Nynorsk, Neo-Norwegian or New Norwegian is an official written standard for the Norwegian language, alongside Bokmål. The standard language was originally created by Ivar Aasen during the mid-19th century, to provide a Norwegian alternative to the Danish language which was commonly written in Norway at the time. The official standard of Nynorsk has since been significantly altered while a minor purist fraction of the Nynorsk populace have stayed firm with the Aasen norm, which is known as Høgnorsk (, analogous to High German). In local communities, 27% of the Norwegian municipalities have declared Nynorsk as their official language form, and these comprise about 12% of the Norwegian population. Nynorsk is the majority form of the four counties Rogaland, Hordaland, Sogn og Fjordane and Møre og Romsdal, which together comprise the region of Vestlandet. The Norwegian Language Council recommends the name Norwegian Nynorsk when referring to this standard in English.
