Forest, mountain and moorland dominate

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Forest, mountain and moorland dominate Norway’s land cover. About 2 per cent of Norway’s land area is built-up. Roads make up the largest share of the built-up area.

The 2017 calculation of land use and land resources in Norway shows that land used for roads dominates the built-up area. In total, there is approximately 2 060 square kilometers1 of road area, corresponding to 38 per cent of all built-up land in Norway. Residential area makes up 23 per cent of the built-up area, while recreational facilities account for 8 per cent, according to the statistics Land use and land cover.

Figure 1. Proportion built up area by category. The whole country. 2016. Per cent

Built up area totale. Square kilometres
Residential areas 23 % 1265.70
Recreational facilities 8 % 444.53
Built-up area for agriculture and fishing 10 % 536.01
Industrial, commercial and service areas 8 % 436.82
Green areas, sports- and recreational services 4 % 224.00
Other built-up area 9 % 475.65
Road 38 % 2057.74

Hedmark has the largest total of built-up land

In total, Hedmark has the largest amount of built-up area, while Oslo has the smallest. The large amount of road area and agricultural buildings contribute to Hedmark’s placing at the top of the list. Akershus, with 137 square kilometers, and Hordaland, with 117 square kilometers1, clearly have the largest residential areas. Sogn og Fjordane and Finnmark have the least amount of residential areas, with 29 and 24 square kilometers respectively. Oppland has the largest area for recreational facilities sporting 53 square kilometers, followed by Buskerud with 49 square kilometers.

Figure 2. Built up land by category. County. 2017

Residential areas Recreational facilities Built-up area for agriculture and fishing Industrial, commercial and service areas Green areas, sports- and recreational services Other built-up area Road
Hedmark 80.26 37.01 59.59 27.91 19.85 25.94 233.25
Oppland 71.00 53.39 59.73 25.55 15.20 25.22 188.31
Akershus 137.16 17.23 31.23 29.65 20.86 48.88 107.58
Hordaland 117.01 32.20 27.46 30.05 14.37 37.99 122.67
Buskerud 78.72 48.68 33.84 29.20 19.14 28.06 141.36
Nordland 75.90 30.57 29.84 35.06 12.95 41.27 151.30
Rogaland 89.54 18.60 36.53 36.94 13.41 38.72 105.68
Sør-Trøndelag 66.10 30.96 34.61 26.65 15.76 29.13 123.02
Møre og Romsdal 74.28 19.24 37.79 28.99 11.83 24.53 111.23
Østfold 79.61 22.50 30.66 25.31 10.51 24.00 82.37
Telemark 53.97 29.19 23.22 20.72 10.75 19.44 106.47
Nord-Trøndelag 40.96 15.00 34.74 17.39 7.24 17.32 109.92
Vestfold 66.86 15.61 20.04 22.88 11.17 18.94 60.46
Troms Romsa 46.05 13.80 18.65 14.30 7.27 19.63 91.57
Vest-Agder 43.69 19.29 13.21 12.49 7.26 18.55 68.64
Sogn og Fjordane 28.81 11.05 25.32 12.66 6.50 11.71 86.13
Aust-Agder 39.62 19.14 12.25 12.10 6.22 12.22 70.03
Finnmark Finnmárku 24.40 9.82 6.58 17.41 4.65 15.18 66.72
Oslo 51.77 1.23 0.72 11.55 9.08 18.93 31.03

Forest, mountain and moorland areas dominate

Looking at the total land area, about 2 per cent is built-up land, while agriculture represents some 3 - 4 per cent, or 11 000 square kilometers. Open firm ground and forest dominate the non-built-up areas, making up 38 and 37 per cent respectively.

Figure 3. Proportion of land resources, by category. The whole country. 2017

Land resources total
Open firm ground 38 % 121905.56
Perpetual snow and glaciers 1 % 2739.44
Built-up and related land 2 % 5440.45
Agriculture 4 % 11142.43
Wetlands 5 % 17368.54
Inland waters 6 % 20142.07
Bare rock, gravel and blockfields 7 % 23988.11
Forest 37 % 121052.61

1 The figures were corrected 4 September 2017.

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