Viken (county)

Viken[1] is a county in Eastern Norway that was established on 1 January 2020 by the merger of Akershus, Buskerud and Østfold with the addition of three other municipalities.

Both its creation and its name are subjects of strong controversy and Viken is opposed by the counties concerned; the elected regional assembly and county executive of Viken have declared the disestablishment of Viken in 2021 as the main political goal of Viken, while refusing to do anything to merge the counties in practice. The governing platform of Viken describes Viken as “an ill-considered construction”. In practice, the existing counties will continue to function with separate county administrations based on their existing infrastructure, in anticipation of their formal reestablishment.[2] The county seat is Oslo, which has been the seat of Akershus county since the middle ages. All of Viken is located within the historical Akershus, which included most of Eastern Norway.