Jump to content

List of municipalities of Norway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Egil (talk | contribs) at 07:18, 25 October 2005 (→[[Hedmark]]: disambig link). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called counties (fylker, singular - fylke), and 433 municipalities (kommuner). Oslo (the capital) is considered as 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 the beginning of the 1960s, there were 744 municipalities in Norway. At this writing there are 433, and there are plans for further mergers and political pressure to do so.

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.

Akershus

Aust-Agder

Buskerud

Finnmark

Hedmark

Hordaland

Møre og Romsdal

Nordland

Nord-Trøndelag

Oppland

Oslo

Østfold

Rogaland

Sogn og Fjordane

Sør-Trøndelag

Telemark

Troms

Vest-Agder

Vestfold

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_municipalities_of_Norway&oldid=26424147"