NorgeStart
Know Norway
Moving to Norway or just arrived? NorgeStart explains Norwegian bureaucracy, work, taxes, housing, healthcare and daily life in plain language — with an AI assistant that translates official letters and audits payslips.
Updated: 2026-07-06
The country in 60 seconds
- 5.6 million people on a country stretching 1 750 km — the same distance as Oslo→Rome. Capital Oslo (~730k), then Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Drammen, Tromsø.
- Constitutional monarchy (King Harald V), parliament = Stortinget; NOT an EU member, but inside EEA & Schengen — hence EU citizens' easy access.
- Two written Norwegian forms (bokmål ~87%, nynorsk), countless dialects — everyone understands everyone, and Sámi is official in the north.
- Oil+gas fund ("Oljefondet") is the world's largest sovereign fund — the reason behind the safety nets you're now part of.
Places everyone talks about
- Oslo: Karl Johans gate, the Opera roof-walk, Vigeland park, new Munch & National museums, Aker Brygge docks, Holmenkollen ski jump.
- Bergen: Bryggen wharf (UNESCO), Fløyen funicular, fish market — gateway to the fjords.
- Fjord icons: Geirangerfjord, Nærøyfjord, Flåm railway, Lofoten islands, Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock), Trolltunga, Atlantic Ocean Road.
- North: Tromsø (northern lights Sep–Mar), Nordkapp, Svalbard (polar bears outnumber people).
- 17 May in any town = parades, bunads (national costumes), ice cream — the day to be outside.
Names you'll hear
- Classics: Edvard Munch (The Scream), Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg, explorers Amundsen & Nansen, Sigrid Undset & Knut Hamsun (Nobel literature).
- Today: Erling Haaland & Martin Ødegaard (football), Magnus Carlsen (chess), Karsten Warholm & Jakob Ingebrigtsen (athletics), Casper Ruud (tennis).
- Culture: a-ha ("Take On Me"), Kygo, Alan Walker, Jo Nesbø crime novels, SKAM (the TV series that taught the world Norwegian slang).