List of urban areas in the Nordic countries
This is a list of urban areas in the Nordic countries by population. Urban areas in the Nordic countries are measured at national level, independently by each country's statistical office. Statistics Sweden uses the term tätort (urban settlement), Statistics Finland also uses tätort in Swedish and taajama in Finnish, Statistics Denmark uses byområde (city), while Statistics Norway uses tettsted (urban settlement).
A common statistical definition between the Nordic countries was agreed in 1960,[1] which defines an urban area as a contiguous built-up area with a population of at least 200 and where the maximum distance between dwellings is 200 metres, excluding roads, car parks, parks, sports grounds and cemeteries - regardless of the boundaries of the municipality, district or county.[1][2] Despite the common definition, the different statistical offices have different approaches to carrying out these measurements, resulting in slight differences between countries.[a]
The Nordic definition is unique to these countries and should not be confused with international concepts of metropolitan area or urban areas in general. In 2010, Finland (stat.fi) changed its definition. This means that, according to official statistics, the land area covered by urban areas is three times larger in Finland than in Norway, although the total urban population is about the same (ssb.no). It also means that the population of a Danish 'byområder' is usually less than half the population of the 'functional urban area' as defined by Eurostat, whereas the population of a Finnish 'taajama' is usually around 80% of the respective 'functional urban area' as defined by Eurostat. For example, in 2013 the 'functional urban area' of Aarhus had a population of 845,971, while the 'functional urban area' of Tampere had a population of 364,992. However, according to official statistics, the "taajama" of Tampere is larger than the "byområde" of Aarhus (eurostat.ec). This suggests that direct comparisons between Finland and the other Nordic countries may be problematic.
List
[edit]Rank | City / urban settlement | Urban area | Metropolitan / Eurostat Functional Urban Area | Notes | Image | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Stockholm | 1,611,776 | 2,417,124[3] | Capital of Sweden. Municipality: 978,770. | Sweden | |
2 | Copenhagen | 1,366,301[4] | 2,135,634[5] (see notes) | Capital of Denmark. Municipality: 660,842 (2023). | Denmark | |
3 | Helsinki | 1,337,786[6] | 1,738,375 | Capital of Finland. Municipality: 683,669. | Finland | |
4 | Oslo | 1,098,061[7] | 1,588,457[8][9] 1,278,827 (Eurostat, 2013, latest available) | Capital of Norway. Municipality: 723 196. The Greater Oslo Region (metropolitan) area has a population of 1,546,706. | Norway | |
5 | Gothenburg | 607,882 [10] | 1,070,935 [11] | Municipality: 599,305. | Sweden | |
6 | Aarhus | 367,095[12] | 845,971 | Municipality: 367,095.[13] | Denmark | |
7 | Malmö | 357,377 | 707,120[3]
Eurostat: 658,050, 2017. |
Municipality: 328,494. | Sweden | |
8 | Tampere | 347,470[14] | 440,372 Eurostat: 369,525. |
Municipality: 260,051. Most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. | Finland | |
9 | Turku | 291,230[14] | 337,751[15] | Municipality: 205,949. | Finland | |
10 | Bergen | 272,125[7] | 420,000[citation needed]395,338 (2013, Eurostat) [11] | Municipality: 285 911. Metropolitan area: 377,116. | Norway | |
11 | Oulu | 257,670[14] | 258,241 | Municipality: 216,174 | Finland | |
12 | Reykjavík |
242,995[16] |
Capital of Iceland. Municipality: 135,688.
Urban area includes all or most of the population of 5 additional municipalities in the Capital region. |
Iceland | ||
13 | Stavanger/Sandnes | 239,055[7] | 319,822 |
Municipality: 144 223. Metropolitan area: 297,569.
Conurbation includes the neighbouring municipalities Sandnes, Randaberg and Sola. |
Norway | |
14 | Trondheim | 198,777[7] | 310,052 (2022)[17] 264,396 (2013, Eurostat) |
Municipality: 211,246 | Norway | |
15 | Odense | 178,210[18] | 485,672 | Municipality: 213,558 | Denmark | |
16 | Uppsala | 168,096 | 253,704[19] 288,203 | Municipality: 225,164 | Sweden | |
17 | Aalborg | 134,672[18] | 580,272 | Includes Nørresundby; Municipality: 205,809 | Denmark | |
18 | Jyväskylä | 143,420[14] | 212,500 | Municipality: 149,263 | Finland | |
19 | Lahti | 119,068[14] | 191,460 | Municipality: 121,447 | Finland | |
20 | Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg | 116,373[20] | Fredrikstad: 83 220 Sarpsborg: 57 483 |
Norway | ||
21 | Västerås | 110,877 | 173,322[19] 195,675 | Municipality: 137,207 | Sweden | |
22 | Drammen | 109,416[7] | Includes parts of Øvre Eiker, Lier and Røyken. | Norway | ||
23 | Örebro | 107,038 | 208,241[19] | Municipality: 135,460 | Sweden | |
24 | Linköping | 104,232 | 177,308[19] | Municipality: 146,416 | Sweden | |
25 | Helsingborg | 97,122 | 272,873[19] | Municipality: 129,177 | Sweden | |
26 | Porsgrunn/Skien | 92,753[20] | Includes Porsgrunn and Skien and a part of Bamble. | Norway | ||
27 | Jönköping | 112,766 | Municipality: 127,382 | Sweden | ||
28 | Kuopio | 88,520[14] | 167,753[19] | Municipality: 125,597 | Finland | |
29 | Norrköping | 87,247 | 183,100[19] | Municipality: 130,050 | Sweden | |
30 | Pori | 84,190[14] | Municipality: 83,375 | Finland | ||
31 | Lund | 82,800 | Municipality: 110,488 | Sweden | ||
32 | Umeå | 79,594 | Municipality: 115,473 | Sweden | ||
33 | Esbjerg | 72,398 | Municipality: 116,032 | Denmark | ||
34 | Gävle | 71,033 | 184,346[19] | Municipality: 95,055 | Sweden | |
35 | Joensuu | 67,811[14] | Municipality: 78,764 | Finland | ||
36 | Vaasa | 67,690[14] | Municipality: 70,382 | Finland | ||
37 | Borås | 66,273 | Municipality: 103,294 | Sweden | ||
38 | Eskilstuna | 64,679 | 209,028[19] | Municipality: 96,311 | Sweden | |
39 | Södertälje | 64,619 | - | Municipality: 86,246
No independent area, part of Greater Stockholm[19] |
Sweden | |
40 | Randers | 62,687 | Municipality: 98,265 | Denmark | ||
41 | Karlstad | 61,685 | 179,486[19] | Municipality: 85,753 | Sweden | |
42 | Kristiansand | 112 725 | Municipality: 88,320 | Norway | ||
43 | Växjö | 60,887 | 156.629[19] | Municipality: 83,005 | Sweden | |
44 | Täby | 61,272 | - | Municipality: 63,789
No independent area, part of Greater Stockholm |
Sweden | |
45 | Kolding | 60,508 | Municipality: 92,515 | Denmark | ||
46 | Halmstad | 58,577 | 134,156[19] | Municipality: 91,800 | Sweden | |
47 | Vejle | 56,567 | Municipality: 114,140 | Denmark | ||
48 | Horsens | 55,884 | Municipality: 85,662 | Denmark | ||
49 | Lappeenranta | 55,743[14] | Municipality: 73,481 | Finland | ||
50 | Rovaniemi | 52,753[14] | Municipality: 65,673 | Finland | ||
51 | Kotka | 51,704[14] | Municipality: 50,336 | Finland | ||
52 | Sundsvall | 50,712 | 125,812[19] | Municipality: 96,977 | Sweden |
Note that the population numbers from the countries are from different years, as Statistics Finland, Statistics Norway and Statistics Denmark release the statistic yearly (albeit at different times of the year), Statistics Sweden only release the figures every five years. The Norwegian data is from 2013[20] and 2018,[7] the Danish data is from 2014,[21] the Swedish is from 2010[22] and the Finnish is from 2017.[14]
Also note that some of the statistics have been updated since the first note was made, so some statistics may be from 2018, while others from 2013, etc.
See also
[edit]- Urban areas in the Nordic countries
- List of the most populated municipalities in the Nordic countries
- List of metropolitan areas in Sweden
- List of urban areas in Sweden by population
- List of urban areas in Denmark by population
- List of urban areas in Norway by population
- List of urban areas in Finland by population
- List of cities in Iceland
- List of cities in the Baltic states
- List of metropolitan areas by population
Notes
[edit]- ^ For example, Statistics Finland utilizes a 62,500 square metres (673,000 sq ft) grid system for analyzing population, resulting in slight measurement differences between it and the other Nordic statistical bureaus.
References
[edit]- ^ Jump up to: a b "Nationalencyklopedin - Tätort". Nationalencyklopedin. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
Translation: 'a for the Nordic countries shared statistical definition of built-up area with at least 200 residents, not more than 200 m between each other (without regard to the ward, municipal or county boundaries)'
- ^ "Localities 2010: Population, age and gender" (PDF) (in Swedish and English). Statistics Sweden. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
A densely built area includes any cluster of buildings with at least 200 inhabitants, unless the distance between the houses exceeds 200 metres. However, the distance may exceed 200 metres if the cluster of buildings is situated within the area of influence of a larger locality. [...] Even if the distance between buildings exceeds 200 metres, the locality should not be divided if the area between the buildings is used for public purposes such as roads, parking spaces, parks, sports grounds and cemeteries. The same applies to undeveloped areas such as storage sites, railways and docks.page=21
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Folkmängden efter region, civilstånd, ålder och kön. År 1968 - 201" (in Swedish). Statistikmyndigheten SCB. Archived from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
- ^ "BY1: Population 1. January 2023 by urban, rural areas, age and sex". statbank.dk.
- ^ "Statistikbanken". www.statbank.dk. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ Statistikcentralen, Finland; Tätorter efter folkmängd och folktäthet, 2019 Retrieved 27 november 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Population and land area in urban settlements, December 2018
- ^ regionaldepartementet, Kommunal- og (2003-05-09). "St.meld. nr. 31 (2002-2003)". Regjeringen.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ "Folketalet ved nyttår var 5 258 000". ssb.no (in Norwegian Nynorsk). Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ SCB, Statistikmyndigheten (2022-04-08). "Tätorter i Sverige".
- ^ Jump up to: a b [1] Folkmängd i Göteborgsregionen 2022
- ^ "Statistikbanken". www.statbank.dk.
- ^ "Statistikbanken". www.statistikbanken.dk.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Urban settlements by population and population density, 31 Dec 2017". Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Seutukuntien ennakkoväkiluku alueittain, elokuu 2013". Tiedote (in Finnish). Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus). 31 August 2013. Archived from the original on 27 June 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
- ^ "Population by localities, sex and age 1 January 1998-2023". www.hagstofa.is. Statistics Iceland. 1 January 2023.
- ^ Kringstad, Hans (2022-03-31). "Vi har passert 310 000 innbyggere". Trondheimsregionen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2022-06-30.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Population 1. January by urban, rural areas (DISCONTINUED) - StatBank Denmark - data and statistics". www.statistikbanken.dk.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "table". www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Citypopulation Norway Archived 2012-11-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Denmark: Regions, Municipalities, Cities and Urban Areas - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts". www.citypopulation.de. Archived from the original on 2012-04-08. Retrieved 2011-09-30.
- ^ "Sweden: Counties, Cities, Municipalities, Settlements and Metropolitan Areas - Population Statistics in Maps and Charts". www.citypopulation.de.