Bergen

Visit Bergen, which for one thousand years has been the destination of travellers from all around the world. Bergen is second largest city in Norway, with over 245 000 inhabitants and situated on the west coast of Norway. Bergen is the gateway to the fjords.

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of 264,700 as of March 4, 2012. Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of 389,400 as of March 4, 2012.

Bergen is located in the county of Hordaland on the south-western coast of Norway. It is an important cultural hub in its region, recognized as the unofficial capital of Western Norway and sometimes also referred to as the Atlantic coast capital of Norway.

Bergen's inter-municipal harbour, Port of Bergen, is by far Norway's largest and one of Europe's largest ports.

The city was one of nine European cities honoured with the title of European Capital of Culture in the Millennium year.

Bergen features a temperate oceanic climate with relatively mild winters and cool summers. Despite being so far north, Bergen's weather is relatively mild. In the winter, Bergen is one of the warmest cities in Norway, caused by the Gulf Stream. The city is located further north than Saint Petersburg, yet winters are much warmer in Bergen than St. Petersburg.

Bergen experiences plentiful rainfall, with annual precipitation measuring 2,250 mm (89 in) on average. This is because the city is surrounded by mountains that cause moist North Atlantic air to undergo orographic lift, which yields abundant rainfall. Rain fell every day between 29 October 2006 and 21 January 2007, 85 consecutive days. In Bergen, precipitation is plentiful and heavy rain can happen at any time of the year. The highest temperature ever recorded was 31.8 °C, a record that dates back to 1947. The lowest ever recorded is -16.3 °C, in 1987.

The high precipitation is often used in the marketing of the city, and figures to a degree on postcards sold in the city. For some time there were umbrella vending machines in the city, but these did not turn out to be a success.