Quick answerStavanger is a city in Norway, with 151,669 people inside the city limits in 2025. The wider metropolitan area had about 0.4 million people in 2025. It is best known for the Preikestolen, the Stavanger Cathedral and the Old Stavanger. Its official language is Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk and Sami, and its currency is the Norwegian krone.
Stavanger is the fourth-largest city in Norway, with 151,669 people (2025) and about 368,000 in the wider Stavanger region. It stands on the south-west coast and is known as Norway's oil capital and the gateway to the Preikestolen cliff.
Key facts
| Country | Norway |
|---|---|
| Population (city) | 151,669 (2025) |
| Population (metro) | 368,081 (2025) · Greater Stavanger Region (SSB, 2026) |
| Time zone | Europe/Oslo |
| Language | Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Sami |
| Currency | Norwegian krone (NOK, kr) |
| Coordinates | 58.97° N, 5.7314° E |
Overview
Stavanger is Norway's fourth-largest city, with 151,669 people in 2025, and the centre of a region of about 368,000 people. It stands on the south-west coast, at the mouth of the Stavangerfjord, and it has been Norway's oil capital since the Ekofisk field was found in the North Sea in 1969.
Stavanger is much older than oil: its cathedral, built around 1125, is the oldest in Norway, and the white wooden houses of Old Stavanger are among the best-preserved in the country. The city is also the gateway to the Lysefjord and the Preikestolen cliff, which rises 604 metres above the fjord and is one of Norway's most photographed sights. The Norwegian Petroleum Museum on the harbourfront tells the story of the oil age, and the city's food festival, Gladmat, is one of the largest in Scandinavia.
What Stavanger is known for
- Preikestolen
- Stavanger Cathedral
- Old Stavanger
- Oil industry
- Lysefjord
Landmarks
- Stavanger Cathedral
- Old Stavanger (Gamle Stavanger)
- Preikestolen
- Norwegian Petroleum Museum
- Lysefjord
- Flor & Fjære
Frequently asked questions
What is the population of Stavanger?
Stavanger had 151,669 residents in 2025, according to Statistics Norway, making it the fourth-largest city in Norway by municipality. The wider Stavanger region had 368,081 people in 2026. The city itself covers only 71 square kilometres, so most of the region lives in the neighbouring towns.
Where is Stavanger and what is it known for?
Stavanger is on the south-west coast of Norway, at the mouth of the Stavangerfjord, about 240 kilometres west of Kristiansand. It is known as Norway's oil capital, for its cathedral from around 1125, for the white wooden houses of Old Stavanger and for the Preikestolen cliff.
Quick quiz
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Keep exploring
- Norway — the country Stavanger is in
- Oslo — another city in Norway
- Bergen — another city in Norway
- Trondheim — another city in Norway
- All cities in Norway
- All countries — the full list
Sources & last updated
Last updated: . Figures are shown with their year; where sources disagree, the value is left out rather than estimated.