Oslo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since October 2007 | Host cities of the Winter Olympic Games | Capitals in Europe | Cities in Norway | Coastal cities | Counties of Norway | Oslo | 1040s establishments | 1952 Winter Olympics venues | Port cities and towns in Norway | Port cities and towns of the North Sea | Capitals serving as first-level administrative divisions
|
This article is about the capital of Norway. For other uses, see Oslo (disambiguation).
Oslo (called Christiania from 1624 to 1878, and Kristiania from 1878 to 1924) is the capital and largest city of Norway. It is also a municipality and a county of its own. It is the third-largest Scandinavian city, after Stockholm and Copenhagen, and it forms the third-largest urban area in the region, after Copenhagen and Stockholm. The city of Oslo was established as a municipality on 3 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). It was separated from the county of Akershus as a county of its own in 1842. The rural municipality of Aker was merged with Oslo on 1 January 1948 (and then transferred from Akershus county to Oslo county). Furthermore, Oslo share several important functions with Akershus county. The population of the city proper is 560,484 (as of January 1, 2008).[2] The urban area extends into the surrounding county of Akershus, its agglomeration totalling 839,423[3], and its metropolitan area, also referred to as the Greater Oslo region (Stor-Osloregionen) and which extends beyond the city boundaries, has an estimated population of 1,121,020 citizens (2005) and a land area of 6,920 km² [1]. In the entire Inner Oslo Fjord Region, there is a total population of about 1.7 million. About 50% of the population of Norway live within a radius of 120 kilometres of downtown Oslo. The city of Oslo has a current annual growth exceeding 10,000, which makes it one of the fastest growing cities in Europe. The city centre of Oslo is situated at the end of the Oslofjord from where the city sprawls out both to the north and to the south on both sides of the fjord giving the city area more or less the shape of a "U". The urban municipality (bykommune) of Oslo and county (fylke) is the same entity. Of Oslo's total area, 115 km² is built-up and 7 km² is agricultural. The open areas within the built-up zone amount to 22 km². NameThe meaning of the name Oslo has been the subject of much debate. It is certainly derived from Old Norse, and was in all probability the name of a large farm at the site of the first settlements in Bjørvika. During the Middle Ages the name was initially spelled 'Ásló', later 'Ósló'. The earlier spelling suggests that the first component 'ás' refers either to the Ekeberg ridge southeast of the town ('ås' in modern Norwegian), or to the Norse homonym meaning 'god' or 'divinity'. The most likely interpretations would therefore be 'the meadow beneath the ridge' or 'the meadow of the gods'. Both are equally plausible. A fire in 1624 destroyed much of the medieval city (the section now known as Gamlebyen), and the city was relocated nearer to the Akershus Fortress. King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway renamed the reborn city Christiania. From the end of the 1800s, the name of the city was also spelled "Kristiania". An official decision was never made, so both forms were in use. The original name of Oslo was restored by a law of 11 July 1924, effective 1 January 1925.
The city was once referred to as Tigerstaden (City of tigers) by the author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson around 1870, due to his perception of the city as a cold and dangerous place. This name has over the years achieved an almost official status, to the extent the 1000 year anniversary was celebrated by a row of tiger sculptures around city hall. The prevalence of homeless and other beggars in newer times led to the slight rewording of the nickname into 'Tiggerstaden', or Beggar City, and a harsh picture of the city was drawn by Knut Hamsun in his novel Sult (Hunger) from 1890 (cinematised in 1966 by Henning Carlsen). History
According to the Norse sagas, Oslo was founded around 1049 by king Harald Hardråde. Recent archaeological research has uncovered Christian burials from before 1000, evidence of a preceding urban settlement. This called for the celebration of Oslo's millennium in 2000. It has been regarded as the capital city since the reign of Håkon V (1299-1319), who was the first king to reside permanently in the city. He also started the construction of the Akershus Fortress. A century later Norway was the weaker part in a personal union with Denmark, and Oslo's role was reduced to that of provincial administrative centre, with the kings residing in Copenhagen. The fact that the University of Oslo was founded as late as 1811 had an adverse effect on the development of the nation. Image:HanskenpaChristianiaTorv.jpg
Hansken Sculpture and Theater Museum, Christiania Torv.
Image:Oslo port.jpg
View from the Akershus Fortress towards the fjord.
Oslo was destroyed several times by fire, and after the fourteenth calamity, in 1624, King Christian IV of Denmark (and Norway) ordered it rebuilt at a new site across the bay, near Akershus Fortress and given the name Christiania. But long before this, Christiania had started to regain its stature as a centre of commerce and culture in Norway. The part of the city built from 1624 is now often called Kvadraturen because of its orthogonal layout. In 1814 Christiania once more became a real capital when the union with Denmark was dissolved. Many landmarks were built in the 19th century, including the Royal Palace (1825-1848), Stortinget (the Parliament) (1861-1866), the University, Nationaltheatret and the Stock Exchange. Among the world-famous artists who lived here during this period were Henrik Ibsen and Knut Hamsun (the latter was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature). In 1850, Christiania also overtook Bergen and became the most populous city in the country. In 1878 the city was renamed to Kristiania. The original name of Oslo was restored in 1925. Oslo's centrality in the political, cultural and economical life of Norway continues to be a source of considerable controversy and friction. Numerous attempts at decentralisation have not appreciably changed this during the last century. While continuing to be the main cause of the depopulation of the Norwegian countryside, any form of development is almost always opposed by neighbors, and as a consequence the growth of a modern urban landscape has all but stopped. Specifically, the construction of highrises in the city centre has been met with scepticism. It is projected, however, that the city will need some 20,000 additional apartments before 2020, forcing the difficult decision of whether to build tall or the equally unpopular option of sprawling out.
 A marked reluctance to encourage the growth of the city for fear of causing further depletion of the traditional farming and fishing communities has led to several successive bursts of construction both in infrastructure and building mass, as the authorities kept waiting in vain for the stream of people to diminish. Neoclassical city apartments built in the 1850s to 1900s dotted with remnants of "Christian Quart"'s renaissance grid dominate the architecture around the city centre, except where slums were demolished in the 1960s to construct modernist concrete and glass low-rises, now generally regarded as embarrassing eyesores. The variety in Oslos architectural cityscape does however provide for some striking, and often hauntingly beautiful sights. While most of the forests and lakes surrounding Oslo are in private hands, there is great public support for not developing it. Parts of Oslo suffer from congestion, yet it is one of the few European capitals where people live with the wilderness literally in their back yard, or with access to a suburban train line that allows the city's many hikers and long-distance skiers to simply step off the train and start walking or skiing. Geography and climateOslo occupies an arc of land at the northernmost end of the Oslofjord. The fjord, which is nearly bisected by the Nesodden peninsula opposite Oslo, lies to the south; in all other directions Oslo is surrounded by green hills and mountains. There are 40 islands within the city limits, the largest being Malmøya (0.56 km²), and scores more around the Oslofjord. Oslo has 343 lakes, the largest being Maridalsvannet (3.91 km²). This is also a main source of drinking water for large parts of Oslo. The highest point is Kirkeberget, at 629 m. Although the city's population is small compared to most European capitals, it occupies an unusually large land area, of which two thirds are protected areas of forests, hills and lakes. Its boundaries encompass many parks and open areas, giving it an airy and often very green appearance. It is not uncommon to encounter wild moose in relatively urban areas of Oslo, especially during wintertime. Image:Oslo from holmenkollen.jpg
View of Oslo looking south from Holmenkollen, directly facing Nesodden.
Oslo has a hemiboreal/humid continental climate (Dfb according to the Köppen climate classification system). Summers are mild or even warm, with daily high temperatures averaging between 20.1 °C and 21.5 °C during the summer months (June-August). September is often as warm, with colder temperatures usually arriving before the end of October. The highest temperature ever recorded was 35 °C on July 21, 1901. Heatwaves occur several times every summer, from June to late August, with temperatures usually up to 30-31 °C[citation needed]. The Oslofjord has many public beaches and recreational areas, which are very popular in the summer months. The water temperature usually lies around 20 °C, and sometimes as high as 23-24 °C. The winter is cold, chilly and wet. Temperatures can drop down to -20 °C or more when there is a high pressure and blue skies. Almost every winter, ice develops in the inner parts of the fjord, making icefishing, ice-skating and even cross-country skiing possible on sea-ice. Temperatures below zero may be experienced from November until March, the coldest month being January with a mean temperature of -4.3 °C, and both January and February may have daily minimum temperatures of around -7 °C. The coldest temperature recorded is -27.9 °C in February 1871. Snowfall is spread evenly throughout the winter months and on average more than 25 cm of snow cover is experienced 30 days per year. Temperatures have tended to be higher in recent years.[4] The annual average precipitation is 763 mm, with winter being somewhat drier than summer.
Main sights
Politics and governmentOslo is the capital of Norway, and as such is the seat of Norway's national government. Most government offices, including that of the Prime Minister, are gathered at Regjeringskvartalet, a cluster of buildings close to the national Parliament - the Storting. Constituting both a municipality and a county of Norway, the city of Oslo is represented in the Storting by seventeen Members of Parliament. Six MPs are from the Labour Party; the Conservative Party and the Progress Party have three each, the Socialist Left Party and the Liberals have two each, and one is from the Christian Democrats. Oslo has had a parliamentary system of government since 1986. The supreme authority of the city is the City Council (Bystyret), which currently has 59 seats. Representatives are popularly elected every four years. The City Council has five standing committees, each with their own areas of responsibility. These are: Health and Social Welfare, Education and Cultural Affairs, Urban Development, Transport and Environmental Affairs, and Finance. The council's executive branch (Byrådet) consists of a head of government (byrådsleder) and six commissioners (byråder, sing. byråd) holding ministerial positions. Each of the commissioners needs the confidence of the City Council and each of them can be voted out of office. Since the local elections of 2003, the city government has been a coalition of the Conservative Party and the Progress Party. Based mostly on support from the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, the coalition maintains a majority in the City Council. After the 2007 local elections on September 10, the conservative coalition remained in majority. The largest parties in the City Council are the Labour Party and the Conservatives, with 18 and 16 representatives respectively. The Mayor of Oslo is the head of the City Council and the highest ranking representative of the city. This used to be the most powerful political position in Oslo, but after the implementation of parliamentarism the Mayor has had more of a ceremonial role, similar to that of the President of the Storting at the national level. The current Mayor of Oslo is Fabian Stang. Administrative divisionsFollowing the latest reform of January 1, 2004, the city is divided into fifteen boroughs (bydeler) that are to a considerable extent self governed. Each borough is responsible for local services not overseen by the City Council, such as social services, basic healthcare, and kindergartens.
Sentrum (the city centre) and Marka (the rural/recreational areas surrounding the city) are separate geographical entities, but do not have an administration of their own. Sentrum is governed by the borough of St. Hanshaugen. The administration of Marka is shared between neighbouring boroughs. EconomyOslo is an important centre of maritime knowledge in Europe and is home to approximately 980 companies and 8,500 employees within the maritime sector, among which are some of the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers, and insurance brokers.[5] Det Norske Veritas, headquartered at Høvik outside Oslo, is one of the three major maritime classification societies in the world, with 16.5% of the world fleet to class in its register[4]. The city's port is the largest general cargo port in the country and its leading passenger gateway. Close to 6,000 ships dock at the Port of Oslo annually with a total of 6 million tonnes of cargo and over five million passengers. The gross domestic product of Oslo totalled NOK268.047 billion (€33.876 billion) in 2003, which amounted to 17% of the national GDP.[6] This compares with NOK165.915 billion (€20.968 billion) in 1995. The metropolitan area, bar Moss and Drammen, contributed 25% of the national GDP in 2003 and was also responsible for more than one quarter of tax revenues. In comparison, total tax revenues from the oil and gas industry on the Norwegian Continental Shelf amounted to about 16%.[7] The region has one of the highest per capita GDPs in Europe, at NOK391,399 (€49,465) in 2003. If Norway were a member of the European Union, the capital region would have the fourth strongest GDP per capita, behind Inner London, Brussels-Capital and Luxembourg. Oslo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. As of 2006, it is ranked tenth according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey provided by Mercer Human Resource Consulting[8] and first according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.[9] The reason for this discrepancy is that the EIU omits certain factors from its final index calculation, most notably housing. Although Oslo does have the most expensive housing market in Norway it is comparably cheaper to other cities on the list in that regard. Meanwhile, prices on goods and services remain some of the highest of any city. According to a report compiled by Swiss bank UBS in the month of August 2006,[10] Oslo and London were the world's most expensive cities. Total pay packets were the biggest in Oslo along with Copenhagen and Zurich -- but residents of the Nordic cities lose out when tax is taken into account. Demographics19.6% of Oslo's population consists of non-western immigrants, Pakistanis and Sri Lankan Tamils being the two largest minority groups. Other large groups are people from the Ex-Yugoslavia, Vietnam, Philippines, Turkey, Somalia, Iraq and Morocco. [5] [6] The population of Oslo is currently increasing at a record rate of nearly 2 % per year (17 % over the last 15 years), making it the fastest growing capital of the Scandinavian countries.[11] The increase is due, in almost equal degree, to high birth rates as well as immigration.[12] In particular, immigration from Poland and the Baltic states has increased sharply since the accession of these countries to the EU in 2004. Institutions of higher learning
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
