Islam is the second largest religion in Norway after Christianity. As of 2021, the number of Muslims living in Norway was 169,605 (3.1% of the population of 5,415,166). The majority of Muslims in Norway are Sunni, with a significant Shia minority. 55 percent of Muslims in the country live in Oslo and Akershus. The vast majority of muslims have an immigrant background, and very few Norwegians are Muslim. History Icelandic annals date the arrival of representatives from the Muslim sultan of Tunis in Norway in the 1260s, after King Håkon Håkonsson had sent embassies to the Sultan with rich gifts. However, the number of Muslims in the country was not significant until the latter half of the 20th century. By 1958, Ahmadiyya missionaries had attracted a small number of converts and established a small community in Oslo. Immigration from Muslim countries to Norway began late compared to other western European countries and did not gather pace until the late 1960s. However, due to the oil boom, labor migration lasted longer than in other countries. The first Pakistani immigrant laborers arrived in 1967. In 1975, labor immigration to Norway was halted, but rules for family reunification were relatively relaxed for several more years. As a result, while most immigrants until the 1970s were laborers, immigration in the 1980s and 1990s was dominated by those seeking asylum. The number of Muslims in Norway was first registered in official statistics in 1980 when it was given as 1006. These statistics were based on membership of a registered congregation. The actual number is likely to be higher given that few Muslims were then members of a mosque. Historian of religion Kari Vogt estimates that 10% of Norwegian Muslims were members of a mosque in 1980, a proportion which had increased to 70% by 1998. Being a member of a mosque was an alien concept to many immigrants from Muslim countries. The number of registered members of mosques increased to 80,838 in 2004, but then dropped to 72,023 in 2006. Part of the reason for the drop could be a new methodology in the compilation of statistics. At the end of the 1990s, Islam passed the Roman Catholic Church and Pentecostalism to become the largest minority religion in Norway, provided Islam is seen as one group. However, as of 2013, the Roman Catholic Church regained its position as the largest minority religion in Norway due