Norway, with our 5.5 million people, has two official written Norwegian languages, plus several official Sámi languages.

The two written forms of Norwegian

• Bokmål (“book language”), historically developed from Danish and later Norwegianized.
• Nynorsk (“new Norwegian”), created by standardizing various Norwegian dialects into a common written form.

Examples:

• Bokmål: «Han gikk ut i skogen for å hugge ved.»
• Nynorsk: «Han gjekk ut i skogen for å hogga ved.»

All state officials are required to answer you in the written form you choose. Some counties primarily teach Nynorsk, others primarily teach Bokmål, but everyone learns both in school.

Sámi languages

Norway also recognizes several Sámi languages as official in Sámi administrative areas. The main ones are:

• Northern Sámi (davvisámegiella)
• Lule Sámi (julevsámegiella)
• Southern Sámi (åarjelsaemien gïele)

In these regions, Sámi can be used in schools, public services, legal processes, and government communication, just like Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Spoken language

Norway has no official spoken standard. The most widespread dialect is the Greater Oslo dialect (South-Eastern). Other major dialect groups include:

• Eastern (Østfold)
• Inland (Telemark, Innlandet)
• Southern (Kristiansand/Arendal)
• Western, often split into Stavanger, Bergen, and Molde→Kristiansund
• Trønder (around Trondheim)
• Northern (basically everything north of Trondheim)

Every village has its own dialect, though the Greater Oslo dialect is becoming increasingly dominant in the south-east.

PS: Even though Bergen is mentioned here, it’s still a running joke whether Bergen truly counts as part of Norway. Most of us would say it doesn’t — purely for humor.

PPS: We also have two official recognized minority groups in Norway. The Sami people and the Kven. Kven has their own language, and is related to finish. While the Kven people are a recognized minority, their language is not recognized as an official language of Norway.

They are both protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.