Oslo - City of Norway

Oslo is the capital and largest city in Norway. Oslo is the cultural, scientific, economic and governmental centre of Norway. Oslo 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. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded every year from the capital's city hall.

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, 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 monarchs 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

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 decentralization 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 neighbours, 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 skepticism. 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.

Oslo's 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 those areas. 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 cross-country skiers to simply step off the train and start walking or skiing.

Oslo has a humid continental climate. Because of the city's northern latitude, daylight varies greatly from more than 18 hours in midsummer to around 6 hours in midwinter. Despite its northernly location, the climate is relatively mild throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream.

Institutions of higher education

Norwegian School of Management NydalenUniversity of Oslo
Oslo University College
Norwegian School of Management
Norwegian School of Information Technology
Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Norwegian University of Sport and Physical Education
Norwegian Academy of Music
MF Norwegian School of Theology
Oslo National Academy of the Arts
Norwegian University of Life Sciences
Norwegian Military Academy
Norwegian School of Veterinary Science
Oslo Academy of Fine Arts
Oslo School of Management.
Oslo now has over 50 schools, colleges and universities in itself alone.

Several Norwegian authors from Oslo City have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, namely Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson in 1903, Knut Hamsun in 1920 and Sigrid Undset in 1928 for Kristin Lavransdatter. Though he was not awarded a Nobel Prize for his plays, as the first of these were awarded after he published his last play in 1899, playwright Henrik Ibsen is probably the most famous figure in Norwegian literature. Ibsen wrote plays such as Peer Gynt, A Doll's House and The Lady from the Sea.

Also of importance to the Norwegian literary culture is the Norse literature, and in particular the works of Snorre Sturlason , as well as the more recent folk tales, collected by Asbjørnsen and Moe in the 19th century.

Norwegian literature attained international acclaim in the 1990s with Jostein Gaarder's novel Sophie's world which was translated into 40 languages. Other noteworthy writers with an international profile include Erik Fosnes Hansen (Psalm at Journey's End) and Åsne Seierstad whose controversial work, The Bookseller of Kabul, was particularly successful in 2003.