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95-517: Bokmål is regulated by the governmental Language Council of Norway . A related, more conservative orthographic standard, commonly known as Riksmål , is regulated by the non-governmental Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature . The written standard is a Norwegianised variety of the Danish language . The first Bokmål orthography was officially adopted in 1907 under the name Riksmål after being under development since 1879. The architects behind

190-521: A Norwegian citizen." The council's narrow definition of Norwegian identity sparked controversy in Norwegian news media and on Norwegian social media. The Ministry of Culture has appointed the following board for the period 2020–2023: Bergen Bergen ( Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbæ̀rɡn̩] ), historically Bjørgvin , is a city and municipality in Vestland county on

285-463: A co-official language. The term Riksmål ( Rigsmaal ), meaning National Language , was first proposed by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1899 as a name for the Norwegian variety of written Danish as well as spoken Dano-Norwegian. It was borrowed from Denmark where it denoted standard written and spoken Danish. The same year the Riksmål movement became organised under his leadership in order to fight against

380-412: A growth rate of 1.8%. Ninety-six percent of the population lives in urban areas. As of 2002, the average gross income for men above the age of 17 is 426,000 Norwegian krone (NOK), the average gross income for women above the age of 17 is NOK   238,000, with the total average gross income being NOK   330,000. In 2007, there were 104.6 men for every 100 women in the age group of 20–39. 22.8% of

475-715: A language form regulated by the non-governmental organisation The Norwegian Academy of Language and Literature. It is based on pre-1938 Bokmål and has been regulated by The Academy as a private alternative to the official Bokmål spelling standard since the 1950s. Over time it has accepted widespread "radical" spellings into the Riksmål standard. Since the official Samnorsk policy was abolished, Riksmål and Bokmål have converged, and The Academy currently edits an online dictionary that covers both. The differences have diminished (now being comparable to American and British English differences ), but The Academy still upholds its own standard. Norway's most popular daily newspaper, Aftenposten ,

570-406: A mild winter climate, though with significant precipitation. From December to March, Bergen can, in rare cases, be up to 20 °C (36 °F) warmer than Oslo, even though both cities are at about 60° North. In summer however, Bergen is several degrees cooler than Oslo due to the same maritime effects. The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect

665-469: A non-Western immigrant background in Bergen. In 2006, this figure had increased to 14,630, so the non-Western immigrant population in Bergen was five times higher than in 1986. This is a slightly slower growth than the national average, which has sextupled during the same period. Also in relation to the total population in Bergen, the proportion of non-Westerns increased significantly. In 1986, the proportion of

760-444: A part of Hordaland county. The city is an international centre for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance. Bergen Port is Norway's busiest in terms of both freight and passengers, with over 300 cruise ship calls a year bringing nearly a half a million passengers to Bergen, a number that has doubled in 10 years. Almost half of

855-517: A separate county on the same date, and Bergen is now a municipality , in the county of Vestland . The city's history is marked by numerous great fires. In 1198, the Bagler faction set fire to the city in connection with a battle against the Birkebeiner faction during the civil war. In 1248, Holmen and Sverresborg burned, and 11 churches were destroyed. In 1413 another fire struck

950-494: A similar form existed where the local administrations had less power than previously. (Pertaining to the table above: The acreage figures include fresh water and uninhabited mountain areas, except: 1 The borough Bergenhus is 8.73 km (3.37 sq mi), the rest is water and uninhabited mountain areas. 2 The borough Årstad is 8.47 km (3.27 sq mi), the rest is water and uninhabited mountain areas.) Former borough: Sentrum Sentrum (literally, "Centre")

1045-558: A subsequent reform in 1917, so much so that he is now often called the "father of Bokmål". Since the creation of Landsmål , the Danish written in Norway was referred to as (det almindelige) Bogmaal , etc. ("(The ordinary) book language"), e.g. in Den norske Literatur fra 1814 indtil vore Dage (Hans Olaf Hansen, 1862), or the synonym Bogsprog , e.g. in the 1885 decision that adopted Landsmål as

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1140-504: A transition from tar covered houses, as well as the remaining log houses , to painted and some brick-covered wooden buildings. The last half of the 19th century saw a period of rapid expansion and modernisation. The fire of 1855 west of Torgallmenningen led to the development of regularly sized city blocks in this area of the city centre. The city limits were expanded in 1876, and Nygård , Møhlenpris and Sandviken were urbanized with large-scale construction of city blocks housing both

1235-459: Is berg (n.) or bjǫrg (n.), which translates as 'mountain(s)'. The last element is vin (f.), which means a new settlement where there used to be a pasture or meadow. Bergen is often called "the city among the seven mountains". The playwright Ludvig Holberg , inspired by the seven hills of Rome , decided that his home town must be blessed with a corresponding seven mountains, though locals debate which seven they are. In 1918, there

1330-499: Is Bergen's highest mountain, at 987 metres (3,238 ft) above mean sea level . Bergen is far enough north that during clear nights at the solstice, there is borderline civil daylight in spite of the sun having set. Bergen is sheltered from the North Sea by the islands Askøy , Holsnøy (the municipality of Meland ) and Sotra (the municipalities of Fjell and Sund ). Bergen borders the municipalities Alver and Osterøy to

1425-525: Is also well known in Norway for the Isdal Woman ( Norwegian : Isdalskvinnen ), an unidentified person who was found dead at Isdalen ("Ice Valley") on 29 November 1970. The unsolved case encouraged international speculation over the years and it remains one of the most profound mysteries in recent Norwegian history. The rural municipalities of Arna , Fana , Laksevåg , and Åsane were merged with Bergen on 1 January 1972. The city lost its status as

1520-476: Is divided into eight boroughs, as seen on the map to the right. Clockwise, starting with the northernmost, the boroughs are Åsane , Arna , Fana , Ytrebygda , Fyllingsdalen , Laksevåg , Årstad and Bergenhus . The city centre is located in Bergenhus . Parts of Fana, Ytrebygda, Åsane and Arna are not part of the Bergen urban area, explaining why the municipality has approximately 20,000 more inhabitants than

1615-405: Is in fact often referred to as Standard Østnorsk ('Standard East Norwegian'). Standard Østnorsk ( lit.   ' 'Standard East Norwegian' ' ) or sometimes described as " Urban East Norwegian " is the pronunciation most commonly given in dictionaries. However, Standard Østnorsk as a spoken language is not used (and does not have prestige ) outside South-Eastern Norway. All spoken variations of

1710-509: Is named after him. Bergen retained its monopoly of trade with northern Norway until 1789. The Bergen stock exchange, the Bergen børs , was established in 1813. Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831. It was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt ). The rural municipality of Bergen landdistrikt was merged with Bergen on 1 January 1877. The rural municipality of Årstad

1805-562: Is notable for its use of Riksmål as its standard language. Use of Riksmål is rigorously pursued, even with regard to readers' letters, which are "translated" into the standard. Aftenposten gave up its most markedly conservative "signal words" in 1990. While the specifics of the debate are unique to Norway, some parallels can be found in Austrian German and the One Standard German Axiom , which revolves over

1900-566: Is pronounced in English / ˈ b ɜːr ɡ ən / or / ˈ b ɛər ɡ ən / and in Norwegian [ˈbæ̀rɡn̩] (in the local dialect [ˈbæ̂ʁɡɛn] ). The Old Norse forms of the name were Bergvin [ˈberɡˌwin] and Bjǫrgvin [ˈbjɔrɡˌwin] (and in Icelandic and Faroese the city is still called Björgvin ). The first element

1995-609: Is the largest denomination in Bergen, with 201,006 (79.74%) registered adherents in 2012. Bergen is the seat of the Diocese of Bjørgvin with Bergen Cathedral as its centrepiece, while St John's Church is the city's most prominent. As of 2012, the state church is followed by 52,059 irreligious, 4,947 members of various Protestant free churches , 3,873 actively registered Catholics, 2,707 registered Muslims, 816 registered Hindus, 255 registered Russian Orthodox and 147 registered Oriental Orthodox . The city centre of Bergen lies in

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2090-680: Is the oldest school in Bergen and was founded by Pope Adrian IV in 1153. The " Bergen School of Meteorology " was developed at the Geophysical Institute beginning in 1917, the Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936, and the University of Bergen in 1946. The University of Bergen has 16,000 students and 3,000 staff, making it the third-largest educational institution in Norway. Research in Bergen dates back to activity at Bergen Museum in 1825, although

2185-729: The Bergen School of Architecture , the Bergen National Academy of the Arts , located in the city centre with 300 students, and the Norwegian Naval Academy located in Laksevåg. The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research has been located in Bergen since 1900. It provides research and advice relating to ecosystems and aquaculture. It has a staff of 700 people. In August 2004, Time magazine named

2280-473: The Norwegian Academy . The Norwegian Language Council (1974–2005) had the task of safeguarding the cultural heritage represented by the Norwegian written and spoken language , promoting measures that can increase knowledge of the Norwegian language , promoting tolerance and mutual respect between everyone who uses the Norwegian language in its various variants, and protecting the rights of

2375-448: The de facto standard for spoken Bokmål. In The Phonology of Norwegian , Gjert Kristoffersen writes that Bokmål [...] is in its most common variety looked upon as reflecting formal middle-class urban speech, especially that found in the eastern part of Southern Norway [sic], with the capital Oslo as the obvious centre. One can therefore say that Bokmål has a spoken realisation that one might call an unofficial standard spoken Norwegian. It

2470-429: The west coast of Norway . As of 2022 , its population was roughly 289,330. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway after the national capital Oslo . The municipality covers 465 square kilometres (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen . The city centre and northern neighbourhoods are on Byfjorden , 'the city fjord'. The city is surrounded by mountains, causing Bergen to be called

2565-410: The "city of seven mountains ". Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are on islands. Bergen is the administrative centre of Vestland county. The city consists of eight boroughs: Arna , Bergenhus , Fana , Fyllingsdalen , Laksevåg , Ytrebygda , Årstad , and Åsane . Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s. According to tradition, the city was founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre and

2660-406: The "educated daily speech" had become the mother tongue of elites in most Norwegian cities, such as Bergen , Kristiania and Trondheim . This Dano-Norwegian koiné could be described as Danish with regional Norwegian pronunciation (see Norwegian dialects ), some Norwegian vocabulary, and simplified grammar. With the gradual subsequent process of Norwegianisation of the written language used in

2755-532: The 15th century, the city was attacked several times by the Victual Brothers , and in 1429 they succeeded in burning the royal castle and much of the city. In 1665, the city's harbour was the site of the Battle of Vågen , when an English naval flotilla attacked a Dutch merchant and treasure fleet supported by the city's garrison. Accidental fires sometimes got out of control, and one in 1702 reduced most of

2850-508: The 1950s under the leadership of Arnulf Øverland . Riksmålsforbundet organised a parents' campaign against Samnorsk in 1951, and the Norwegian Academy for Language and Literature was founded in 1953. Because of this resistance, the 1959 reform was relatively modest, and some of the common traditional Danish spellings and inflections were admitted back into the standard through the reforms in 1981 and 2005. Currently, Riksmål denotes

2945-406: The Danish standard, which became used for virtually all administrative documents. Norwegians used Danish primarily in writing, but it gradually came to be spoken by urban elites on formal or official occasions. Although Danish never became the spoken language of the vast majority of the population, by the time Norway's ties with Denmark were severed in 1814, a Dano-Norwegian vernacular often called

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3040-574: The German occupation, the Dutch cargo ship Voorbode anchored off the Bergenhus Fortress , loaded with over 120 tons of explosives, and blew up, killing at least 150 people and damaging historic buildings. The city was subject to some Allied bombing raids , aimed at German naval installations in the harbour. Some of these caused Norwegian civilian casualties numbering about 100. Bergen

3135-550: The Hanseatic League, finally closed. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Bergen was involved in the Atlantic slave trade . Bergen-based slave trader Jørgen Thormøhlen , the largest shipowner in Norway, was the main owner of the slave ship Cornelia , which made two slave-trading voyages in 1673 and 1674 respectively; he also developed the city's industrial sector, particularly in the neighbourhood of Møhlenpris , which

3230-458: The Norwegian language are used in the Storting (parliament) and in Norwegian national broadcasters such as NRK and TV 2 , even in cases where the conventions of Bokmål are used. The spoken variation typically reflects a speaker's native region. Up until about 1300, the written language of Norway, Old Norwegian , was essentially the same as the other Old Norse dialects . The speech, however,

3325-553: The Oslofjord area) and written Danish; and subsequently Riksmål and Bokmål, which primarily inherited their non-Oslo elements from Danish. The present-day Oslo dialect is also influenced by other Eastern Norwegian dialects. The following table shows some important cases where traditional Bokmål and Standard Østnorsk followed Danish rather than the traditional Oslo dialect as it is commonly portrayed in literature about Norwegian dialects. In many of these cases, radical Bokmål follows

3420-574: The Riksmål movement, and Riksmålsvernet (The Society for the Protection of Riksmål) was founded in 1919. In 1929, the parliament voted to rename the written standards. Bokmål was re-introduced as the official name for the Dano-Norwegian standard, replacing Riksmål , while Landsmål was renamed Nynorsk . In 1938 both written standards were heavily reformed and many common spellings and grammatical endings were made mandatory. This meant

3515-418: The advent of Nynorsk in the 19th century, a written language based on rural Modern Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to the Danish and Dano-Norwegian spoken in Norwegian cities. The following table shows a few central differences between Bokmål and Danish. Most natives of Oslo today speak a dialect that is an amalgamation of vikværsk (which is the technical term for the traditional dialects in

3610-512: The capital city were lost to Oslo during the reign of King Haakon V (1299–1319). In the middle of the 14th century, North German merchants, who had already been present in substantial numbers since the 13th century, founded one of the four Kontore of the Hanseatic League at Bryggen in Bergen. The principal export traded from Bergen was dried cod from the northern Norwegian coast, which started c.  1100 . The city

3705-472: The cities of Norway, from Danish to Bokmål and Riksmål, the upper-class sociolects in the cities changed accordingly. In 1814, when Norway was ceded from Denmark to Sweden , Norway defied Sweden and her allies, declared independence and adopted a democratic constitution. Although compelled to submit to a dynastic union with Sweden, this spark of independence continued to burn, influencing the evolution of language in Norway. Old language traditions were revived by

3800-544: The city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east. The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre , son of Harald Hardråde in 1070   AD, four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge . Modern research has, however, discovered that a trading settlement had already been established in the 1020s or 1030s. Bergen gradually assumed

3895-456: The city is caused by orographic lift , sometimes causing more than two months of consecutive rainy days. The city is therefore considered the rainiest city in Europe, although it is not the wettest "place" on the continent. Bergen's weather is much warmer than the city's latitude (60.4° N) might suggest. Temperatures below −10 °C (14 °F) are rare. Summer temperatures sometimes reach

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3990-520: The city one of Europe's 14 "secret capitals" where Bergen's capital reign is acknowledged within maritime businesses and activities such as aquaculture and marine research , with the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) (the second-largest oceanography research centre in Europe) as a leading institution. Some of the world's largest aquaculture companies, such as Mowi and Lerøy are headquartered in

4085-500: The city, and 14 churches were destroyed. In 1428 the city was plundered by the Victual Brothers , and in 1455, Hanseatic merchants were responsible for burning down Munkeliv Abbey . In 1476, Bryggen burned down in a fire started by a drunk trader. In 1582, another fire hit the city centre and Strandsiden . In 1675, 105 buildings burned down in Øvregaten . In 1686 another great fire hit Strandsiden , destroying 231 city blocks and 218 boathouses. The greatest fire in history

4180-420: The city. The municipality has had a parliamentary government since 2000. Up until then, Bergen had been governed by the city council ( formannskap ). The government now consists of seven government members called commissioners, and is appointed by the city council, the supreme authority of the city. The tables below show the current and historical composition of the council by political party . Bergen

4275-476: The city. Shipowners based in Bergen control a significant portion of the Norwegian merchant fleet, including shipowners such as Wilson , Odfjell and Gearbulk . The city has a large presence of financial institutions. Banks Sbanken and Sparebanken Vest are headquartered in the city. The Norwegian branches of insurance companies Tryg , DNB Livsforsikring and Nordea Liv are headquartered in Bergen, along with

4370-581: The council choose an alternative to the term "ethnic Norwegians" because the term might be alienating or exclusionary to immigrants to Norway . In response, the council denied that immigrants were Norwegians or could ever become Norwegians, writing: "We do not believe that there is a need to replace ‘ethnic Norwegian’ by another term. We believe it is incorrect to call people from other countries ‘Norwegians’ because ‘Norwegian’ by definition refers to someone of ethnic Norwegian descent. A Pakistani who settles in Norway does not become Norwegian, not even if he becomes

4465-415: The fire of 1955, when a large number of the buildings burned to the ground. Instead of being demolished, the remaining buildings were restored and accompanied by reconstructions of some of the burned buildings. Demolition of old buildings and occasionally whole city blocks is still taking place, the most recent major example being the 2007 razing of Jonsvollskvartalet at Nøstet. Billboards are banned in

4560-404: The function of capital of Norway in the early 13th century, as the first city where a rudimentary central administration was established. The city's cathedral was the site of the first royal coronation in Norway in the 1150s, and continued to host royal coronations throughout the 13th century. Bergenhus fortress dates from the 1240s and guards the entrance to the harbour in Bergen. The functions of

4655-597: The growing influence of Nynorsk, eventually leading to the foundation of the non-governmental organisation Riksmålsforbundet in 1907, which he led until his death in 1910. The 1907 reform documents do not mention the language by name, but the term Riksmål eventually caught on and was adopted by the Ministry of Church and Education in the years leading up to the 1917 spelling reform, appearing in its 1908 publication Utredning av spørsmaalet om et mulig samarbeide mellem landsmaal og riksmaal i retskrivningen ("Investigation of

4750-554: The individual person when it comes to the use of language. Among the most important tasks of the council were standardization of Bokmål and Nynorsk, linguistic advice and linguistic quality assurance of textbooks . In 2000, the council was tasked with working with the Norwegian language and information technology . The Norwegian Language Council registered new words , put forward proposals for replacement words instead of English import words and promoted measures to ensure linguistic equality between Bokmål and Nynorsk. The council published

4845-491: The kind of standard to be used in a non-dominant country. In the Norwegian discourse, the term Dano-Norwegian is seldom used with reference to contemporary Bokmål and its spoken varieties. The nationality of the language has been a hotly debated topic, and its users and proponents have generally not been fond of the implied association with Danish (hence the neutral names Riksmål and Bokmål , meaning state language and book language respectively). The debate intensified with

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4940-573: The large industrial activity in the area. The workers' homes in this area were poorly built, and little remains after large-scale redevelopment in the 1960s–1980s. After Årstad became a part of Bergen in 1916, a development plan was applied to the new area. Few city blocks akin to those in Nygård and Møhlenpris were planned. Many of the worker class built their own homes, and many small, detached apartment buildings were built. After World War II, Bergen had again run short of land to build on, and, contrary to

5035-409: The last overnight freeze (low below 0 °C (32.0 °F)) in spring is April 4 and average date for first freeze in autumn is November 7 giving a frost-free season of 216 days. Extreme temperatures are also quite rare in the city. The highest temperature ever recorded was 33.4 °C (92.1 °F) on 26 July 2019, beating the previous record from 2018 at 32.6 °C (90.7 °F) degrees, and

5130-642: The lists published by the Language Council of Norway. In 2003, the Storting agreed to a proposal to transform the Norwegian Language Council into a national competence center for the Norwegian language. The new body was established on 1 January 2005. In May 2005, it was decided to name the institution the Language Council. It no longer represents the language organizations. In 2005, the Language Service for state bodies

5225-558: The lowest was −16.3 °C (2.7 °F) in January 1987. The city is quite cloudy year round, although old sunshine hours data might have caused an underestimate of sunshine hours, due to the city's mountainside location. A new sun recorder was established at Bergen Airport, Flesland (a location with less terrain obscuring the sun) in December 2015, and this recorded an average of 1,596 hours of sun annually during 2016–2022. As of

5320-453: The majority of the population lives in relatively sparsely populated residential areas built after 1950. While some are dominated by apartment buildings and modern terraced houses (e.g. Fyllingsdalen ), others are dominated by single-family homes . The oldest part of Bergen is the area around the bay of Vågen in the city centre. Originally centred on the bay's eastern side, Bergen eventually expanded west and southwards. Few buildings from

5415-420: The north, Vaksdal and Samnanger to the east, Os ( Bjørnafjorden ) and Austevoll to the south, and Øygarden and Askøy to the west. Bergen has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb , Trewartha : Dolk ), with mild summers and cool winters. Rainfall is plentiful in all seasons, along with intermittent snowfall during winter, which often melts quickly. The exceptionally plentiful precipitation that defines

5510-552: The northern fishermen who each summer sailed to Bergen. The Hansa community resented Scottish merchants who settled in Bergen, and on 9 November 1523 several Scottish households were targeted by German residents. Today, Bergen's old quayside, Bryggen , is on UNESCO 's list of World Heritage Sites . In 1349, the Black Death was brought to Norway by an English ship arriving in Bergen. Later outbreaks occurred in 1618, 1629 and 1637, on each occasion taking about 3,000 lives. In

5605-416: The oldest period remain, the most significant being St Mary's Church from the 12th century. For several hundred years, the extent of the city remained almost constant. The population was stagnant, and the city limits were narrow. In 1702, seven-eighths of the city burned. Most of the old buildings of Bergen, including Bryggen (which was rebuilt in a mediaeval style), were built after the fire. The fire marked

5700-619: The original plans, many large apartment buildings were built in Landås in the 1950s and 1960s. Bergen acquired Fyllingsdalen from Fana municipality in 1955. Like similar areas in Oslo (e.g. Lambertseter ), Fyllingsdalen was developed into a modern suburb with large apartment buildings, mid-rises , and some single-family homes, in the 1960s and 1970s. Similar developments took place beyond Bergen's city limits, for example in Loddefjord . At

5795-508: The passengers are German or British. The city's main football team is SK Brann and a unique tradition of the city is the buekorps , which are traditional marching neighbourhood youth organisations. Natives speak a distinct dialect, known as Bergensk . The city features Bergen Airport, Flesland and Bergen Light Rail , and is the terminus of the Bergen Line . Four large bridges connect Bergen to its suburban municipalities. Bergen has

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5890-420: The patriotic poet Henrik Wergeland (1808–1845), who championed an independent non-Danish written language. Haugen indicates that: "Within the first generation of liberty, two solutions emerged and won adherents, one based on the speech of the upper class and one on that of the common people. The former called for Norwegianisation of the Danish writing, the latter for a brand new start." The more conservative of

5985-458: The period 1993–2008 increased by 119.7%, while the ethnic Norwegian population grew by 8.1% during the same period. The national average is 138.0% and 4.2%. The immigrant population has thus accounted for 43.6% of Bergen's population growth and 60.8% of Norway's population growth during the period 1993–2008, compared with 84.5% in Oslo. The immigrant population in Bergen has changed a lot since 1970. As of 1 January 1986, there were 2,870 people with

6080-485: The plans was carried out in its original form; the Marken and Stølen redevelopment plans were discarded and that of Nordnes only carried out in the area that had been most damaged by war. The city council of Bergen had in 1964 voted to demolish the entirety of Marken, however, the decision proved to be highly controversial and the decision was reversed in 1974. Bryggen was under threat of being wholly or partly demolished after

6175-473: The poor and the wealthy. Their architecture is influenced by a variety of styles; historicism , classicism and Art Nouveau . The wealthy built villas between Møhlenpris and Nygård, and on the side of Mount Fløyen; these areas were also added to Bergen in 1876. Simultaneously, an urbanization process was taking place in Solheimsviken in Årstad, at that time outside the Bergen municipality, centred on

6270-528: The population were under 17   years of age, while 4.5% were 80 and above. The immigrant population (those with two foreign-born parents) in Bergen, includes 42,169 individuals with backgrounds from more than 200 countries representing 15.5% of the city's population (2014). Of these, 50.2% have background from Europe, 28.9% from Asia, 13.1% from Africa, 5.5% from Latin America, 1.9% from North America, and 0.4% from Oceania. The immigrant population in Bergen in

6365-564: The publications Språknytt and Statspråk . It had 38 members, which represented different stakeholders, such as other language organisations including the Norwegian Academy , Riksmålsforbundet and Noregs Mållag , but also the educational sector and the media. The council created lists of acceptable word forms. Some words previously had two forms, the official form which were to be used in government documents and textbooks, and optional forms, which could be used by students in state schools. However, after 2005 this difference no longer exists in

6460-418: The quays, Bryggen , is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires over the years. The Bergen School of Meteorology was developed at the Geophysical Institute starting in 1917, the Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936, and the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county . In 1972 the municipality absorbed four surrounding municipalities and became

6555-426: The question of a possible cooperation between Landmål and Riksmål with regards to orthography"). Through this work an official policy to merge the standards (to a common Samnorsk ) through spelling reforms came to be. In line with these plans, the 1917 reform introduced some elements from Norwegian dialects and Nynorsk as optional alternatives to traditional Dano-Norwegian forms. The reform met some resistance from

6650-414: The reform were Marius Nygaard and Jacob Jonathan Aars. It was an adaptation of written Danish - commonly used since the past union with Denmark - to Dano-Norwegian , the koiné spoken by the Norwegian urban elite, especially in the capital. When the large conservative newspaper Aftenposten adopted the 1907 orthography in 1923, Danish writing was practically out of use in Norway. The name Bokmål

6745-548: The removal of many traditional Dano-Norwegian forms in Bokmål, a decision that was harshly criticised by the Riksmål movement for being too radical and premature. While it criticised the adoption of Nynorsk spellings, it initially also expressed support for making the orthography more phonemic , for instance by removing silent h's in interrogative pronouns (which was done in Swedish a few years earlier). The resistance culminated in

6840-494: The same time as planned city expansion took place inside Bergen, its extra-municipal suburbs also grew rapidly. Wealthy citizens of Bergen had been living in Fana since the 19th century, but as the city expanded it became more convenient to settle in the municipality. Similar processes took place in Åsane and Laksevåg. Most of the homes in these areas are detached row houses , single family homes or small apartment buildings. After

6935-723: The start of 2022 , the municipality had a population of 286,930, making the population density 599 people per km . Urban areas outside the city limits, as defined by Statistics Norway , consist of Indre Arna (6,536 residents on 1 January 2012), Fanahammeren (3,690), Ytre Arna (2,626), Hylkje (2,277) and Espeland (2,182). As of 2007, people of Norwegian origin (those who have two parents born in Norway) make up 84.5% of Bergen's residents. In addition, 8.1% were first or second generation immigrants of Western background and 7.4% were first or second generation immigrants of non-Western background. The population grew by 4,549 people in 2009,

7030-553: The surrounding municipalities were merged with Bergen in 1972, expansion has continued in largely the same manner, although the municipality encourages condensing near commercial centres, future Bergen Light Rail stations, and elsewhere. As part of the modernisation wave of the 1950s and 1960s, and due to damage caused by World War II, the city government ambitiously planned redevelopment of many areas in central Bergen. The plans involved demolition of several neighbourhoods of wooden houses, namely Nordnes , Marken, and Stølen. None of

7125-629: The total population in the municipality of non-Western background was 3.6%. In January 2006, people with a non-Western immigrant background accounted for 6 percent of the population in Bergen. The share of Western immigrants has remained stable at around 2% in the period. The number of Poles in Bergen rose from 697 in 2006 to 3,128 in 2010. As of 2022, immigrants of non-Western origin and their children enumerated 30,540, and made up an estimated 11% of Bergen's population. Immigrants of Western origin and their children enumerated 22,954, and made up an estimated 9% of Bergen's population. The Church of Norway

7220-591: The town to ashes. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, Bergen remained one of the largest cities in Scandinavia , and it was Norway's biggest city until the 1830s, being overtaken by the capital city of Oslo . From around 1600, the Hanseatic dominance of the city's trade gradually declined in favour of Norwegian merchants (often of Hanseatic ancestry), and in the 1750s, the Kontor , or major trading post of

7315-441: The traditional Oslo dialect and Nynorsk, and these forms are also given. Closest match to the traditional Oslo dialect. However, Bokmål uses ku "cow" and (now archaic) su "sow" exclusively. Language Council of Norway The Language Council of Norway ( Norwegian : Språkrådet , Urban East Norwegian: [ˈsprôːkroːdə] ) is the administrative body of the Norwegian state on language issues. It regulates

7410-403: The two language transitions was advanced by the work of writers like Peter Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe , schoolmaster and agitator for language reform Knud Knudsen , and Knudsen's famous disciple, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson , as well as a more cautious Norwegianisation by Henrik Ibsen . In particular, Knudsen's work on language reform in the mid-19th century was important for the 1907 orthography and

7505-583: The two written forms of the Norwegian language: Bokmål and Nynorsk . It was established in 2005 and replaced the Norwegian Language Council ( Norsk språkråd , Urban East Norwegian: [ˈnɔʂk ˈsprôːkroːd] ) which existed from 1974 to 2005. It is a subsidiary agency of the Ministry of Culture and has forty-four employees (as per 2023). It is one of two organisations involved in language standardization in Norway, alongside

7600-786: The university was not founded until 1946. The university has a broad range of courses and research in academic fields and three national centres of excellence, in climate research , petroleum research and medieval studies . The main campus is located in the city centre. The university co-operates with Haukeland University Hospital within medical research. The Chr. Michelsen Institute is an independent research foundation established in 1930 focusing on human rights and development issues. The Western Norway University of Applied Sciences , which has its main campus in Kronstad , has 16,000 students and 1800 staff. It focuses on professional education, such as teaching, healthcare and engineering. The college

7695-562: The upper 20s, although temperatures over 30   °C were previously only seen a few days each decade. The growing season in Bergen is exceptionally long for its latitude, more than 200 days. Its mild winters and proximity to the Gulf Stream provide the city with a plant hardiness zone of 8b and 9a depending on location; this zone is much more common below 50°N even in Europe, with cities as far south as Bordeaux , Thessaloniki and Istanbul falling into this category. The average date for

7790-488: The urban area is on or close to a fjord or bay, although the urban area has several mountains. The city centre is surrounded by the Seven Mountains , although there is disagreement as to which of the nine mountains constitute these. Ulriken , Fløyen , Løvstakken and Damsgårdsfjellet are always included as well as three of Lyderhorn , Sandviksfjellet , Blåmanen , Rundemanen and Kolbeinsvarden . Gullfjellet

7885-403: The urban area. Local borough administrations have varied since Bergen's expansion in 1972. From 1974, each borough had a politically chosen administration. From 1989, Bergen was divided into 12 health and social districts, each locally administered. From 2000 to 2004, the former organizational form with eight politically chosen local administrations was again in use and from 2008 through to 2010,

7980-556: The weaker member of the union. During this period, the modern Danish and Norwegian languages emerged. Norwegian went through a Middle Norwegian transition, and a Danish written language more heavily influenced by Low German was gradually standardised. This process was aided by the Reformation , which prompted Christiern Pedersen 's translation of the Bible into Danish. Remnants of written Old Norse and Norwegian were thus displaced by

8075-402: The west of the municipality, facing the fjord of Byfjorden . It is among a group of mountains known as the Seven Mountains , although the number is a matter of definition. From here, the urban area of Bergen extends to the north, west and south, and to its east is a large mountain massif. Outside the city centre and the surrounding neighbourhoods (i.e. Årstad , inner Laksevåg and Sandviken ),

8170-647: Was a borough (with the same name as a present-day neighbourhood ). The borough was numbered 01 , and its perimeter was from Store Lungegårdsvann and Strømmen along Puddefjorden around Nordnes and over to Skuteviken, up Mt. Fløyen east of Langelivannet, on to Skansemyren and over Forskjønnelsen to Store Lungegårdsvann, south of the railroad tracks. The population of the (now defunct) borough, numbered in 1994 more than 18,000 people. There are 64 elementary schools, 18 lower secondary schools and 20 upper secondary schools in Bergen, as well as 11 combined elementary and lower secondary schools. Bergen Cathedral School

8265-461: Was a campaign to reintroduce the Norse form Bjørgvin as the name of the city. This was turned down – but as a compromise, the name of the diocese was changed to Bjørgvin bispedømme . Bergen occupies most of the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen in the district of Midthordland in mid-western Hordaland. The municipality covers an area of 465 square kilometres (180 square miles). Most of

8360-542: Was also established following a decision in the Storting. The Language Service has two equal tasks: to promote plain language within the government and ensure more even distribution between Nynorsk and Bokmål in state documents. Sylfest Lomheim served as the first director of the Council until 1 September 2010. Åse Wetås has been leading the Council since 2015. In 2006, the Norwegian newspaper Ny Tid requested that

8455-400: Was created through amalgamation in 1994; campuses are spread around town but will be co-located at Kronstad . The Norwegian School of Economics is located in outer Sandviken and is the leading business school in Norway, having produced three Economy Nobel Prize laureates. The school has more than 3,000 students and approximately 400 staff. Other tertiary education institutions include

8550-424: Was gradually differentiated into local and regional dialects. As long as Norway remained an independent kingdom , the written language remained essentially constant. In 1380, Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark. By the early 16th century, Norway had lost its separate political institutions, and together with Denmark formed the political unit known as Denmark–Norway until 1814, progressively becoming

8645-448: Was granted a monopoly for trade from the north of Norway by King Håkon Håkonsson (1217–1263). Stockfish was the main reason that the city became one of North Europe's largest centres for trade. By the late 14th century, Bergen had established itself as the centre of the trade in Norway. The Hanseatic merchants lived in their own separate quarter of the town, where Middle Low German was used, enjoying exclusive rights to trade with

8740-468: Was in 1702, when 90% of the city was burned to ashes. In 1751, there was a great fire at Vågsbunnen . In 1756, yet another fire at Strandsiden burned down 1,500 buildings, and further great fires hit Strandsiden in 1771 and 1901. In 1916, 300 buildings burned down in the city centre including the Swan pharmacy , the oldest pharmacy in Norway, and in 1955 parts of Bryggen burned down. Bergen

8835-479: Was merged with Bergen on 1 July 1915. During World War II, Bergen was occupied on the first day of the German invasion on 9 April 1940, after a brief fight between German ships and the Norwegian coastal artillery . The Norwegian resistance movement groups in Bergen were Saborg , Milorg , " Theta-gruppen " , Sivorg , Stein-organisasjonen and the Communist Party. On 20 April 1944, during

8930-439: Was named Bjørgvin, 'the green meadow among the mountains'. It served as Norway's capital in the 13th century, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League . Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad, and it was the largest city in Norway until the 1830s when it was overtaken by the capital, Christiania (now known as Oslo ). What remains of

9025-468: Was officially adopted in 1929 after a proposition to call the written language Dano-Norwegian lost by a single vote in the Lagting . The government does not regulate spoken Bokmål and recommends that normalised pronunciation should follow the phonology of the speaker's local dialect. Nevertheless, there is a spoken variety of Norwegian that, in the region of South-Eastern Norway , is commonly seen as

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