Bodø Tromsø Harstad Mo i Rana Tromsdalen This is what the list of Northern Norway’s largest cities looks like in Statistics Norway’s overview. And the reactions have not been long in coming. Because it has always been Tromsø that has been the “big brother” in the north, and the rivalry between Tromsø and Bodø apparently never ends. But SSB believes that what most people see as the city of Tromsø is actually three different urban areas. In 2022, the number of inhabitants in what the agency sees as the conurbation of Tromsø was 41,434 people, while the conurbation of Bodø has 42,662. Tromsø municipality has just over 77,000 inhabitants, while Bodø has 53,000. The vast majority will probably think that Tromsø also includes Tromsdalen and Kvaløysletta, the areas that lie east and west of the island respectively. Photo taken from Tromsø center north. On the other side of the bridge is Tromsdalen, which SSB therefore considers a separate agglomeration. Photo: Bernt Olsen / Bernt Olsen Takes off online SSB’s ranking is really nothing new. But after Avisa Nordland mentioned the case this year, the discussion has raged among the Nordlanders on social media. “Might as well just shut down the whole of Tromsø now. Bodø is and will be Northern Norway’s largest city and CAPITAL,” writes a Twitter user. Others call SSB’s overview “pure parody”, and one goes so far as to call it “Bodøpropaganda”. At the same time, the editor of Nordlys (with an office in Tromsø) has written a heated comment about SSB’s “hopeless” practice. – This incomprehensible game with numbers again produces crazy results, such as Bodø suddenly being a bigger city than Tromsø. It’s not just questionable. It is, as we all know, completely wrong, writes editor Helge Nitteberg. At least there is no doubt about which football team is the biggest in the north, after several years where Bodø/Glimt have played havoc with both Norwegian and international teams. Photo: Annika Byrde / NTB – Does not reflect reality Nitteberg hints to news that it is precisely “Bodø propaganda” that he fears. The editor believes that such statistics, which he believes are “factually wrong”, can be exploited politically. – A statistic cannot do it alone. But repeated erroneous statistics, which in this case Statistics Norway has done for many years in a row, combined with a sender who misuses the statistics to present something in a certain way, can also help to influence political decisions. Nitteberg points out that both state and private investments, in addition to other projects that can ensure growth in a part of the country that is struggling demographically, are being fought hard. Nordlys editor Helge Nitteberg believes that Statistics Norway should think about whether these statistics actually have any value. Photo: Ole Åsheim / Nordlys – There has been a story telling in Bodø over many years where it has been about describing Bodø in positive terms, and in that also speaking up about its own size. And at the same time like to talk down Tromsø’s size, says the editor. – It is not related to the reality of most people. I think you have to work at SSB or be from Bodø to believe these statistics. And even people in Bodø don’t really believe in it, he says. SSB: – Continually thinking about change Senior advisor at SSB, Even Høydahl, reveals that it was actually a housing survey that in 1960 came up with the definition for how SSB defines urban areas. Until 2013, Statistics Norway refrained from using any form of discretion and gave the rules total power. – Since then, they have been a bit irritated up in Tromsø. Because then Bodø became the biggest, says Høydahl. As for Nitteberg’s concerns about the statistics, Høydahl believes that the Nordlys editor can take it easy. Even Høydahl in SSB, incidentally also a northerner, can to some extent understand the frustration of Tromsøværingers and their need to be defined as the largest in the region. Photo: Private – I wouldn’t be worried about that at all. People who make such decisions have enough local knowledge that they know the differences between Tromsø and Bodø, he believes. Høydahl admits that Statistics Norway should perhaps also make a list of the largest cities, to avoid such a representation. But he cannot promise that Statistics Norway will change its practice. – We are constantly thinking about any changes. The world and Norway are constantly changing. It would have been interesting for us to perhaps develop city statistics. For those of us who do this sort of thing, it would have been a fun job, he says and continues: – We clearly see that there is a problem when there is no definition of what a city is, or any city statistics, then it’s a bit like “you take what you’ve got”. It will be a little wrong. Like Nitteberg, he believes that there is no doubt: – Everyone, perhaps with the exception of the occasional Bodo resident, believes that Tromsø is bigger than Bodø. The proportion who live in urban areas is 91 per cent in both municipalities. The only difference is that the center of Tromsø is located on an island, which means that the city is not completely integrated.
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Bodø is larger than Tromsø and thus the largest in Northern Norway, according to SSB – news Troms and Finnmark
