between the East End and the West End, or about whether the differences between the East End and the West End have diminished. These differences were not on their way out in 1997. Immigration The large, new immigrant population in Oslo has divided itself among the east-west division. Immigrants from the Nordic countries, western Europe, new EU countries in central Europe and eastern Europe, and North America tend to succeed well in Norway. Of the about 40,000 (1 January 2009) people from these areas, about 18,000 live in the West End. Immigrants from other European countries, Africa, Central America, South America, and Asia have more difficulties succeeding in the Norwegian society, and more problems getting a job matching their level of education and other resources. Of these about 112,000 immigrants, about 15,000 live in the West End. The concentration of immigrants from countries outside of Europe in some districts and suburbs has received sustained attention in public debate. In bydel Alna there are more non-Western immigrants than in any other municipality outside of Oslo and the part of the non-Western immigrant population in some suburbs is above 60 percent of the population (Smedstua and Rommen in bydel Stovner and Bjørnerud in bydel Søndre Nordstrand). The concentration in Oslo decreased somewhat from 1998 to 2008, however. No areas with high concentration has a great concentration of one nationality, here the highest number is around 20 percent Pakistanis at Bjørnerud. No area of Oslo has the signs that are commonly used to describe a ghetto (marked dilapidation, high criminality, significant poverty, and social misery). Compared to big cities elsewhere in Europe with high concentration of people from other continents, Oslo has good conditions. There are large differences inside this group of immigrants and many succeed well, but on average the group shows significantly low employment and income, and more health problems than the rest of the city's population. In the 123 municipal grade schools in Oslo, pupils speaking a minority language form the majority in 53 schools (semester 2009–2010). All of these are located in the East End. It has become common in the East End for children to grow up with a large number of peers that have an ethnic background from a society that is quite different from the Norwegian society. Since the 1970s, immigrants from Asia and Africa have owned small businesses, especially food stores and restaurants. In the