Oslo
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Oslo is the capital city of Norway, and has a population of 533,050 (July 2005). The conurbation extends into the surrounding county of Akershus, with a total population of 1,090,012. The urban municipality (bykommune) of Oslo and county (fylke) is the same entity. Of Oslo's total area, 115 km² is built-up and 7 km² is agricultural. The open areas within the built-up zone amounts to 22 km².
[edit] History
The Saga of Norwegian Kings (written by Snorre Sturlason) tells that king Harald III Sigurdsson founded Oslo around 1048. Recent archaeological research has found Christian graves from before 1000. On the basis of these two facts Oslo celebrated its 900 year aniversary in 1950 and its 1000 year aniversary in 2000.
One of the more famous landmarks in Oslo is Akershus Fortress. It was started in around 1290. Oslo was destroyed in fire in 1624, and was rebuilt nearer to Akershus Fortress by the command of King Christian IV of Norway. The king gave the new city the name Christiania, which was later also written as Kristiania. In 1925 the name of the city was changed back to Oslo.
