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Oslo was founded around 1049 by Harald Hardrada, burned and rebuilt multiple times, until in 1624 King Christian IV rebuilt the city closer to Akershus Fortress, which still stands on the harbor, heavy and medieval, exactly where Christian IV placed it. He named the new settlement Christiania after himself. It reverted to Oslo in 1925, reclaiming the Old Norse name meaning meadow at the foot of the hills. The hills are not metaphorical: two-thirds of Oslo's enormous municipal area is protected forest, hill, lake, and national park, and in 2017 the city became the first in the world to adopt a climate budget alongside its financial one.

The Oslofjord defines the city's character in the way rivers define other capitals.

Karl Johans gate, the main boulevard, runs from the Royal Palace through the center to the central station, past the National Theatre (1899) and the University of Oslo (founded 1811), and in summer fills with outdoor tables that overflow onto the surrounding streets until late evening. The waterfront has been transformed since the Oslo Opera House opened in 2008 on the harbor edge, its white marble roof designed to be walked across at any hour of the day or night, with fjord views from a surface that doubles as a public plaza. The Munch Museum followed in 2021 in a tilted tower on the same waterfront.