MyHeritage recently added one million emigration registers from Norway from 1867 to 1973.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, an estimated 800,000 Norwegians left their homeland largely for economic reasons. Many who worked on farms lost their jobs due to the industrialization of agriculture, and many people were seeking better opportunities elsewhere.
The majority of these emigrants settled in the United States, although significant numbers also went to Canada, Australia, and other countries.
This collection of records was created by local police departments tasked with assisting emigrants leaving Norway for foreign ports. These records are sometimes referred to as the Norwegian Police Emigration Lists (Emigrasjonsprotokoll in Norwegian).
They are not passenger lists, but rather registers of people declaring their intention to emigrate through purchasing tickets and showing the accompanying contracts required by Norwegian law since 1867.
About 25 percent of the migrants eventually returned home, as not every emigrant found success abroad. The vast majority of Norwegians have at least one ancestor who travelled and established themselves abroad.
Ancestry has a similar collection, called Norway, Emigration Records, 1874-1960.
