20 Interesting Facts About Bergen

20 Interesting Facts About Bergen

Facts About Bergen

  1. Bjørgvin was the original Norse name for the city. In fact in Icelandic and Faroese – two languages that still resemble Old Norse to an extent – the city is still referred to as Björgvin.
  2. The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde in 1070 AD, four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Modern research has, however, discovered that a trading settlement had already been established in the 1020s or 1030s.
  3. The city is divided into eight boroughs for administrative purposes.
  4. As the capital of Norway from 1217 until the very end of the 13th century, this period of Bergen’s history took the city to a new level of importance. Even though the Norwegian capital moved to Oslo in 1299, Bergen remained even more popular due to its ideal location for sea trade.
  5. Bergen is twinned with Turku, Finland; Seattle, United States; Newcastle, United Kingdom; Aarhus, Denmark; Asmara, Eritrea & Gothenburg, Sweden. Each year Bergen sells the Christmas Tree seen in Newcastle’s Haymarket as a sign of the ongoing friendship between the sister cities.
  6. The 1986 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest took place in Bergen.
  7. The city is also a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of gastronomy since 2015.
  8. One of Norway’s largest shopping centres, Lagunen Storsenter, is located in Fana in Bergen, with retail sales of 2,8 billion Norwegian kroner, and around 4.6 million visitors in 2018.
  9. The municipality Bergen’s population is 283,929, as of 2019.
  10. 61 buildings in Bryggen are a part of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
  11. Bergen is among the rainiest places in Europe, On average, it rains 265 days a year
  12. Bergen lies on latitude 60E 23’ 36’’ and eastern longitude 5E 20’ 6’’.
  13. Bergen’s total area is 465.3 km², and the land area is 445.1 km² with a population density of 638 per km².
  14. The municipality has four deaneries with 21 parishes.
  15. Bergen is also famous as “the heart of the fjords”.
  16. This longest tunnel for cyclists was still under construction and about to start in 2023. The overall length of this tunnel is approx 2.9 Km and only cyclists and pedestrians are allowed to enter this tunnel.
  17. The former Prime Minister of Norway is from Bergen, Erna Solberg, She rules the country from 16 October 2013 to 14 October 2021 
  18. Bergen is frequently called the “city of seven mountains”.he name of those seven mountains are Ulriken, Rundemanen, Lyderhorn, Løvstakken, Fløyfjellet, Sandviksfjellet, and Damsgårdsfjellet.
  19. Lagunen Storsenter is the largest shopping centre in Norway located in Bergen city.
  20. The city is an international centre for aquaculture, shipping, the offshore petroleum industry and subsea technology, and a national centre for higher education, media, tourism and finance.

 

Facts About Bergen
Facts About Bergen

 

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