Total population | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
23,313 (2019 Official Norway estimate) [1] 0.44% of the Norwegian population | ||||
Regions with significant populations | ||||
Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand, Trondheim, Stavanger, Moss, Drammen | ||||
Languages | ||||
Vietnamese, Norwegian | ||||
Religion | ||||
Predominantly Vietnamese folk religion and Mahayana Buddhism with Ancestor Worship, [2] and Roman Catholicism | ||||
Related ethnic groups | ||||
Vietnamese people, Overseas Vietnamese |
Norwegian Vietnamese or Vietnamese Norwegian refers to citizens or naturalized residents of Norway of partially and full Vietnamese descent.
When this article describes Vietnamese living in Norway, it primarily means persons with two parents born in Vietnam. Thus, statistics used in this article do not include Vietnamese-descended persons with only one parent, or no parents born in Vietnam.
The first waves of Vietnamese immigrants to Norway came after the Fall of Saigon, in 1975. They escaped Vietnam by boat, and were also known as the boat people. Some were picked up by Norwegian cargo ships and came to Norway after spending some months in refugee camps in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Most of these boat people came in the period from 1978 to 1985. Later immigrants have come as a cause of family-reunification and economic reasons.
On January 1, 2017, the Norwegian Statistisk Sentralbyrå reported that there were 22,658 Vietnamese people in Norway. Vietnamese Norwegians were the fourth-largest immigrant group from outside Europe after Pakistanis, Somalis and Iraqis.
The Vietnamese were among the first from the third world to immigrate to Norway. Eight out of ten Vietnamese have lived in Norway for more than ten years, and nine out of ten possess Norwegian citizenship. [3] [ Link to precise page ]
Around 6,000 Vietnamese Norwegians live in Oslo (around 27% of the Vietnamese population in Norway), where they are the eleventh-largest immigrant group. There are also significant groups of Vietnamese living in the cities of Bergen, Kristiansand, and Trondheim.
Number of immigrant with Vietnamese background in some municipalities 1 January 2008 [4] |
Vietnamese culture places heavy emphasis on education. Even though the elder first generation immigrants in the age of 30 to 44 often do not have a higher education, the second generation, and the younger first generation immigrants from 19 to 24 years old, generally have a much higher education level. A 2012 study found that Vietnamese Norwegians—both those born in Norway, and the foreign-borns—had slightly better grades than ethnic Norwegians in secondary school despite their parents having lower education. [5] [6] A survey from 2006 reported that 88 percent of Vietnamese finished upper secondary school, the same percent as ethnic Norwegians. [7] A 2006 survey also showed that Vietnamese had the highest grades in upper secondary school among the ten largest non-western immigrant groups in Norway, averaging similar grades as Norwegians. [8] [9]
A 2006 survey showed that Vietnamese was the ethnic group that had the fourth highest percentage who finished a bachelor degree (after Indians, Chinese, and Norwegians) and the ethnic group with the third highest percentage who finished a master's degree. [10] The Vietnamese especially have many representatives in higher education, as there is a 10 percent bigger chance for a Vietnamese-Norwegian having finished higher education than a Norwegian. [11]
Vietnamese in Norway are not active in the country's politics. As of December 2006, there was only one Vietnamese in a municipal council in Norway. [12] At the municipal- and county election (kommune- og fylkestingsvalg) in 2003, only 30 percent of the Vietnamese-Norwegians voted. [13] It has been pointed out that though the voting percentage of elder Vietnamese (40 to 59 years old) at 51% is relatively high—compared to other non-Western immigrant groups of the same age (44%)—it is the younger generation of Vietnamese Norwegians that pull the numbers down. In 2003, only 17% of the Vietnamese Norwegians in the age groups between 18 and 25, and 22% between 26 and 39, voted. [14]
As a result of most Vietnamese coming to Norway as political or war refugees fleeing the Communist Vietnam, they are in general critical of the Vietnamese government. Fleeing the country was viewed as treason by the Vietnamese government during the 1970s and 1980s. However, the trend has turned and Vietnam now view the overseas Vietnamese as assets to the country's rapidly growing economy.
The Vietnamese are one of the immigrant groups in Norway that most often send remittance money to families in their home country. Over 60% of those who came to the country as adults reported as regularly sending money home to their families. The number regularly sending money to Vietnam among Vietnamese-born in Norway or arrived in the country as children, were over 40%. The Vietnamese coming to Norway as adults send more and more money, the longer they have stayed in their new country. [15]
Though widely perceived as one of the best integrated non-Western immigrant groups, there still remain some challenges for the Vietnamese community in Norway. A 2002 survey reported that 3.2% of Vietnamese Norwegians had been punished for breaking the law. The number for ethnic Norwegians was 1.35%. [16] A social anthropologist studying the Vietnamese community said there was an "either...or" phenomenon among the Vietnamese, with those not succeeding in school falling into delinquency. [16] The same trend has also been observed among the Vietnamese Americans. A stronger connection between the parents and the kids that fall out has been wanted. The relative low proficiency among Vietnamese in Norwegian, and a small vocabulary, has also been analysed as important challenges remaining.
Many Vietnamese, especially among the older generation, have experienced traumas during and after the Vietnam War. A survey conducted on 148 randomly chosen Vietnamese refugees, up to three years after arriving in Norway, showed that many of them had experienced war up close. [17] Sixty-two percent had witnessed bombings, fires, and shooting, and forty-eight percent had witnessed someone been injured or killed. One out of four had been in life-threatening situations and/or injured during the war. One out of ten had been in re-education camps. Former inmates describe them as close to concentration camps, where they did not know how long they had to stay, and were victims of extreme methods of punishing.
The traumas affected the refugees psychological health even seven years after the war. After three years in Norway, there was still no sign of change in the psychological strain on the refugees. One out of four had a psychological suffering. Depression was the most common diagnosis, with 18% being clinically depressed. Psychological illness in Norway was linked with traumas experienced during the time in Vietnam, in addition to lack of an entrusted partner during the escape from the country, and severance from close family. One out of three reported post-traumatic worries, and one out of ten were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Alvdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Alvdal. Other villages include Barkald, Plassmoen, and Strømmen. The municipality is located to the south of Tynset, north and west of Rendalen, north of Stor-Elvdal, and east of Folldal.
is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vålebru.
Øyer is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Tingberg. The two largest villages in the municipality are Granrudmoen and Tretten.
Gausdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Segalstad bru. Other villages in Gausdal include Follebu, Forset, and Svingvoll.
Søndre Land is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Land. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Hov. Other villages in the municipality include Fluberg and Odnes.
Nord-Aurdal is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town Fagernes. Other urban centres in Nord-Aurdal include the villages of Aurdal, Leira, and Skrautvål. The municipality is served by Fagernes Airport, Leirin. In Nord-Aurdal, there is an alpine skiing center called Valdres Alpinsenter.
Vestre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Slidre. Other villages in Vestre Slidre include Lomen and Røn.
Øystre Slidre is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Heggenes. Other villages in the municipality include Hegge, Rogne, Volbu, Moane, Skammestein, Beito, and Beitostølen.
Vang is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Valdres. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Vang i Valdres. Other villages in Vang include Hænsgardane, Nystuen, Øye, Ryfoss, and Tyinkrysset.
Lardal is a former municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The 278-square-kilometre (107 sq mi) municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2018. The area is now part of Larvik Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Svarstad. The village of Steinsholt was also part of Lardal.
Pakistani Norwegians are Norwegians of Pakistani descent, 65.23% of Pakistanis in Norway live in the capital Oslo. First-generation Pakistani Norwegians, who migrate from Pakistan, are distinguished from the mainstream in several demographic aspects, while second-generation Pakistani Norwegians, who are born in Norway, are well established in Norway and have gone on to become professionals and politicians.
Iraqis in Norway make up approximately 33,924 people. They are mostly refugees from the Iran–Iraq War, the Saddam regime and in particular the Iraq War. Iraqis are the seventh-largest immigrant group in Norway after Poles, Lithuanians, Swedes, Syrians, Pakistanis and Somalis.
In 2017, Norway's immigrant population consisted of 883,751 people, making up 16.8% of the country's total population. Of this number, 724,987 are foreign-born, while 158,764 are Norwegian-born with foreign-born parents. The ten most common countries of origin of immigrants residing in Norway are Poland (97,197), Lithuania (37,638), Sweden (36,315), Somalia (28,696), Germany (24,601), Iraq (22,493), Syria (20,823), Philippines (20,537), Pakistan (19,973) and Eritrea (19,957). The immigrant population comprises people from a total of 221 countries and autonomous regions, but 25% of the immigrants are from one of four migrant groups: Polish, Lithuanians, Swedes and Somalis.
African immigration to Norway refers to immigrants to Norway from Africa. An estimated 150,000 people in Norway are either first or second generation immigrants from Africa. Most of these have a background as asylum seekers.
Crime in Norway is countered by Norway's law enforcement agencies.
Poles in Norway are citizens and residents of Norway who are of Polish descent. They are the biggest immigrant group in Norway.
The Albanians in the Nordic countries refers to the Albanian migrants in Nordic countries such as Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden and their descendants.
Somalis in Norway are citizens and residents of Norway who are of Somali descent. They are the biggest African migration group in Norway. 36.5% of Somalis in Norway live in the capital Oslo. Almost all Somali in Norway have come to Norway as refugees from the Somali Civil War. In 2016, Somalis were the largest non-European migrant group in Norway.
Moroccans in Norway are citizens and residents of Norway who are of Moroccan descent.
Russians in Norway are people born in Russia or whose parents were both born in Russia and who live in Norway.