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, 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. Despite the common definition, the different statistical offices have different approaches to carrying out these measurements, resulting in slight differences between countries.
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
| Rank | City / urban settlement | Urban area | Metropolitan / Eurostat Functional Urban Area | Notes | Image | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stockholm | 1,611,776 | 2,417,124 | Capital of Sweden. Municipality: 978,770. |  |  Sweden |
| 2 | Copenhagen | 1,366,301 | 2,135,634 (see notes) | Capital of Denmark. Municipality: 660,842 (2023). |  |  Denmark |
| 3 | Helsinki | 1,337,786 | 1,738,375 | Capital of Finland. Municipality: 684,589. |  |  Finland |
| 4 | Oslo | 1,098,061 | 1,588,457 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 | 1,070,935 | Municipality: 599,305. |  | Sweden |
| 6 | Aarhus | 367,095 | 845,971 | Municipality: 367,095. |  | Denmark |
| 7 | Malmö | 357,377 | 707,120 Eurostat: 658,050, 2017. | Municipality: 328,494. |  | Sweden |
| 8 | Tampere | 347,470 | 440,372 Eurostat: 369,525. | Municipality: 260,358. Most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. |  | Finland |
| 9 | Turku | 291,230 | 337,751 | Municipality: 206,035. |  | Finland |
| 10 | Bergen | 272,125 | 420,000[citation needed]395,338 (2013, Eurostat) | Municipality: 285 911. Metropolitan area: 377,116. |  | Norway |
| 11 | Oulu | 257,670 | 258,241 | Municipality: 216,194 |  | Finland |
| 12 | Reykjavík | 242,995 | 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 | 319,822 | Municipality: 144 223. Metropolitan area: 297,569. Conurbation includes the neighbouring municipalities Sandnes, Randaberg and Sola. |  | Norway |
| 14 | Trondheim | 198,777 | 310,052 (2022) 264,396 (2013, Eurostat) | Municipality: 211,246 |  | Norway |
| 15 | Odense | 178,210 | 485,672 | Municipality: 213,558 |  | Denmark |
| 16 | Uppsala | 168,096 | 253,704 288,203 | Municipality: 225,164 |  | Sweden |
| 17 | Aalborg | 134,672 | 580,272 | Includes Nørresundby; Municipality: 205,809 |  | Denmark |
| 18 | Jyväskylä | 143,420 | 212,500 | Municipality: 149,269 |  | Finland |
| 19 | Lahti | 119,068 | 191,460 | Municipality: 121,383 |  | Finland |
| 20 | Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg | 116,373 | Fredrikstad: 83 220 Sarpsborg: 57 483 |  | Norway | |
| 21 | Västerås | 110,877 | 173,322 195,675 | Municipality: 137,207 |  | Sweden |
| 22 | Drammen | 109,416 | Includes parts of Øvre Eiker, Lier and Røyken. |  | Norway | |
| 23 | Örebro | 107,038 | 208,241 | Municipality: 135,460 |  | Sweden |
| 24 | Linköping | 104,232 | 177,308 | Municipality: 146,416 |  | Sweden |
| 25 | Helsingborg | 97,122 | 272,873 | Municipality: 129,177 |  | Sweden |
| 26 | Porsgrunn/Skien | 92,753 | Includes Porsgrunn and Skien and a part of Bamble. |  | Norway | |
| 27 | Jönköping | 112,766 | Municipality: 127,382 |  | Sweden | |
| 28 | Kuopio | 88,520 | 167,753 | Municipality: 125,668 |  | Finland |
| 29 | Norrköping | 87,247 | 183,100 | Municipality: 130,050 |  | Sweden |
| 30 | Pori | 84,190 | Municipality: 83,316 |  | Finland | |
| 31 | Lund | 82,800 | Municipality: 110,488 Included in Stormalmö (Malmö Metropolitan Area). |  | Sweden | |
| 32 | Umeå | 79,594 | Municipality: 115,473 |  | Sweden | |
| 33 | Esbjerg | 72,398 | Municipality: 116,032 |  | Denmark | |
| 34 | Gävle | 71,033 | 184,346 | Municipality: 95,055 Metropolitan area together with Sandviken |  | Sweden |
| 35 | Joensuu | 67,811 | Municipality: 78,743 |  | Finland | |
| 36 | Vaasa | 67,690 | Municipality: 70,374 |  | Finland | |
| 37 | Borås | 66,273 | Municipality: 103,294 |  | Sweden | |
| 38 | Eskilstuna | 64,679 | 209,028 | Municipality: 96,311 |  | Sweden |
| 39 | Södertälje | 64,619 | - | Municipality: 86,246 No independent area, part of Greater Stockholm |  | Sweden |
| 40 | Randers | 62,687 | Municipality: 98,265 |  | Denmark | |
| 41 | Karlstad | 61,685 | 179,486 | Municipality: 85,753 |  | Sweden |
| 42 | Kristiansand | 112 725 | Municipality: 88,320 |  | Norway | |
| 43 | Växjö | 60,887 | 156.629 | 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 | Municipality: 91,800 |  | Sweden |
| 47 | Vejle | 56,567 | Municipality: 114,140 |  | Denmark | |
| 48 | Horsens | 55,884 | Municipality: 85,662 |  | Denmark | |
| 49 | Lappeenranta | 55,743 | Municipality: 73,369 |  | Finland | |
| 50 | Rovaniemi | 52,753 | Municipality: 65,738 |  | Finland | |
| 51 | Kotka | 51,704 | Municipality: 50,210 |  | Finland | |
| 52 | Sundsvall | 50,712 | 125,812 | 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 and 2018, the Danish data is from 2014, the Swedish is from 2010 and the Finnish is from 2017.
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
- 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
- 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
- "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
- "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.
- 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".
- [1] Folkmängd i Göteborgsregionen 2022
- "Statistikbanken". www.statbank.dk.
- "Statistikbanken". www.statistikbanken.dk.
- "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.
- "Population 1. January by urban, rural areas (DISCONTINUED) - StatBank Denmark - data and statistics". www.statistikbanken.dk.
- "table". www.statistikdatabasen.scb.se. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- 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.
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 tatort urban settlement Statistics Finland also uses tatort in Swedish and taajama in Finnish Statistics Denmark uses byomrade city while Statistics Norway uses tettsted urban settlement Population density in the Nordic countries The Stockholm urban area in blue the largest urban area in the Nordic countries The area includes land both inside and outside of the municipality of Stockholm A common statistical definition between the Nordic countries was agreed in 1960 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 Despite the common definition the different statistical offices have different approaches to carrying out these measurements resulting in slight differences between countries 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 byomrader 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 byomrade of Aarhus eurostat ec This suggests that direct comparisons between Finland and the other Nordic countries may be problematic ListRank City urban settlement Urban area Metropolitan Eurostat Functional Urban Area Notes Image Country1 Stockholm 1 611 776 2 417 124 Capital of Sweden Municipality 978 770 Sweden2 Copenhagen 1 366 301 2 135 634 see notes Capital of Denmark Municipality 660 842 2023 Denmark3 Helsinki 1 337 786 1 738 375 Capital of Finland Municipality 684 589 Finland4 Oslo 1 098 061 1 588 457 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 Norway5 Gothenburg 607 882 1 070 935 Municipality 599 305 Sweden6 Aarhus 367 095 845 971 Municipality 367 095 Denmark7 Malmo 357 377 707 120 Eurostat 658 050 2017 Municipality 328 494 Sweden8 Tampere 347 470 440 372 Eurostat 369 525 Municipality 260 358 Most populous inland city in the Nordic countries Finland9 Turku 291 230 337 751 Municipality 206 035 Finland10 Bergen 272 125 420 000 citation needed 395 338 2013 Eurostat Municipality 285 911 Metropolitan area 377 116 Norway11 Oulu 257 670 258 241 Municipality 216 194 Finland12 Reykjavik 242 995 Capital of Iceland Municipality 135 688 Urban area includes all or most of the population of 5 additional municipalities in the Capital region Iceland13 Stavanger Sandnes 239 055 319 822 Municipality 144 223 Metropolitan area 297 569 Conurbation includes the neighbouring municipalities Sandnes Randaberg and Sola Norway14 Trondheim 198 777 310 052 2022 264 396 2013 Eurostat Municipality 211 246 Norway15 Odense 178 210 485 672 Municipality 213 558 Denmark16 Uppsala 168 096 253 704 288 203 Municipality 225 164 Sweden17 Aalborg 134 672 580 272 Includes Norresundby Municipality 205 809 Denmark18 Jyvaskyla 143 420 212 500 Municipality 149 269 Finland19 Lahti 119 068 191 460 Municipality 121 383 Finland20 Fredrikstad Sarpsborg 116 373 Fredrikstad 83 220 Sarpsborg 57 483 Norway21 Vasteras 110 877 173 322 195 675 Municipality 137 207 Sweden22 Drammen 109 416 Includes parts of Ovre Eiker Lier and Royken Norway23 Orebro 107 038 208 241 Municipality 135 460 Sweden24 Linkoping 104 232 177 308 Municipality 146 416 Sweden25 Helsingborg 97 122 272 873 Municipality 129 177 Sweden26 Porsgrunn Skien 92 753 Includes Porsgrunn and Skien and a part of Bamble Norway27 Jonkoping 112 766 Municipality 127 382 Sweden28 Kuopio 88 520 167 753 Municipality 125 668 Finland29 Norrkoping 87 247 183 100 Municipality 130 050 Sweden30 Pori 84 190 Municipality 83 316 Finland31 Lund 82 800 Municipality 110 488 Included in Stormalmo Malmo Metropolitan Area Sweden32 Umea 79 594 Municipality 115 473 Sweden33 Esbjerg 72 398 Municipality 116 032 Denmark34 Gavle 71 033 184 346 Municipality 95 055 Metropolitan area together with Sandviken Sweden35 Joensuu 67 811 Municipality 78 743 Finland36 Vaasa 67 690 Municipality 70 374 Finland37 Boras 66 273 Municipality 103 294 Sweden38 Eskilstuna 64 679 209 028 Municipality 96 311 Sweden39 Sodertalje 64 619 Municipality 86 246 No independent area part of Greater Stockholm Sweden40 Randers 62 687 Municipality 98 265 Denmark41 Karlstad 61 685 179 486 Municipality 85 753 Sweden42 Kristiansand 112 725 Municipality 88 320 Norway43 Vaxjo 60 887 156 629 Municipality 83 005 Sweden44 Taby 61 272 Municipality 63 789 No independent area part of Greater Stockholm Sweden45 Kolding 60 508 Municipality 92 515 Denmark46 Halmstad 58 577 134 156 Municipality 91 800 Sweden47 Vejle 56 567 Municipality 114 140 Denmark48 Horsens 55 884 Municipality 85 662 Denmark49 Lappeenranta 55 743 Municipality 73 369 Finland50 Rovaniemi 52 753 Municipality 65 738 Finland51 Kotka 51 704 Municipality 50 210 Finland52 Sundsvall 50 712 125 812 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 and 2018 the Danish data is from 2014 the Swedish is from 2010 and the Finnish is from 2017 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 alsoUrban 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 populationNotesFor 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 Nationalencyklopedin Tatort 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 Folkmangden efter region civilstand alder och kon Ar 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 Tatorter efter folkmangd och folktathet 2019 Retrieved 27 november 2020 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 nyttar var 5 258 000 ssb no in Norwegian Nynorsk Retrieved 2017 12 22 SCB Statistikmyndigheten 2022 04 08 Tatorter i Sverige 1 Folkmangd i Goteborgsregionen 2022 Statistikbanken www statbank dk Statistikbanken www statistikbanken dk Urban settlements by population and population density 31 Dec 2017 Archived from the original on 18 July 2018 Retrieved 11 February 2018 Seutukuntien ennakkovakiluku 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 Population 1 January by urban rural areas DISCONTINUED StatBank Denmark data and statistics www statistikbanken dk table www statistikdatabasen scb se Retrieved 2017 12 22 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
