Grorud

Grorud is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. The borough contains the Ammerud, Grorud, Kalbakken, Rødtvet, Nordtvet and Romsås areas. To the north of the borough is the forest of Lillomarka. The borough is the smallest in Oslo, with fewer than 30 000 inhabitants. The area now known as Grorud was mostly farm land until after World War II, an exception being Grorud proper, where mining was an important livelihood. Granite from Grorud is seen in many buildings in downtown Oslo - with the lion sculptures in front of Stortinget, the Norwegian Parliament being the most famous example. Textile industries were also a part of the urbanization of Grorud, with the river Alna and its waterfalls as power supply. The railway station at Grorud, from 1854, is one of the oldest in Norway and was a hub of the whole Grorud Valley for many years until the arrival of urbanization and the subway. Some of the old farms are still present in the Grorud landscape, although apartment buildings now are a more dominant part of the scenery. Traditionally a borough inhabited by the working class, Grorud has in the last few decades had a great influx of immigrants. The proportion of newborns with immigrant background was per. 2017 at 70%. Because of these statistics Grorud is a recurring theme in Norwegian immigration politics.