African immigration to Norway

African Norwegians

Amal Aden Stella Mwangi
Total population
131,700[1] (2019 Official Norway estimate) 2.45% of the Norwegian population
Regions with significant populations
Oslo
Languages
Norwegian, Afroasiatic languages, Niger–Congo languages, Nilo-Saharan languages
Religion
Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Traditional African religions

African immigration to Norway (Norwegian: Afrikaner) refers to immigrants to Norway from Africa. An estimated 131,700 people in Norway are either first or second generation immigrants from Africa. Most of these have a background as asylum seekers.^[1]

Distribution[]

North and Northeast Africans[]

Immigration from countries in Africa to Norway grew slightly from the end of the 1980s, but grew markedly from 2000 onwards.^{[citation needed]} The growth is usually attributed mainly to a rise in the number of immigrants from North and Northeast Africa, including Somalia (25,496), Morocco (8,058), Eritrea (5,789) and Ethiopia (5,156).^[2]

Other Africans[]

Compared with North and Northeast Africans, the percentage of Africans from other regions as a proportion of recent^{[clarification needed]} immigrants to Norway from Africa is relatively low.

Most other Africans in Norway come from West Africa, especially Ghana (2,034), Gambia (1,409) and Nigeria (1,247).^[2] There is also a sizeable population of Africans from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2,050).

Demographics[]

Country of origin[]

Most African Norwegians have a background from the following countries:

Country	Population (1970)[3]	Population (1980)	Population (1990)	Population (2000)[4]	Population (2010)[2]	Population (2014) [1]	Increase (2010–2014)
Total	1,179	3,188	10,069	26,521	67,168	97,152	44.64%
Somalia	3	26	1,303	8,386	25,496	35,912	40.85%
Eritrea	0	3	18	733	5,789	14,397	148.70%
Morocco	401	1,130	2,380	5,409	8,058	9,111	13.07%
Ethiopia	8	214	1,398	2,525	5,156	7,807	51.42%
Sudan	6	25	57	371	1,318	3,092	134.60%
DR Congo	12	12	83	236	2,050	2,590	26.34%
Ghana	8	29	730	1,341	2,034	2,424	19.17%
Nigeria	11	108	284	504	1,247	1,964	57.50%
Algeria	64	130	435	880	1,497	1,637	9.35%
Kenya	16	114	303	642	1,275	1,636	28.31%
Gambia	19	143	568	984	1,409	1,606	13.98%
Burundi	0	0	3	62	1,119	1,350	20.64%
Tunisia	39	100	358	607	1,106	1,279	15.64%
Liberia	3	8	23	26	1,075	1,220	13.49%
Uganda	11	176	246	473	903	1,167	29.24%
Egypt	83	170	281	399	806	1,118	38.71%

Regional distribution[]

Norwegians with African background live in the following regions:

County	African Norwegian[5]	Percent of county population
Oslo	40,438	5.94%
Akershus	13,431	2.15%
Hordaland	10,376	1.98%
Rogaland	9,660	2.03%
Østfold	6,614	2.22%
Buskerud	6,149	2.17%
Sør-Trøndelag	3,781*	1.23%*
Nordland	4,508	1.85%
Telemark	4,156	2.40%
Vestfold	3,990	1.59%
Troms	3,422	2.04%
Hedmark	3,490	1.77%
Oppland	3,646	1.92%
Vest-Agder	3,990	2.13%
Møre og Romsdal	4,108	1.55%
Nord-Trøndelag	1,855*	1.37%*
Sogn og Fjordane	1,829	1.67%
Aust-Agder	1,939	1.65%
Finnmark	1,202	1.58%

The " * " symbol demarcates figures from 2010

Notable people[]

See also[]

• African immigration to Europe
• Afro-Norwegian
• Eritreans in Norway
• Ethiopians in Norway
• Moroccans in Norway
• Somalis in Norway
• Sudanese in Norway

References[]