There are two different kind of censuses at Digitalarkivet:
1. The National census which started in 1801
National censuses were taken in 1769, 1801, and every tenth year from 1815, up to and including 1875. From 1890 (1891) a population census has been taken every tenth year. All census returns from 1900 and earlier are available for inspection. The books are all located in the National Archives, except for the 1875 and 1900 returns, which are kept in the regional archives.
From a genealogical point of view, the best census is from 1801, because it lists the individual's name, age, occupation, and family status. The census returns from 1865 onward are also useful because they provide information about each person's place of birth, etc. Some of the figures given (in particular those regarding age or year of birth) can be rather inaccurate. The other records provide mostly statistical data. The 1769 census, however, includes some name lists, mostly from northern Norway, and the 1815-45 returns give lists of persons in a few scattered parishes.
For 1870 and 1885 there are census returns only for towns. These records are kept partly in the National Archives and partly in the regional archives.
For which years there are available censuses on Digitalarkivet see the pictures below
But remember not all the censuses cover all of Norway and many of them did NOT count every one in that district.
2. Population rolls (manntall).
The National Archives have preserved a number of records dating from before the introduction of the national census. The most important of these records are the population rolls for 1664-66, which cover only the rural districts. They are entered in two parallel series, one filled in by the parish clergymen, the other by the local law officers. Women engaged in farming are listed, but otherwise only men and boys over a certain age are included. A computer version of the male census returns from 1664-66 has been prepared by the History Department at the University of Bergen.
The population rolls of 1701 list only males in rural districts. Records covering large parts of eastern and southern Norway are missing. (For other population records in the National Archives, see below under county and bailiwick accounts.)
The regional archives also possess, although only in a few cases, a number of complete population records, such as the so-called "sjeleregistre" (the "registers of souls"), which were deposited partly in the ecclesiastical files, partly in the civil files.
