[3] At the higher levels of play, ice hockey is primarily concentrated in the southeast areas (Lillehammer in the north to Halden in the south) and the city of Stavanger, and increasingly in the town of Narvik in Northern Norway.

It was founded on September 18, 1934 and became a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) on January 20, 1935.

The first official match was played on 19 February 1933 when SFK Trygg won against Sportsklubben Rapp 4-1 in a break during the 1933 World Allround Speed Skating Championships in Trondheim.

The 1958 Ice Hockey World Championships in Oslo and 1999 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were held on Norway from 1-16 May and the matches were played in Oslo (Jordal Amfi), Hamar (CC Amfi) and Lillehammer (Håkon Hall).

The league consists of a 10-team round robin that play 5 matches against each opponent during the season, which extends from autumn to spring.

The two weakest placed teams at the end of the season enter play-offs to avoid relegation.

The recentmost Norwegian team to play in it was Stavanger Oilers in the 2013–14 IIHF Continental Cup, where they won the tournament.

The series winners then enter a round robin against 9th and 10th in EliteHockey Ligaen, with the 4 teams playing 2 matches each against each other.

The teams did however still have to apply Norwegian Ice Hockey Association for approval to play in 1. divisjon.

Occasionally the winner of the women's 1. divisjon also gets invited to the play-offs, for instance Bergen IK in 2016-17.

As of the 2024-25 season this includes, but is not limited to, Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (Skellefteå AIK) and Jonas Arntzen (Örebro HK).

The national team is administered by the Norwegian Ice Hockey Federation (NIHF), which was established in 1934.

Most of the 1970s and 1980s were spent in the B-WC (with some shorter stays in the C-WC), but in 1989 Norway won the B-group in the WC at home and thus moved up to the A-WC again.

After relegation in 2001, Norway was promted to the top division (the former A-VM) in 2005 and has played there since as of the 2025 IIHF World Championship.