Borough
A borough (bydel) is a geographical area within a municipality with its own political committee and its own budget. In Norwegian official statistics the term applies to the four largest municipalities, and only these have boroughs: Oslo with 18, Stavanger with 10, Bergen with 9 and Trondheim with 5. That is 42 in total across the country.
The code has six digits: a four-digit municipality number and a two-digit borough number. 030101 is Gamle Oslo, 030102 is Grünerløkka. That is a different structure from the basic statistical unit and the sub-district, which both have eight digits, and the difference is worth knowing when you join datasets on code: a six-digit code is always a borough, never a basic statistical unit.
The borough differs from the other geographical levels by being an administrative unit and not just a statistical division. The borough committee is politically elected and is responsible for services such as kindergartens, home care and local cultural provision, within the limits set by the municipal council. That makes the borough relevant in a different way from a sub-district: a decision can actually be made here. Building applications are still handled centrally in the municipality, so the borough has no authority of its own under the Planning and Building Act.
Municipalities without formal boroughs use other divisions when they need to break themselves down. Sub-district is the closest statistical alternative and exists in every municipality. Many municipalities also have their own borough-like names in everyday speech and in the municipal plan without these being registered with SSB, so they cannot readily be joined to official statistics.
For property work, the borough is often the right level for a market description in the four cities: it is large enough to give stable figures, it has a name the reader recognises, and price levels and population composition vary systematically between boroughs. If you need to go down to neighbourhood level, move on to basic statistical unit. Note that borough boundaries have been adjusted several times, most clearly in Oslo, so a time series that crosses such a change must be checked against the current division.
In Placepoint, clicking a borough on the map opens the area panel with totals for the borough and the basic statistical units it contains, and the demographic layers can be drawn at borough level.
How the dataset appears on the map
The dataset is part of the map layer Demographics as Age distribution:
From Placepoint's glossary: Bydel
More information: SSB: Standard for bydelsinndeling, SSB: Klassifikasjoner og kodelister
English: Borough (city district in the four largest Norwegian municipalities).
Frequently asked questions
Which municipalities have boroughs?
Four: Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger. 42 boroughs in total, most of them in Oslo with 18. Other municipalities use sub-districts or their own unofficial names.
How many digits does a borough code have?
Six. A four-digit municipality number and a two-digit borough number, so that 030101 is Gamle Oslo. Basic statistical units and sub-districts have eight.
Does the borough have authority over building applications?
No. The borough committee runs local services such as kindergartens and home care, while building applications under the Planning and Building Act are handled centrally in the municipality.
What do I use when the municipality has no boroughs?
Sub-district, which exists in every municipality and is SSB's intermediate level. It gives comparable statistics even though it is not a political unit.