The
Kingdom of Norway is a
Nordic country on the western portion of the
Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering
Sweden,
Finland and
Russia, with territorial waters bordering
Danish and
British waters. It has a very elongated form and has an extensive coastline along the
North Atlantic Ocean, where Norway's famous
fjords are found. The nearby island territories of
Svalbard and
Jan Mayen are under Norwegian sovereignty and are considered as part of Norway as a
kingdom, while
Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and
Peter I Island in the South
Pacific Ocean are Norwegian
dependencies, which are not considered part of the kingdom. Additionally, Norway has a claim for
Dronning Maud Land in
Antarctica.
History
Main article: History of Norway
In the
9th century Norway consisted of a number of
petty kingdoms. Harald Fairhair gathered the small kingdoms into one and in 872 with the
battle of Hafrsfjord, he had established the country as one unit.
The
Viking age (
8th to
11th centuries) was one of national unification and expansion. The
Norwegian royal line died out in 1387, and the country entered a long period as the weaker part of a union with
Denmark. With the forced introduction of Protestantism in 1537, Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of Saint Olav at the
Nidaros shrine. With them, ironically, went much of the contact with the cultural and economical life of the rest of Europe. In light of national romanticism during the
19th century, this period was by some called the "400-year night".
After
Denmark-Norway sided with Napoleon in the
Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to the king of
Sweden in 1814. However, Norway declared her independence, adopted her own constitution and elected the Danish prince Christian Fredrik as king on 17 May 1814. Norway was forced into a
personal union with
Sweden, but kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service. Growing Norwegian dissatisfaction with the union during the late
19th century spawned its dissolution 7 June 1905. The Norwegian government offered the throne of Norway to Danish Prince Carl. After a plebiscite confirming the monarchy, the Parliament unanimously elected him king. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of independent Norway.
Norway was a neutral country during
World War I. Norway also attempted to claim neutrality during
World War II, but was invaded by German forces on the 9th of April 1940 (
Operation Weserübung). The Allies also had plans to operate from Norway, in order to take advantage of her strategically important Atlantic coast. Armed resistance in Norway went on for two months, but the King and government continued the fight from exile in Britain. On the day of the invasion, the collaborative leader of the small National-Socialist party
Nasjonal Samling –
Vidkun Quisling – tried to seize power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority,
Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling, as
minister president, later formed a government under German control.
In 1944, the Germans evacuated the provinces of
Finnmark and northern
Troms, using a
scorched earth tactic. The
Red Army moved in shortly after, and peacefully returned the area to Norwegian control after the war, despite President Roosevelt having offered them parts of northern Norway. The Germans in Norway surrendered on 8 May 1945.
The occupation during
World War II made Norwegians generally more skeptical of the concept of neutrality. They turned instead to
collective security. Norway was one of the signatories of the
North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 and was a founding member of the
United Nations, providing its first secretary general –
Trygve Lie. Norway has twice voted against joining the
European Union (in 1972 and 1994), but is associated with the EU via the
European Economic Area.
Politics
Main article: Politics of Norway
Norway is a
constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary system of
government. The Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from
Schleswig-Holstein in
Germany.
http://www.kongehuset.no/dt_kongehuset_allAtOnce.asp?ogid=21&mgid=21&gid=54&aid= The functions of the King,
Harald V, are mainly ceremonial, but he has influence as the symbol of national unity. Although the
constitution of 1814 grants important executive powers to the king, these are almost always exercised by the Council of State in the name of the King (King's Council). The Council of State or
cabinet consists of a Prime Minister and his council, formally appointed by the King. Since 1884, parliamentarism has ensured that the cabinet must have the support of the parliament, so the appointment by the King is a formality.
The 165 members of the unicameral Norwegian
parliament, the
Storting (Norwegian:
Stortinget), are elected from the 19 counties for 4-year terms according to a system of
proportional representation. After
elections, the Storting divides into two chambers, the
Odelsting and the
Lagting, which meet separately or jointly depending on the legislative issue under consideration.
The current government is a coalition of Høyre (Conservative Party), Kristelig Folkeparti (Christian People's Party) and
Venstre (Liberal Party) with parliamentary support from Fremskrittspartiet (Progress Party).
The regular courts include the
Supreme Court or
Høyesterett (17 permanent judges and a president), courts of appeal, district courts and conciliation councils. Judges attached to regular courts are appointed by the King in council after nomination by the Ministry of Justice. The special High Court of the Realm hears
impeachment cases.
Counties
Main article: Counties of Norway
Map of Norway
Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called
fylker (singular
fylke) and 433
kommuner (singular
kommune).
Fylke and
kommune are officially translated to
English as
county and
municipality. The
fylke is the intermediate administration between state and municipality.
Geography
Main article: Geography of Norway
The landscape is generally rugged and mountainous, topped by
glaciers, and its coastline of over 83,000 km
http://odin.dep.no/odin/engelsk/norway/environment/032091-991558/dok-bn.html is punctuated by steep-sloped inlets known as
fjords, as well as a multitude of islands and islets. The Northern part of the country is also known as the
Land of the Midnight Sun because of its northern location, north of the
Arctic Circle, where in summer the sun does not set, and in winter much of its land remains dark for long periods.
Norway straddles the North
Atlantic Ocean for its entire length, bound by three different seas: the
North Sea to the southwest and its large inlet the
Skagerrak to the south, the
Norwegian Sea to the west and the
Barents Sea to the northeast. Norway's highest point is the
Galdhøpiggen at 2,469 m.
The Norwegian
climate is fairly temperate, especially along the coast under the influence of the
Gulf Stream. The inland climate can be more severe and to the north more
subarctic conditions are found.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Norway
The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of social capitalism, featuring a combination of
free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital
petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises). The country is richly endowed with natural resources -
petroleum,
hydropower,
fish,
forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its
oil production and international oil prices; in 1999, oil and
gas accounted for 35% of exports. Only
Saudi Arabia and
Russia export more oil than Norway, which is outside
OPEC.
Norway opted to stay out of the
European Union during a referendum in 1972, and again in November
1994. However, Norway, together with
Iceland and
Liechtenstein, participate in the
EU's single market via the
European Economic Area (EEA) agreement.
Economic growth picked up in 2000 to 2.7%, compared with the meager 0.8% of 1999, but fell back to 1.3% in 2001. After meagre growth in 2002 and 2003, the economy expanded more rapidly in 2004. The government moved ahead with privatisation in 2000, selling one-third of the then 100% state-owned oil company
Statoil.
With arguably the highest quality of life worldwide, Norwegians still worry about that time in the next two decades when the oil and gas begin to run out. Accordingly, Norway has been saving its oil-boosted budget surpluses in a
Government Petroleum Fund, which is invested abroad and at the end of the first quarter of 2005 was valued at 170 billion US dollars.
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Norway
The Norwegian population is 4.6 million and increases by 0.4% per year (estimate July 2004). Ethnically most Norwegians are Nordic / North
Germanic, while small minorities in the north are
Finnish (see also
Cwen). The Sami are instead considered an indigenous people, and live in the Northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. In recent years
immigration has accounted for more than half the population growth, and 7.3% of the population are immigrants as of 1 January 2003. But the country only takes in a very limited number of asylum seekers and is willing to repatriate these people to other countries as soon as possible. The largest immigrant groups are Swedes, Danes,
Vietnamese and Pakistanis (
http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/00/minifakta_en/en/minifakta.pdf).
Approximately 86% of the inhabitants are members of the
Evangelic Lutheran Church of Norway (state church). Other
Christian societies total about 4.5% (The Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, The Catholic Church,
Pentecostal congregations, The
Methodist Church etc.) Among the non-Christian religions
Islam is the largest in Norway with about 1.5%, and other religions less than 1%. About 1.5% belong to the secular
Human Ethical Union. As of 1 January 2003 approximately 5% of the population are unaffiliated (
http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/07/02/10/trosamf_en/).
The
Norwegian language has two
official written forms, called
Bokmål and
Nynorsk, which do not differ greatly, as well as the unofficial
Riksmål, which is an intermediate form between Bokmål and
Danish. Bokmål and Riksmål are
written by almost 90 % of the population, although many speak
dialects that differ significantly from the written language. Nevertheless, all of the Norwegian dialects are interintelligible. Several
Sami languages are spoken and written in the northern regions by the
Sami people. The
Germanic Norwegian language and the Finno-Ugric Sami languages are entirely unrelated.
Culture
Main article: Culture of Norway
Famous Norwegians include playwright
Henrik Ibsen, explorers
Roald Amundsen,
Fridtjof Nansen, and
Thor Heyerdahl,
expressionist painter
Edvard Munch,
romanticist composer Edvard Grieg and playwright/novelists
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson,
Knut Hamsun and
Sigrid Undset, winners of the 1903, 1920 and 1928
Nobel Prize in Literature.
Norwegians celebrate their national day on
May 17,
Constitution Day. Many people wear
bunad (traditional costumes) and most participate in or watch the 17 May Parade through the towns.
Henrik Wergeland was the founder of the 17 May parade.
Miscellaneous topics
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International rankings
External links
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