Norway

It is divided into five divisions which are Nord-Norge, Midt-Norge, Vestlandet, Sørlandet and Østlandet.

There are 19 counties altogether.

1) Nord-Norge : Finnmark, Troms, Nordland
2) Midt-Norge : Nord-Trøndelag, Sør-Trøndelag
3) Vestlandet : Møre and Romsdal, Sogn and Fjordane, Hordaland, Rogaland
4) Sørlandet : Vest-Agder, Aust-Agder
5) Østlandet : Telemark, Vestfold, Østfold, Akershus, Buskerud, Hedmark, Oppland, Oslo

Oslo is the capital and the largest city of Norway, Bergen the second largest, Trondheim the third largest, Stavanger the fourth largest and followed by Kristiansand.

According to the population statistic in 2004, Oslo has 517 000 inhabitants, Bergen 235 000, Trondheim 153 000, Stavanger 111 000 and Kristiansand 74 000.


(1) The counties of Norway (2) The main cities and towns in Norway

A message for visitors in Trondheim

In Trondheim, the most convenient transportation is bus. Unlike London, there is no underground here... A 24-hour bus ticket costs only 55 kroner. You can buy it from the bus driver when you get on the bus and you can also ask the bus driver for a small free book that contains the timetables and the routes of all buses available here.

It is easy to trace the bus you want to get on as you can see a number with the final destination written on the head banner of the bus. With bus no 5, you can go to Stokkanhaugen and walk around in the jungle path, if you are lucky, you might see a moose in the field. You can go to Jonsvatnet with bus no 24 to see the lake view. Bus 75 or 76 to Spongdal, from there you can overlook the Trondheimsfjorden. Bus 60 or 20 to the Moholt Tower, there you can have a meal in the revolving restaurant on the top of the tower. You can visit some big shopping plazas located outside the town such as City Lade and City Syd.

Wah! From the bus routes I mention you might think that Trondheim is very big to travel around. However, the town center is not as big as what you think. You can walk around easily and you can walk along the river Nidelva to enjoy the view. You can also walk from the town center to Gløshaugen which is one of the campus of Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) to see the campus life.

Me and Trondheim

Trondheim must be a very cold place for someone who grew up in a warm country. Snow everywhere with a strong cold wind blowing all the time and we have to wear like an Eskimo living in the North Pole. In fact, it is not. Trondheim, actually, is quite a pretty place to visit during summer and autumn. It is the third largest city in Norway, is situated in the county of Sør-Trøndelag where the river Nidelva meets a large fjord called Trondheimsfjorden and has around 156,000 inhabitants according to the survey in 2005.

Living in the basement is not a good experience especially in the winter. When November turned in and the day got bright late in the morning, the live in basement became a little dull. Here, in the winter, the sun rises at around 10:00, sets at around 14:30 and stays just above the horizon. The winter temperature can drop below -5 to -20 degree Celsius. In the summer, it has a very short night as the sun rises at around 03:00 and sets at around 23:40 and the temperature varies from 10 to 25 degree Celsius.

Here you can visit Nidaros Cathedral, Archbishop’s Palace, the NTNU University, the old town bridge, the view of the river Nidelva, Kristiansten Fortress, Ringve National Museum of music and musical instruments, statue of Olav Tryggvason in the city’s central plaza.

The map of Trondheim city centre and places to visit.