Bergen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway.

It is located on the south-western coast of Norway, in the county of Hordaland, in between a group of mountains known as De syv fjell ("the Seven Mountains"), although the number of mountains is a matter of definition. Bergen is the heart of Norway's large oil industry. It harbors everything from small pleasure boats and cruise ships to large cargo and fishing vessels.

Bergen is an important cultural center in its region and was one of nine European cities honored with the title of European Capital of Culture in 2000.^[3]

A municipality of Norway, and a former Norwegian county, in the county of Hordaland, the Norwegian city of Bergen was separated from Hordaland as a county of its own in 1831.^[4] 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.^[5] The rural municipality of Årstad was merged with Bergen on 1 July 1915. The rural municipalities of Arna, Fana, Laksevåg, and Åsane were merged with Bergen on 1 January 1972. The city lost its status as a separate county on the same date.^[6] Bergen was Norway's largest city until the 1830s,^[7] when it was surpassed by the capital city of Oslo.