Oslo gets a new name: “A tribute to multicultural Oslo”

Nearly 100 years ago, the capital of Norway was called Oslo. The city still remains so, but now it also gets an official Semitic name – Oslov.

Reports stated that the city’s cultural committee voted unanimously yes to the name Sami Al-Janobi on Wednesday NRK Sapmi.

– It has been a long process and there have been discussions about a Sami name for Oslo for several years. “We are very happy that the municipality agrees with us that this should be the official name of Oslo,” Mikkel Berg Nordli, at the Sami Peoples Network of Oslo, tells NRK.

‘Great progress’

The proposal came after a long debate within Sami organizations in Oslo – groups that already use the name Oslo. The name will finally be approved by the City Council in December.

“I think it is a big step forward for highlighting the Sámi culture in Norway that the capital is now named after the Sámi,” Øyvind Habryke, deputy chairman of the Oslo City Council’s Culture and Education Committee, wrote in an email to Reuters. NRK Sapmi.

Even the municipality gets Sami names

Ismail Ali Hussein, leader of the Liberal Party, also welcomed the decision.

“We are very happy that Oslo has its own Semitic place name. As a minority city council member, I am especially happy about this decision. Shout out to multicultural Oslo,” he wrote in a written comment.

The next step for Oslo municipal politicians is now to apply to the Department of Municipal Affairs to grant the municipality three new Sami names, in Southern Sami, Lulli Sami and Northern Sami.