In 2017 the Norwegian government announced the merge of the existing 19 fylker into 11 ''fylkeskommuner'' (regions) by 2020. As a result, several government tasks will be transferred to the new regions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunereform/regionreform/id2477186/|title=Regionreform|first=Kommunal- og|last=moderniseringsdepartementet|date=7 July 2017|website=Regjeringen.no|accessdate=28 April 2018|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323150537/https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunereform/regionreform/id2477186/|archivedate=23 March 2018|df=}}</ref>
In 2017 the Norwegian government announced the merge of the existing 19 fylker into 11 ''fylkeskommuner'' (regions) by 2020. As a result, several government tasks will be transferred to the new regions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunereform/regionreform/id2477186/|title=Regionreform|first=Kommunal- og|last=moderniseringsdepartementet|date=7 July 2017|website=Regjeringen.no|accessdate=28 April 2018|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323150537/https://www.regjeringen.no/no/tema/kommuner-og-regioner/kommunereform/regionreform/id2477186/|archivedate=23 March 2018|df=}}</ref>
;[[File:Fylkeskart-regionreform.jpg|alt=|thumb|309x309px|Map of new fylkeskommuner (regions) from [https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regionreformen_i_Norge] Regionformen i Norge (at Norwegian Wikipedia)]]New fylkeskommuner (regions)
;[[File:Fylkeskart-regionreform.jpg|alt=|thumb|309x309px|Map of new fylkeskommuner (regions) from [[:nb:Regionreformen i Norge|Regionreformen i Norge]] Regionformen i Norge (at Norwegian Wikipedia)]]New fylkeskommuner (regions)
* [[:no:Troms og Finnmark|Troms og Finnmark]] {{small|(By merging Finnmark and Troms counties in 2020)}}
* [[:no:Troms og Finnmark|Troms og Finnmark]] {{small|(By merging Finnmark and Troms counties in 2020)}}
* [[Nordland]] {{small|(No change, same as Nordland county)}}
* [[Nordland]] {{small|(No change, same as Nordland county)}}
Norway is divided into 18 administrative regions, called counties (singular Norwegian: fylke, plural Norwegian: fylker (Bokmål) / fylke (Nynorsk) from Old Norse: fylki from the word "folk"); until 1918, they were known as amter. The counties form the first-level subdivisions of Norway and are further divided into 422 municipalities (kommune, pl. kommuner / kommunar). The island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly at the national level. The capital Oslo is considered both a county and a municipality.
In 2017 the government decided to abolish some of the counties and to merge them with other counties to form larger ones.[1]
List of counties
Below is a list of the Norwegian counties, with their current administrative centres. Note that the counties are administered both by appointees of the national government and to a lesser extent by their own elected bodies. The county numbers are from the official numbering system ISO 3166-2:NO, which originally was set up to follow the coastline from the Swedish border in the southeast to the Russian border in the northeast, but with the numbering has changed with county mergers. The number 13, 16 and 17 were dropped, and the number 50 was added to account for changes over the years. The lack of a county number 13 is due to the city of Bergen no longer being its own county, and is unrelated to fear of the number 13.
^Steinkjer is the administrative centre, but the county mayor is seated in Trondheim. Steinkjer and Trondheim are sometimes named as co-capitals
Map
Responsibilities and significance
Every county has two main organisations, both with underlying organisations.
The county municipality (no: Fylkeskommune) has a county council (Norwegian: Fylkesting), whose members are elected by the inhabitants. The county municipality is responsible mainly for some medium level schools, public transport organisation, regional road planning, culture and some more areas.
The county governor (no: Fylkesmannen) is an authority directly overseen by the Norwegian government. It surveills the municipalities and receive complaints from people over their actions. It also controls areas where the government needs local direct ruling outside the municipalities.
History
Fylke (1st period)
From the consolidation to a single kingdom, Norway was divided into a number of geographic regions that had its own legislative assembly or Thing, such as Gulating (Western Norway) and Frostating (Trøndelag). The second-order subdivision of these regions was into fylker, such as Egdafylke and Hordafylke. In 1914, the historical term fylke was brought into use again to replace the term amt introduced during the union with Denmark. Current day counties (fylker) often, but not necessarily, correspond to the historical areas.
Fylke in the 10th-13th centuries
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From the end of the 12th century, Norway was divided into several syssel. The head of the various syssel was the syslemann, who represented the king locally. The following shows a reconstruction of the different syssel in Norway c. 1300, including sub-syssel where these seem established.[2]
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Len
From 1308, the term len (plural len) in Norway signified an administrative region roughly equivalent to today's counties. The historic len was an important administrative entity during the period of Dano-Norwegian unification after their amalgamation as one state, which lasted for the period 1536[3]–1814.
At the beginning of the 16th century the political divisions were variable, but consistently included four main len and approximately 30 smaller sub-regions with varying connections to a main len. Up to 1660 the four principal len were headquartered at the major fortresses Bohus Fortress, Akershus Fortress, Bergenhus Fortress and the fortified city of Trondheim.[4] The sub-regions corresponded to the church districts for the Lutheran church in Norway.
These four principal len were in the 1530s divided into approximately 30 smaller regions. From that point forward through the beginning of the 17th century the number of subsidiary len was reduced, while the composition of the principal len became more stable.[5]
Len in 1660
From 1660 Norway had nine principal len comprising 17 subsidiary len:
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Len written as län continues to be used as the administrative equivalent of county in Sweden to this day. Each len was governed by a lenman.[6]
Amt
With the royal decree of February 19, 1662, each len was designated an amt (plural amt) and the lenmann was titled amtmann, from German Amt (office), reflecting the bias of the Danish court of that period.[7]
Amt in 1671
After 1671 Norway was divided into four principal amt or stiftsamt and there were nine subordinate amt:
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Amt in 1730
From 1730 Norway had the following amt:
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At this time there were also two counties (grevskap) controlled by actual counts, together forming what is now Vestfold county:
In 1760 Norway had the following stiftamt and amt:[8]
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Fylke (2nd period)
From 1919 each amt was renamed a fylke (plural fylke(r)) (county) and the amtmann was now titled fylkesmann (county governor).
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In 2017 the Norwegian government announced the merge of the existing 19 fylker into 11 fylkeskommuner (regions) by 2020. As a result, several government tasks will be transferred to the new regions.[9]
Map of new fylkeskommuner (regions) from Regionreformen i Norge Regionformen i Norge (at Norwegian Wikipedia)New fylkeskommuner (regions)
^Jesperson, Leon (Ed.) (2000). A Revolution from Above? The Power State of 16th and 17th Century Scandinavia. Odense University Press. ISBN87-7838-407-9.
^moderniseringsdepartementet, Kommunal- og (7 July 2017). "Regionreform". Regjeringen.no. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
Bibliography
Danielsen, Rolf; Dyrvik, Ståle; Grønlie, Tore; Helle, Knut; Hovland, Edgar (2007) [1991]. Grunntrekk i norsk historie (1 ed.). Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. ISBN978-82-00-21273-7.
Norway portal 
