A county municipality ( no, Fylkeskommune) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

public elected body that is responsible for certain public administrative and service tasks within a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. Each county consists of county municipality, with the exception of

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, which is both a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

and a county municipality. The main responsibility of the county municipalities are upper secondary schools, dental care,

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

county roads A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

cultural heritage management Cultural heritage management (CHM) is the vocation and practice of managing cultural heritage. It is a branch of cultural resources management (CRM), although it also draws on the practices of cultural conservation, restoration, museology, arc ...

land use planning Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...

and business development.Lov om kommuner og fylkeskommuner
/ref> Each county council main body is the

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

(''fylkesting''), elected by direct election by all legal residents every fourth year. The next election will be held in 2019. The county councils typically have 30-50 members and meet about six times a year. They are divided into standing committees and an executive board (''fylkesutvalg''), that meet considerably more often. Both the council and executive board are led by the

Chairman of the County Council The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

or County Mayor (''fylkesordfører''). Some counties, including

Nord-Trøndelag Nord-Trøndelag (; "North Trøndelag") was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and S ...

and

Nordland Nordland (; smj, Nordlánnda, sma, Nordlaante, sme, Nordlánda, en, Northland) is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, ...

, have chosen to create a county cabinet (''fylkesråd'') that functions as the head of the executive branch of the county municipalities duties. The cabinet is led by the Chairman of the County Cabinet (''fylkesrådsleder''). The head if the administration is the County Executive (''fylkesrådmann'').

History

The predecessor of the county municipality, the ''Amtkommune'', was established in 1837 when the municipal independence was established. Development of this institution was slow until after 1945, when development accelerated, especially in the 1970s when a number of major reforms were introduced. Before 1964, the members of the county council were appointed by the County Governor, but in 1964 the first indirect elections for the county council were held, when each municipality council was granted the right to appoint members in proportion to their number of residents. In 1976 the County Governor and county municipality were split, and the elected councils introduced, at the same time the Governor was the appointed state representative in the county, with supervisory responsibilities related to the municipalities, and other regulatory tasks. From January 1, 2002 the

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

s and other specialist health care services provided by the county municipalities were transferred to the regional health authorities. In the period 2005-2009 there is work considering the division of tasks between the municipalities and the county municipalities, and the county municipalities and the county governors. One suggestion includes merging the 19 counties to about ten regions, that will include certain tasks administrated by the governors at present.

References

{{County municipalities of Norway County administration of Norway County municipality Government of Norway