Norway

The Kingdom of Norway, bordering Sweden, Finland, and Russia, is situated in Northern Europe in the western Scandinavian Peninsula. The North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean borders the country to south and west respectively. It is the first country in Europe to declare independence in the 20th century. It is a member of NATO and ranks the most peaceful country in the world in 2007 according to the Global Peace Index. Oslo is the capital of Norway.

HISTORY:- The Vikings’ era was characterized by expansion and immigration as they ravaged the coastal areas of northwest Europe between the 8th to the 11th century. In 1015, Olaf II Haraldsson ascended on the throne of Norway. Since then, the country started embracing Christianity. Norway, Denmark, and Sweden were unified to form the Kalmar Union under the Queen Margrethe I of Denmark. Norway remained with the union until 1814. In 1814, during the Napoleonic wars, Norway joined Sweden and declared independence adopting a new constitution. The Norwegians chose Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as their king and this was resulted in the Norwegian-Swedish War. Norway entered into a personal union with Sweden, but after two plebiscites in Norway, this union was collapsed. In both the World Wars, Norway maintained its neutrality. But Germany invaded Norway in 1940. Danish Prince Carl, taking the name of Haakon VII ruled Norway until 1957.

GEOGRAPHY:- Norway is located at 62 00 N, 10 00 E in Northern Europe. Norway has captured total 323,802 sq km on earth in which 307,442 sq km and 16,360 sq km are covered by land portion and internal waters. Norway comprises the mainland, some small islands, and indentations. The coastline is 25,148 km long along with the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The lowest point is Norwegian Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Galdhopiggen (2,469 m). The terrain of Norway varies from high plateaus and rugged mountains dissected by fertile valleys, to small, scattered plains, to coastline deeply indented by fjords, to arctic tundra region in the north.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Norway ranges from Temperate along the coasts to colder inland.

GOVERNMENT:- Norway has a constitutional monarchy. The constitution was adopted in 1814 which went through several amendments later. The legal system is based on the customary law, the civil law system, and the common law traditions. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the King (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), and the State Council. The leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is generally appointed the prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the parliament. Monarch is hereditary. The State Council is appointed by the monarch only after the parliament’s approval.

Legislative branch comprises the modified unicameral Parliament or Storting (169 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court, the appellate courts, the city and county courts. The justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the monarch. The Supreme Court enacts as an advisory body to the legislature.

Labor party, Progress party, Conservative party, Socialist Left party, Christian Democratic party, Center party, Liberal party are the prominent political parties of Norway. Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

King    Harald V

Prime Minister  Jens Stoltenberg

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Norway is composed of 19 counties: Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, and Vestfold. These counties are further divided into 430 kommuners.

CULTURE:- Norwegian music ranges from classical music to modern pop music. Norwegian writers Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1903, Knut Hamsun in 1920 and Sigrid Undset in 1928. Lutefisk, smalahove, pinnekjøtt, Krotekaker and fårikål are the famous Norwegian dishes. Football is the most popular sport of Norway.

ECONOMY:- The Norwegian economy is a blend of free market economy and government participation. Norway is very rich in natural resources. It has the world’s 2nd highest GDP per-capita and 3rd highest GDP (PPP) per-capita and also has ranked 1st in the UNDP Human Development Index in the world for 6 consecutive years from 2001 to 2006.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $247.4 billion; per capita $53,000.

Real growth rate: 3.5%.

Inflation: 0.8%.

Unemployment: 2.5%.

Arable land: 3%.

Agriculture: Barley, wheat, potatoes; pork, beef, veal, milk; fish.

Labor force: 2.5 million; services 74%, industry 22%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 4% (1995).

Industries: Petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing.

Budget:  

Revenues: $224.2 billion

Expenditures: $158 billion (2007 est.)

Public debt: 75.1% of GDP (2007 est.)

Debt - external: $469.1 billion.

Natural resources: Petroleum, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower.

Exports: $136.1 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): petroleum and petroleum products, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, fish.

Imports: $75.98 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, foodstuffs.

Major trading partners: UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, U.S., Sweden, Denmark, China (2006).

Monetary unit: Norwegian krone

LANGUAGE:- Bokmal Norwegian, and Nynorsk Norwegian are the official languages of Norway while Sami is regarded as the official language in six municipalities. Finnish is spoken by a small minority.

CITIES:- The capital of Norway Oslo is the largest city of the country. Other large cities are Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim.

POPULATION:- The approximate population of the country is estimated 4,627,926 with a growth rate of 0.4%.

Density per sq mi: 39

Literacy rate: 100% (2003 est.)

RACE:-

Norwegian 94.4% (includes Sami, about 60,000)

Other European 3.6%

Other 2% (2007)

RELIGION:-

Church of Norway 85.7%

Pentecostal 1%

Roman Catholic 1%

Other Christian 2.4%

Muslim 1.8%

Other 8.1% (2004)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 11.12 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 9.33 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 3.61 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.81 years

Total fertility rate: 1.78 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 4,307

UNICEF:- Started in 1954, UNICEF in Norway mainly focuses on education and protection of children and women. Through ‘UNICEF Walk’ school children collect funds for its goals.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 4,043 km (2006).

Highways: total: 92,513 km; paved: 71,832 km (includes 664 km of expressways); unpaved: 20,681 km (2005).

Waterways: 1,577 km (2007).

Ports and harbors: Bergen, Drammen, Floro, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim.

Airports: 98 (2007).