Bergen (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈbærɡən]  (listen)) is a city and municipality in Hordaland on the west coast of Norway. As of 26 June 2012, the municipality had a population of 265,800 and Greater Bergen had a population of 391,000, making Bergen the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and area of 465 square kilometers (180 sq mi) and is located on the peninsula of Bergenshalvøyen. The city center and northern neighborhoods are located on Byfjorden and the city is built around the Seven Mountains. Many of the extra-municipal suburbs are located on islands. Bergen is the administrative center of Hordaland and consists of eight boroughs—Arna, Årstad, Åsane, Bergenhus, Fana, Fyllingsdalen, Laksevåg and Ytrebygda.

Trading in Bergen may have started as early as the 1020s, but the city was not incorporated until 1070. It served as Norway's capital from 1217 to 1299, and from the end of the 13th century became a bureau city of the Hanseatic League. Until 1789, Bergen enjoyed exclusive rights to mediate trade between Northern Norway and abroad. The remains of the quays, Bryggen, is a World Heritage Site. The city was hit by numerous fires. The Norwegian School of Economics was founded in 1936 and the University of Bergen in 1946. From 1831 to 1972, Bergen was its own county, after which Bergen amalgamated with the surrounding municipalities.

The Bergen Museum is a university museum in Bergen, Norway. Founded in 1825 with the intent of building large collections in the fields of culture and natural history, it became the grounds for most of the academic activity in the city, a tradition which has prevailed since the museum became part of the University of Bergen. Bergen Museum is divided into two departments, the Natural History Collections and the Cultural History Collections. It is also the caretaker of the botanical garden surrounding the natural history building, and the city's arboretum.

Bergen Museum was founded in 1825 by Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie, at the time president of the Storting. In its early years, the museum contained numerous art collections, including several works by the painter Johan Christian Dahl, cultural artefacts, and craftwork items. In 1931, the museum moved from its location in the Seminarium Fredericianum building near Bergen katedralskole, to a new building south-west of Lille Lungegårdsvann. This was the first dedicated museum building in Norway. The current natural history building was finished in 1865, and Bergen Museum moved in during 1866. The botanical garden was laid out between 1897 and 1899, and the cultural history department got its own building in 1927. The increasing research activity at the museum from the late 19th century and onwards led directly to the founding of the University of Bergen in 1948.