Norwegen counties

Counties of Norway

Norway is divided into 15 counties known as fylke (by the Danish word amt before 1919). Before 1919 there also existed dioceses known as stift which grouped multiple counties corresponding to bishoprics under a diocese governor. Until 2018 there were 21 counties. After the unification of North and South Trondlag there were 19 which were further reduced to 11 following administrative reforms that became effective from 2020. This reform created 6 new counties: Agder (Auster-Agder and Vest-Agder), Innlandet (Hedmark and Oppland), Troms og Finnmark (Troms and Finnmark), Vestfold og Telemark (Telemark and Vestfold), Vestland (Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane) and Viken (Akerhus, Buskerud and Ostfold).  This reform was highly unpopular in some of the former counties and three of the new counties (Troms og Finnmark, Vestfold og Telemark and Viken were abolished and the former counties restored in 2024.