerud county)

★ Oplandenes amt (now: Oppland county)

★ Hedemarkens amt (now: Hedmark county)

★ Akershus amt (now: Akershus county)

★ Smaalenenes amt (now: Østfold county)
At this time there were also two counties controlled by counts, together forming what is now Vestfold county:

★ Laurvigen grevskap (now: Larvik city)

★ Jarlsberg grevskap

''Fylke''

From 1919 each ''amt'' was renamed a ''fylke'' (plural ''fylker'') (county) and the ''amtmann'' was now titled ''fylkesmann'' (county governor).

References & notes

1. Christian III, king of Denmark-Norway, carried out the Protestant Reformation in Norway in 1536.
2. Norges festninger, Kavli, Guthorm, , , Universitetsforlaget, 1987, ISBN 82-00-18430-7
3. Len on Norwegian Wiki site
4. A Revolution from Above? The Power State of 16th and 17th Century Scandinavia, Jesperson, Leon (Ed.), , , Odense University Press, 2000, ISBN 87-7838-407-9
5. Amt at Norwegian Wiki site

See also

★ Ranked list of Norwegian counties

★ Municipalities of Norway

★ Regions of Norway

★ Traditional districts of Norway

★ Metropolitan regions of Norway

★ Subdivisions of ''Norden''

External links

★ Regionalization and devolution: Proposed new regions of Norway (powerpoint slide show)

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