Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties which until 1918 were known as amter. The counties form the first-level administrative divisions of Norway and are further subdivided into 356 municipalities. The island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly at the national level. The capital Oslo is both a county and a municipality.
Norwegian dialects (dialekter) are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian', 'Central Norwegian' (trøndersk), 'Western Norwegian' (vestlandsk), and 'Eastern Norwegian'. Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' and/or 'South Norwegian' are considered fifth or sixth groups.
A regional health authority is a state-owned enterprise responsible for specialist healthcare in one of four regions of Norway. Responsibilities of the RHFs include patient treatment, education of medical staff, research and training of patients and relatives. Areas covered by the authorities are hospitals, psychiatry, ambulance service, operation of pharmacies at the hospitals, emergency telephone number and laboratories. The actual performance is done by subsidiary health trusts (HF) that usually consist of one or more hospitals, with associate responsibilities. The authorities are subordinate to the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services.
Health trust or HF is a health enterprise owned by one of the four regional health authorities in Norway, with responsibility for performing a geographic and/or specialist activities of operations on behalf of the regional health authority. There are 43 HFs in Norway, each led by a board of directors appointed by the authority. Most HFs are responsible for one or more hospitals, though some are solely responsible for pharmacies. The trusts are regulated by the Health Trust Act of 15 June 2001.
Central Norway Regional Health Authority is a state-owned regional health authority responsible for operating the hospitals in the counties of Nord-Trøndelag, Sør-Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal in Norway. Based in Stjørdal, the authority operates five health trusts that operate nine hospitals. It is led by chairman Kolbjørn Almlid and CEO Stig Arild Slørdahl.
Western Norway Regional Health Authority is a state-owned regional health authority responsible for operating the hospitals in the counties of Rogaland and Vestland in Norway. Based in Stavanger the authority operates five health trusts that operate nine hospitals. It is led by chairman Oddvard Nilsen (Conservative) and CEO Herlof Nilssen.
Central Norway Pharmaceutical Trust is a health trust owned by Central Norway Regional Health Authority that operates four hospital pharmacies at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Kristiansund Hospital, Molde Hospital and Ålesund Hospital. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler. The hospitals in Levanger, Namsos and Orkanger do not use the trust for their pharmacies.
Western Norway Pharmaceutical Trust is a health trust owned by Western Norway Regional Health Authority that operates four hospital pharmacies at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Stavanger Hospital, Haugesund Hospital and Førde Hospital. The pharmacies are part of the Ditt Apotek chain and use Norsk Medisinaldepot as wholesaler.
The South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority is the largest of the four Regional health authorities in Norway. It covers the counties of Viken, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestfold og Telemark, and Agder, with 57% of the total population in Norway. The authority owns ten health trusts that operate the hospitals as well as the Hospital pharmacy enterprise that operates seventeen pharmacies and Sykehuspartner Trust that operates the information technology systems.
Southern Norway Regional Health Authority was a regional health authority that covered the counties of Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Telemark, Vest-Agder and Vestfold in Norway, as well as the national hospitals in Oslo. The authority was founded on January 1, 2002, but merged with the Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority to form the new Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority on June 1, 2007.
Pharmacies of Norway are dominated by the three large companies Alliance Boots, Apokjeden and Norsk Medisinaldepot. In total there are 606 pharmacies, of which only 16 do not belong to the four dominant chains Apotek 1, Vitusapotek, Boots apotek and Ditt Apotek. 33 pharmacies are state owned as pharmaceutical trusts.
Norway is commonly divided into five major geographical regions. These regions are purely geographical, and have no administrative purpose. However, in 2017 the government decided to abolish the current counties of Norway and to replace them with fewer, larger administrative regions. The first of these new areas came into existence on 1 January 2018, when Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag merged to form Trøndelag.
Vestfold Hospital Trust is a public health trust which serves Vestfold, Norway. Its main facility is Tønsberg Hospital, which supplements divisions in Larvik and Stavern. As of 2019, the hospital had 5,400 employees. The hospital was founded in 1870. It was merged with Horten Hospital, originally the Navy Hospital, established in 1828, in 1998, and merged with Sandefjord Hospital and Larvik Hospital in 2000, and with the Psychiatry of Vestfold Trust in 2012. It is owned by the Norwegian state through Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority.
Førde Hospital Trust is a health trust which administrates hospitals and institutions in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, and is owned by Western Norway Regional Health Authority
The Norwegian Correctional Service is a government agency responsible for the implementation of detention and punishment in a way that is reassuring for the society and for preventing crimes. The agency is governed by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
Northern Norway Regional Health Authority is one of four regional health authorities in Norway. It covers the counties of Finnmark, Nordland and Troms. The authority owns five health trusts that operate the hospitals as well as Northern Norway Pharmaceutical Trust that operates nineteen pharmacies.
Arendal Heliport, Hospital is a heliport situated on the premises of Arendal Hospital in the Heimdal neighborhood of Arendal, Norway. Used exclusively for air ambulance services, it is home to a Eurocopter EC-135P2+ operated by Norsk Luftambulanse (NLA) on contract with the National Air Ambulance Service. The base is owned by Sørlandet Hospital Trust.
The Western Norway Exhibition is an annual exhibition for visual artists from Western Norway. It is generally a touring exhibition held in various places in Western Norway. Artists associated with the region are eligible to take part.
The Grenland Line is a proposed high-speed railway line that would connect Grenland and Gjerstad in Norway. Specifically, the line would connect the Sørlandet Line at Skorstøl to the Vestfold Line at either Porsgrunn or Skien, allowing passenger trains from Stavanger and Kristiansand to be routed on the Vestfold Line through Grenland and Vestfold. The Grenland Line is proposed built with double track and with a speed of 250 km/h (160 mph). Three routes have been proposed, varying in length between 64 and 70 kilometers. A prerequisite is that the Vestfold Line be upgraded to double track and high-speed, a process that started in the mid-1990s and which is scheduled for completion in 2032. A completion of the upgraded Vestfold Line and the Grenland Line would reduce travel time for passenger trains between Gjerstad and Oslo by about 70 minutes.
