Kartverket

What Kartverket does

Kartverket (Norwegian Mapping Authority) is the Norwegian state agency responsible for national mapping, cadastre (Matrikkelen), land registry (Grunnboka), nautical charting, official place names, elevation data, and aerial-photography archives. Operating under the Kommunal- og distriktsdepartementet, it serves all of Norway with offices in Hønefoss (headquarters/PO box), Oslo, Bergen, and Stavanger, and through regional county offices. Its core technology stack comprises national geospatial databases, the Matrikkelen cadastre, the Grunnboka land registry, the Sentralt stadnamnregister (SSR) for place names, the Nasjonalt register over luftfartshindre (NRL) for aviation obstacles, marine seabed mapping products, water-level measurement networks, and free WMS/WFS APIs. Distribution is delivered via self-service web platforms (kartverket.no, norgeskart.no, geonorge.no, norgeibilder.no), an authorized distributor network of over 25 resellers, and the Norwegian Hydrographic Service for bathymetric and nautical-chart products.

The business model combines direct government budget appropriation, fee-based tinglysing (property registration) revenue, data licensing through authorized distributors for premium orthophotos and detailed topographical products, and free open-data releases under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Customer segments span Norwegian public administration (all 356+ municipalities, county administrations, and national agencies as the primary segment), maritime operators, construction and surveying professionals, research and education, and the general public. The agency operates two strategic collaboration frameworks: Norge digitalt (a 495-organization public-private data-sharing partnership anchored in the Geodataloven) and Geovekst (a co-funded mapping cooperation with Statens vegvesen, NVE, Bane NOR, Telenor, municipalities, and the Ministry of Agriculture). The estimated societal value of Kartverket's shared solutions is 30 billion NOK.

Name

Kartverket

Legal name

Kartverket (Statens kartverk)

Website

https://kartverket.no

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Kartverket is Norway's national mapping authority, operating the cadastre, land registry, nautical charts, place-name register, and national aerial-photography archive for government, maritime, surveying, and public-sector users across Norway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

National Geospatial Infrastructure and Property Registration

NAICS

Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Administration & Cadastral Services (Public Land Records, Parcel Management) (BPAIANAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

GIS & Spatial Data Management Platforms (BPAMANAK), Geospatial Data Management & Enterprise GIS (Geodatabases, Web GIS, Spatial Analytics) (EUAHAKAC)

Keywords

• National mapping authority
• Property registration services
• Geospatial infrastructure
• Nautical charting
• Cadastral data management

Headquarters

HQ city

Hønefoss

HQ country

Norway

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Primary funding from government budget through Kommunal- og distriktsdepartementet (Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development). Annual reports and allocation letters define funding.
2. Data Licensing and Sales: Revenue from selling detailed geospatial data, orthophotos at detailed scales, and specialized products through authorized distributors.
3. Tinglysing Fees: Fees collected for property registration and document filing services through the tinglysingsregisteret.
4. Free Open Data Services: Core datasets released as open data under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, available free of charge for all users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Kartverket operates Norway's national geospatial infrastructure, maintaining the property registers (Grunnboka and Matrikkelen), producing official topographic maps and nautical charts, and managing national datasets for place names, elevation, aerial photography, and aviation obstacles. The agency delivers these through self-service web portals, open data APIs, fee-based registration services, and a cooperative framework involving 495 partner organizations, with an estimated NOK 30 billion in societal value from shared solutions.

Product overview

Kartverket (the Norwegian Mapping Authority) operates a national infrastructure for geoinformation and property data, organized as a platform-plus-products portfolio. The core comprises three integrated systems: Grunnboka (the national property register) and Matrikkelen (the cadastre), which together form the authoritative source for property ownership, boundaries, and rights in Norway; the national mapping and geodata infrastructure serving all of Norway through products such as Norgeskart.no (digital map portal), Norge i bilder (orthophoto and historical aerial imagery), Geonorge (the national map data portal), Høydedata.no (elevation data), and historical map archives; and sector-specific offerings including sea charts, the Central Place Name Register (SSR), the National Register of Aviation Obstacles, and the Marine Basic Maps project. These operate within broader cooperative frameworks — Norge digitalt (a 495-party national data-sharing partnership anchored in the Geodataloven) and Geovekst (a cooperative with public agencies and utilities) — and are delivered via open data APIs (WMS, WFS, cache services) for professional developers. The societal value of the national shared solutions is estimated at 30 billion NOK.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Norge digitalt: National cooperation for producing, sharing and using geographic information in Norway with 495 participating organizations
• Geovekst
• Norge i bilder
• Geonorge

Products and services

• Grunnboka (Property Register) National public property register recording property ownership, rights, and encumbrances in Norway, operated by Kartverket in conjunction with Matrikkelen (the cadastre).
• Matrikkelen (Cadastre) National cadastre recording property units, boundaries, and property-related information, managed by local municipal authorities under Kartverket's central oversight.
• Norgeskart.no Digital map portal offering continuously updated map data and detailed maps of all of Norway, available with an English-language menu for general users.
• Norge i bilder (norgeibilder.no) Free viewing solution providing orthophoto (georeferenced aerial photographs) and historical aerial imagery of all of Norway. Norway Digital partners have extended rights including download, WMS/WMTS access, and additional data.
• Sentralt stadnamnregister (SSR) — Central Register of Place Names Official register of place names in Norway managed by Kartverket, containing approved spellings, naming decisions, location data, language type, and object type. Used in Kartverket's maps and externally in hiking maps and weather services.
• Geonorge National web portal for map data and other geocoded information in Norway, operated by Kartverket. Provides a map catalogue for searching, viewing, and downloading open geographic datasets.
• Historiske kart — Historical Maps Archive of thousands of historical maps available for free download, including kvadratmilkart, rektangelkart, amtskart, and gradteigskart series.
• Høydedata.no — Elevation Data Precise elevation data covering every square meter of Norway. Elevation models are produced from aerial photography via image matching and are available for viewing and free download.
• Sentralarkiv for flyfoto — Central Archive of Aerial Photography Archive of aerial photographs and satellite images containing more than 1.3 million vertical images. The archive holds originals of all aerial photographs taken in Norway from 1935 to the present.
• Marine grunnkart i kystsonen — Marine Basic Maps in the Coastal Zone Project producing detailed marine geospatial data for Norway's coastal zone, including depth mapping, geology, natural habitats, and environmental conditions. Conducted jointly with NGU and the Institute of Marine Research.
• Nasjonalt register over luftfartshindre (NRL) — National Register of Aviation Obstacles Digital register of man-made objects that may constitute a risk to aviation, maintained by Kartverket.
• WMS/WFS/Cache Services (API) Free web services (WMS, WFS, cache services, search services, and processing services) enabling developers to embed mapping data into their own websites and applications. Covers topographical maps and thematic maps in multiple formats including SOSI, PostGIS, ESRI File Geodatabase, GML, USGS, and DEM.

Quantifiable outcome

• Estimated 30 billion NOK in social value from national shared geodata solutions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Norge Digitalt Partners (495 organizations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational collaboration for producing, sharing, and using geographic information. Parties include municipalities, county administrations, national agencies, and private companies. Governed by geodataloven requiring geographic data owners to make data available for public and private purposes. Kartverket serves as geodata coordinator with secretariat function.
• Geovekst Collaboration PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeovekst is a collaboration for establishment, management, and use of geographic information including: Kartverket, Statens vegvesen (Public Roads Administration), NVE (Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate), Bane NOR, Fornybar Norge, Telenor, municipalities, county administrations, and Landbruksdepartementet with its subordinate agencies.
• Norkart ASminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets detailed geospatial data products including orthophotos and topographical data.
• NorconsultminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets geospatial data products for professional consulting services.
• RambøllminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets geospatial data products for engineering and consulting projects.
• Cowi ASminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets geospatial data products for engineering and planning services.
• Asplan Viak ASminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets geospatial data products for planning and analysis services.
• Allkopi Netprint ASminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets map and geospatial data products.
• Ambita ASminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor of Kartverkets geospatial data products.
• Statsforvalterens fellestjenestercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder of the national aerial photography program (omløpsfotografering) providing regular coverage of mainland Norway.
• Norsk institutt for bioøkonomi (NIBIO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-funder of the national aerial photography program contributing to land use and agricultural mapping.
• NGU (Geological Survey of Norway)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Marine grunnkart (marine seabed mapping) project, with NGU studying geology and environmental conditions.
• Havforskningsinstituttet (Institute of Marine Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Marine grunnkart project, with the institute studying nature types and environmental conditions in coastal zones.
• Mareano-programmetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on comprehensive seabed mapping in Norwegian waters, combining bathymetric data with geological and biological surveys.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Esri: Global commercial leader in GIS software and platform services — provides the ArcGIS platform technology (which Kartverket uses in Norge i bilder) and competes in adjacent commercial segments with Kartverket's premium data offerings.
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): U.S. federal scientific agency providing topographic mapping, geological surveys, and Earth observation data — operates at far greater scope and scale than Kartverket but overlaps significantly on national mapping and aerial imagery mandates.

Direct peers

• Maanmittauslaitos (National Land Survey of Finland): Finnish national agency responsible for land surveying, cadastre, and topographic mapping — directly comparable in the Nordic context, especially given similar terrain and municipal structures.
• Kadaster (Netherlands Land Registry and Mapping Agency): Operates the Dutch land registry and cadastre alongside large-scale national geodata services, mirroring Kartverket's blend of legally authoritative property data and topographic mapping under a single state agency.
• Ordnance Survey: The UK's national mapping agency providing authoritative geographic data and APIs (OS OpenData, OS APIs) on a comparable scale; serves as a leading benchmark for monetizing open-data-plus-premium data products.
• Lantmäteriet (Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority): Sweden's national authority combining mapping, cadastral registration, and land registration — the closest functional analog to Kartverket, sharing the dual role of geodata infrastructure provider and statutory property register operator.
• Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière (IGN France): France's national mapping and forestry information agency — operates national topographic databases, aerial imagery programs, and serves as geodata reference for public and private sectors.
• swisstopo (Federal Office of Topography): Swiss federal geodata authority providing high-precision topographic data, elevation models, and historical maps — comparable in delivering high-quality national mapping and aerial imagery services.
• Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie (BKG, Germany): German federal agency for cartography and geodesy — provides national geodata infrastructure including reference systems, topographic data, and elevation models comparable to Kartverket's offerings.
• Styrelsen for Dataforsyning og Effektivisering (SDFE, Denmark): Danish agency for data supply and efficiency operating national geospatial infrastructure and basic data — directly comparable Nordic agency with adjacent organizational structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubevimeo.com/kartverket
• Facebookfacebook.com/kartverket.no
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/65713
• Instagraminstagram.com/kartverket.no
• Xx.com/kartverket

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kartverket