Bergen (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbæ̀rɡn̩] ⓘ, locally [ˈbæ̂ʁgæn]), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway.

The Gulf Stream keeps the sea relatively warm, considering the latitude, and the mountains protect the city from cold winds from the north, north-east and east.

The city of Bergen was traditionally thought to have been founded by king Olav Kyrre, son of Harald Hardråde in 1070 AD,[8] four years after the Viking Age in England ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge.

[9] Bergen gradually assumed the function of capital of Norway in the early 13th century, as the first city where a rudimentary central administration was established.

[12] The Hanseatic merchants lived in their own separate quarter of the town, where Middle Low German was used, enjoying exclusive rights to trade with the northern fishermen who each summer sailed to Bergen.

The Norwegian resistance movement groups in Bergen were Saborg, Milorg, "Theta-gruppen", Sivorg, Stein-organisasjonen and the Communist Party.

[25] On 20 April 1944, during the German occupation, the Dutch cargo ship Voorbode anchored off the Bergenhus Fortress, loaded with over 120 tons of explosives, and blew up, killing at least 150 people and damaging historic buildings.

Bergen is also well known in Norway for the Isdal Woman (Norwegian: Isdalskvinnen), an unidentified person who was found dead at Isdalen ("Ice Valley") on 29 November 1970.

[26] The unsolved case encouraged international speculation over the years and it remains one of the most profound mysteries in recent Norwegian history.

The Old Norse forms of the name were Bergvin [ˈberɡˌwin] and Bjǫrgvin [ˈbjɔrɡˌwin] (and in Icelandic and Faroese the city is still called Björgvin).

The playwright Ludvig Holberg, inspired by the seven hills of Rome, decided that his home town must be blessed with a corresponding seven mountains, though locals debate which seven they are.

Bergen borders the municipalities Alver and Osterøy to the north, Vaksdal and Samnanger to the east, Os (Bjørnafjorden) and Austevoll to the south, and Øygarden and Askøy to the west.

Bergen has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb, Trewartha: Dolk), with mild summers and cool winters.

From here, the urban area of Bergen extends to the north, west and south, and to its east is a large mountain massif.

Simultaneously, an urbanization process was taking place in Solheimsviken in Årstad, at that time outside the Bergen municipality, centred on the large industrial activity in the area.

Like similar areas in Oslo (e.g. Lambertseter), Fyllingsdalen was developed into a modern suburb with large apartment buildings, mid-rises, and some single-family homes, in the 1960s and 1970s.

[69][70] As part of the modernisation wave of the 1950s and 1960s, and due to damage caused by World War II, the city government ambitiously planned redevelopment of many areas in central Bergen.

[68] Demolition of old buildings and occasionally whole city blocks is still taking place, the most recent major example being the 2007 razing of Jonsvollskvartalet at Nøstet.

Clockwise, starting with the northernmost, the boroughs are Åsane, Arna, Fana, Ytrebygda, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg, Årstad and Bergenhus.

Michelsen Institute is an independent research foundation established in 1930 focusing on human rights and development issues.

Bergen is the main base for the Royal Norwegian Navy (at Haakonsvern) and its international airport Flesland is the main heliport for the Norwegian North Sea oil and gas industry, from where thousands of offshore workers commute to their work places onboard oil and gas rigs and platforms.

The airport serves as a hub for Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Widerøe; there are direct flights to 20 domestic and 53 international destinations.

[137] Bergen is one of the smallest cities in Europe to have both tram and trolleybus electric urban transport systems simultaneously [citation needed].

Local newspapers are Fanaposten for Fana, Sydvesten for Laksevåg and Fyllingsdalen and Bygdanytt for Arna and the neighbouring municipality Osterøy.

[149] Buekorps is a unique feature of Bergen culture, consisting of boys aged from 7 to 21 parading with imitation weapons and snare drums.

This led to large parts of the German-inspired vocabulary disappearing and pronunciations shifting slightly towards East Norwegian.

Other internationally well-received artists also originating from Bergen include Aurora, Sondre Lerche, Kygo, Boy Pablo and Alan Walker.

[163] The Madam Felle (1831–1908) monument in Sandviken, is in honour of a Norwegian woman of German origin, who in the mid-19th century managed, against the will of the council, to maintain a counter of beer.

The traditional neighbourhoods of Bergen include Bryggen, Eidemarken, Engen, Fjellet, Kalfaret, Ladegården, Løvstakksiden,[165] Marken, Minde, Møhlenpris, Nordnes, Nygård, Nøstet, Sandviken, Sentrum, Skansen, Skuteviken, Strandsiden, Stølen, Sydnes, Verftet, Vågsbunnen, Wergeland,[166] and Ytre Sandviken.

Each year Bergen sells the Christmas tree seen in Newcastle's Haymarket as a sign of the ongoing friendship between the sister cities, which were connected by a ferry service from 1890 to 2008.