Geonorge Norway's National Geodata Portal (Kartverket)

Overview

Geonorge is Norway's official national geodata portal, operated by Kartverket (the Norwegian Mapping Authority). The portal serves as the primary national platform for searching, viewing, and downloading public geospatial data for Norway, making open geographic datasets available to government agencies, businesses, researchers, and the public.

History and Background

Kartverket is Norway's national mapping agency, established in 1773 as the oldest technical government agency in the country. It operates under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and is headquartered in Hønefoss. Geonorge was developed as part of Norway's national Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) strategy, aligned with the EU INSPIRE Directive and the Norway Digital initiative launched in the early 2000s, which brought together over 490 public and private organizations to standardize and share geographic data.

Collections and Holdings

Geonorge provides access to a wide range of national datasets including topographical land data (N50 to N5000 scales), property data, administrative and cadastral boundaries, road networks with addresses, national elevation models, place name data, historical maps, marine geospatial data, hiking trails, and official addresses. Data are available in multiple formats including ESRI File Geodatabase, GML, SOSI, and PostGIS. Kartverket also provides WMS, WFS, and API services for system developers. Historical maps can be freely downloaded and printed.

Access and Usage

Geonorge is freely accessible online with English-language support. Open datasets may be downloaded at no cost for non-commercial and research purposes. An API is available for developers integrating geographic data into applications. Kartverket also provides commercial mapping services and oversees the National Land Registry.