Where Norwegian Is Spoken Beyond Norway

Norwegian (Bokmål/Nynorsk) is officially recognized or has significant communities in:

1. Nordic Council Area (Mutual Intelligibility):
   • Denmark: ~50k speakers (Southern Jutland border region; official minority language).
   • Sweden: ~20k (Värmland, Dalarna, Stockholm; recognized minority).
   • Finland: ~5k (mostly Åland Islands; recognized).
   • Iceland: Not official, but widely understood (shared Norse roots; mandatory Danish/Norwegian in schools historically).
2. Overseas Diaspora (Heritage Speakers):
   • USA: ~500k (Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Washington, California — peak 1900–1920 immigration).
   • Canada: ~100k (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario).
   • Brazil: Small communities (Rio Grande do Sul).
   • Argentina: Small communities.
3. Special Territory:
   • Svalbard (Norway): Norwegian official; Russian also used.

Note: Norwegian, Danish, Swedish form a dialect continuum—mutually intelligible to high degree. "Scandinavian" is often used as a cover term.