Civita (think tank)

Karl Johans gate is the main street of the city of Oslo, Norway. The street was named in honor of King Charles III John, who was also King of Sweden as Charles XIV John.Karl Johans gate is a composite of several older streets that used to be separate thoroughfares. The eastern section was part of Christian IV's original city near the ramparts surrounding the city. When the ramparts were removed to make way for Oslo Cathedral, three separate sections eventually became Østre Gade. The wider western section was built during the 1840s as an avenue connecting the newly erected Norwegian Royal Palace with the rest of the city. In 1852, it was named Karl Johans gate in honor of the recently deceased king. His equestrian statue, by sculptor Brynjulf Bergslien, was later erected during 1875 in front of the Royal Palace. When the Norwegian parliament building was completed in 1866 at the junction of the two formerly separate streets, the two streets were joined and the whole length was named Karl Johans gate. In its current route, it connects Oslo Central Station, the main railroad station in Oslo, and the Royal Palace. The route changes its direction and width slightly halfway between these two points, at Egertorget, a square at the intersection of Karl Johans gate and Øvre Slottsgate. This is the highest point and, here, both ends of the street may be seen. The street is 1,020 metres long; in addition there are 300 metres of direct extensions, Palace Hill (Slottsbakken) and Palace Place (Slottsplassen). The street includes many of Oslo's tourist attractions: In addition to the Royal Palace, Central Station and Stortinget, there are the National Theatre, the old University Buildings, the Palace Park and the pond ("Spikersuppa") at Eidsvolls plass, which serves as a skating rink in winter. Oslo Cathedral's lower end is surrounded by the Bazaar Market (Basarene ved Oslo domkirke), which is integrated with the historic Fire Watch (Brannvakta) that served as Oslo's main fire station from 1860 until 1939.

The Common Tunnel (Norwegian: Fellestunnelen), sometimes called the Common Line (Fellesstrekningen), is a 7.3-kilometer (4.5 mi) long tunnel of the Oslo Metro which runs through the city center of Oslo, Norway. The name derives from the fact that all five lines of the metro use the tunnel, which runs from Majorstuen to Tøyen. The section has six stations, including the four busiest on the metro. The tunnel was first built as two separate tunnels which were later connected. The Holmenkolbanen company opened the western section of the tunnel from Majorstuen via Valkyrie plass to Nationaltheatret in 1928. In 1966, the Oslo Metro opened, including the tunnel from Tøyen via Grønland to Jernbanetorget. In 1977, the eastern end was extended to Sentrum, but the extension was closed in 1983 because of water leakages. In 1987, the Sentrum station reopened as Stortinget, and became the terminus of both the western and eastern lines. By 1993, the western end had been upgraded to metro standard, Valkyrie plass was closed, and the first trains ran through the whole tunnel. The section from Tøyen to Brynseng, although not completely located within the tunnel, is considered part of the Common Line. At Majorstuen, the line splits into three; the Røa Line, the Holmenkollen Line and the Sognsvann Line. At Tøyen, the line splits into the Lambertseter Line and the Grorud Line. The tunnel is the bottleneck of the metro, allowing 24 trains per hour in each direction west of Stortinget, and 28 east of Stortinget.

Stortinget is an underground rapid transit station on the Common Line of the Oslo Metro, Norway. It is located in the heart of the city center, next to the Parliament of Norway Building (Stortinget). The station is served by all of the five lines of the metro. At the street level, the station serves tram routes 11, 12, 13, 17, 18 and 19. Lines 11, 12 and 13 serves Øvre Slottsgate on the Vika Line while Lines 17, 18 and 19 stops at Tinghuset in the Ullevål Hageby Line. Also close to the station, there is a stop named Prof. Aschehougs gate that stops line FB5 to Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. Stortinget is 'kilometer marker zero' for the metro network and is owned by Sporveien T-banen. There has been a tram stop at Tinghuset since the opening of the Oslo Tramway, in 1875. The rapid transit station opened as Sentrum in 1977, and was connected to the eastern network of the metro. It was forced to close in 1983 due to leaks. It took the new name following the 1987 re-opening; this time it was also connected to the western network. The station has four platforms; originally two were used for the eastern trains and two for the western ones. Since 1993, trains have passed through the station.

The Storting (Norwegian: Stortinget [ˈstûːʈɪŋə]) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation in nineteen multi-seat constituencies. A member of Stortinget is known in Norwegian as a stortingsrepresentant, literally "Storting representative".The assembly is led by a president and, since 2009, five vice presidents: the presidium. The members are allocated to twelve standing committees as well as four procedural committees. Three ombudsmen are directly subordinate to parliament: the Parliamentary Intelligence Oversight Committee and the Office of the Auditor General. Parliamentarianism was established in 1884, with the Storting operating a form of "qualified unicameralism", in which it divided its membership into two internal chambers making Norway a de facto bicameral parliament, the Lagting and the Odelsting. Following a constitutional amendment in 2007, this was abolished, taking effect following the 2009 election.Following the 2021 election, ten parties are represented in parliament: the Labour Party (48), the Conservative Party (36), the Centre Party (28), the Progress Party (21), the Socialist Left Party (13), the Red Party (8), the Liberal Party (8), the Christian Democratic Party (3), the Green Party (3), and the Patient Focus Party (1). Since 2021, Masud Gharahkhani has been President of the Storting.

Egertorget is a pedestrian mall located at the intersection of Karl Johans gate and Øvre Slottsgate in Oslo, Norway.

Øvre Slottsgate is a tram/light rail station on the Vika Line. The station is served by lines 11, 12 and 13. Thus, it is operated with SL79 high-floor trams and SL95 low-floor trams. Øvre Slottsgate is a short minute walk from bus stations Kvadraturen, Wessels Plass and the now defunct bus and tram stop, Christiania Torv. Nationaltheatret (11,13) and Kontraskjæret (12) are stations succeeding Øvre Slottsgate westbound, while Dronningens gate succeeds Øvre Slottsgate eastbound. The station is also close to the Stortinget station, so it is easy to transfer between the tramway and the metro.

Grand Hotel is a hotel in Oslo, Norway. The hotel is best known as the annual venue of the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Grand Hotel is situated in a very central location on the main thoroughfare, the Karl Johans gate, between the Norwegian Parliament building and the Royal Palace. It is within walking distance of Oslo's main shopping and cultural areas, as well as its sights. The hotel was opened in 1874 and is one of the most traditional hotels in Norway.Each year the hotel hosts the annual Nobel Peace Prize banquet, and the prize winners stay in the Nobel suite at the hotel. Roald Dahl stayed here when young and where his inspiration came from to do his 1984 autobiographical book, Boy: Tales of Childhood. The hotel has several restaurants. These include "Grand Café", where Henrik Ibsen used to eat every day; the "Restaurant Julius Fritzner", named after Julius Fritzner, the man who founded the hotel in 1874; and "Palmen Restaurant", a traditional and stylish lunch restaurant.Grand Hotel is a classical style building with white granite facade and clock tower. The hotel has 290 rooms. The hotel is affiliated with Rica Hotels, a chain of approx. 90 hotels located in Norway and Sweden.

Christiania Torv is a former tram stop on the Oslo Tramway. Located in Kvadraturen in downtown of Oslo, it was opened by Oslo Sporveier in 1994 as a part of the Vika Line. It is served by line 12.

Eidsvolls plass ("Eidsvoll Square") is a square and park in Oslo, Norway, located west of the Parliament of Norway Building, south of Karl Johans gate and east of Studenterlunden and the National Theatre. It has been referred to as "the National Mall of Norway".

Oslo Nye Teater is a theater located in Oslo, Norway. The theater has its main stage in its own theater house at Rosenkrantz' gate 10. It is one of Norway's most visited theatres. Oslo Nye Teater AS is wholly owned by Oslo Municipality.

Steen & Strøm Magasin is a department store situated in Nedre Slottsgate in the center of Oslo, Norway. The department store has over 500 Norwegian and international brands. Steen & Strøm Magasin consists of over 33,000 square meters of floor spaces.

Oslo ( OZ-loh, US also OSS-loh, Norwegian: [ˈʊ̂ʂlʊ ] (listen) or [ˈʊ̂slʊ, ˈʊ̀ʂlʊ]; Southern Sami: Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of 702,543 in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,019,513 in 2019, and the metropolitan area had an estimated population of 1,546,706 in 2021.During the Viking Age the area was part of Viken. Oslo was founded as a city at the end of the Viking Age in 1040 under the name Ánslo, and established as a kaupstad or trading place in 1048 by Harald Hardrada. The city was elevated to a bishopric in 1070 and a capital under Haakon V of Norway around 1300. Personal unions with Denmark from 1397 to 1523 and again from 1536 to 1814 reduced its influence. After being destroyed by a fire in 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV, a new city was built closer to Akershus Fortress and named Christiania in honour of the king. It became a municipality (formannskapsdistrikt) on 1 January 1838. The city functioned as the capital of Norway during the 1814–1905 union between Sweden and Norway. From 1877, the city's name was spelled Kristiania in government usage, a spelling that was adopted by the municipal authorities in 1897. In 1925, the city, after incorporating the village retaining its former name, was renamed Oslo. In 1948 Oslo merged with Aker, a municipality which surrounded the capital and which was 27 times larger, thus creating the modern, much larger Oslo municipality. Oslo is the economic and governmental centre of Norway. The city is also a hub of Norwegian trade, banking, industry and shipping. It is an important centre for maritime industries and maritime trade in Europe. The city is home to many companies within the maritime sector, some of which are among the world's largest shipping companies, shipbrokers and maritime insurance brokers. Oslo is a pilot city of the Council of Europe and the European Commission intercultural cities programme. Oslo is considered a global city and was ranked "Beta World City" in studies carried out by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008. It was ranked number one in terms of quality of life among European large cities in the European Cities of the Future 2012 report by fDi magazine. A survey conducted by ECA International in 2011 placed Oslo as the second most expensive city in the world for living expenses after Tokyo. In 2013 Oslo tied with the Australian city of Melbourne as the fourth most expensive city in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)'s Worldwide Cost of Living study. Oslo was ranked as the 24th most liveable city in the world by Monocle magazine.Oslo's population was increasing at record rates during the early 2000s, making it the fastest growing major city in Europe at the time. This growth stems for the most part from international immigration and related high birth rates, but also from intra-national migration. By 2010 the immigrant population in the city was growing somewhat faster than the Norwegian population, and in the city proper this had become more than 25% of the total population if the children of immigrant parents are included.