Eastern Norway

Historical population Year Pop. ±% 1769 329,041 — 1951 1,584,045 +381.4% 1960 1,733,346 +9.4% 1970 1,895,148 +9.3% 1980 1,982,131 +4.6% 1990 2,064,971 +4.2% 2000 2,207,164 +6.9% 2010 2,430,512 +10.1% 2020 2,708,720 +11.4% 2030 2,970,713 +9.7% Source: Statistics Norway [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Religion in Eastern Norway religion percent Christianity   80.11% Islam   3.25% Buddhism   0.35% Other   16.29%

Eastern Norway (Bokmål: Østlandet, Nynorsk: Austlandet) is the geographical region of the south-eastern part of Norway. It consists of the counties Telemark, Vestfold, Østfold, Akershus, Oslo, Buskerud, Oppland and Hedmark.

Eastern Norway is by far the most populous region of Norway. It contains the country's capital, Oslo, which is Norway's most populous city.

In Norwegian, the region is called Østlandet and Austlandet ("East Land") in contrast to Vestlandet ("West Land").

Geography

As of 2010, the region had 2,454,700 inhabitants. In 2014, Norway's population was 5,156,450.

The region is bounded by mountains in the north and west, the Swedish border to the east and by Viken and Skagerrak to the south. The border towards Sørlandet is less obvious.

The mountains reach a height of 2469 metres in the Jotunheimen mountain range, the highest point in the Nordic countries (excluding Greenland). Other prominent mountain ranges include part of the Dovrefjell in the far north of the region, the Rondane north east of Lillehammer and others. The high plateau of Hardangervidda extends into Western Norway.

Valleys cut deep into the mountains, from east to west the main valleys are Østerdal, Gudbrandsdal, Valdres, Hallingdal, Numedal and the many valleys of Telemark. Østerdalen is surrounded by mostly flat areas of conifer forests, but the others are all deeply cut into the mountains.

Most of eastern Norway's southern half is dominated of rolling hills with pine and spruce forests, and agricultural land down in the valleys

The area around the Oslo fjord and towards the north east are comparatively flat, and there are patches of intensely cultivated lands, notably Hedmarken, Toten, Hadeland, Ringerike and others. The population density in the flatlands is the highest in the nation, and some 40% of the nation's population lives within 200 km of Oslo. Numerous islands shelter the coasts, creating a paradise for swimmers and boaters in the summer.