Norway is a country in northern Europe, in the region called Scandinavia. A long and mostly narrow country, Norway occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway’s extensive coastline is washed on three sides by seas. To the north is the Barents Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean; to the west is the Norwegian Sea; and to the south are the Skagerrak, a strait separating Norway from Denmark, and the North Sea. Norway shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and in the far northeast Norway shares a frontier with Russia and Finland. Oslo, in the southeast, is Norway’s capital and largest city.

Norway has several overseas possessions. In the Arctic Ocean are the Svalbard archipelago and Jan Mayen, a volcanic island northeast of Iceland. Norway’s possessions also include Bouvet Island, an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean, and Peter I Island, off Antarctica. Norway also claims the portion of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

Norway is a land of rugged, pine-topped mountain ranges, valleys gouged out by glaciers, and narrow deep-sided inlets from the sea known as fjords. A line of offshore islands called the skerry guard shields the coastline and forms a protected inland waterway. Norway’s name, which means “northern way,” reflects the importance of this waterway in linking the many small fjord and valley communities that are otherwise separated by rugged terrain.

As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Norway is sometimes called the Land of the Midnight Sun. One-third of Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle, where there is almost continuous daylight from May through July. In midwinter the far north is dark almost all of the time.
Today, as in the past, most of Norway’s people live along the shores of the fjords in the south. For many centuries, as fishers and traders, they lived off the sea. It was from Norway’s coast that the Vikings—skilled sailors who built a vast maritime trading network—ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, later becoming the first Europeans to reach Greenland and North America in the late 10th century. The lure of the sea has remained strong into modern times. Norway retains a vigorous fishing industry and its merchant marine fleet is one of the world’s largest. During the late 20th century, the discovery of vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas in Norway’s portion of the North Sea brought an important new source of prosperity to the country. Today, Norway is among the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels.

The first unified Norwegian kingdom emerged in the 9th century ad. In 1397 Norway became a province of Denmark and was dominated by that country until 1814, when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. A surge of Norwegian nationalism in the 19th century led to the dissolution of the union with Sweden. Norway became an independent nation in 1905, with a constitutional monarch as head of state and a democratically elected government. Norway’s official name is the Kingdom of Norway (Norwegian Kongeriket Norge).

Geography of Norway
Norway has a total land area of 385,639 sq km (148,896 sq mi). The landscape is rugged and mountainous with few areas of lowlands. The average elevation of Norway is more than 460 m (1,500 ft) above sea level. Norway’s coastline is, in proportion to its area, longer than that of any other large nation in the world.

Mountains cover three-fifths of Norway and extend for almost its entire length. Scraped and rounded by glaciers, the mountains slope gradually to the east and drop sharply to the sea in the west. Northern Norway is a vast region of fjords, mountains, and islands. In the northernmost part of this region the fjords open into the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean. From the fjord heads the land rises to the vast Finnmarksvidda, a bleak plateau.

In central Norway the low, flat valleys surrounding the city of Trondheim are among the country’s most important agricultural regions. At the center of this region is the broad Trondheimsfjord, a body of water sheltered from the sea by peninsulas and islands.
Mountains rise again in the south, where the country broadens, and are grouped into the Dovrefjell and Langfjell ranges. Within the Langfjell is Norway’s highest peak, the Galdhøpiggen, which rises to 2,469 m (8,100 ft). To the west of this peak is Europe’s largest glacier, the Jostedalsbreen, which is 97 km (60 mi) long and 24 km (15 mi) wide. Farther south the Langfjell separates the fertile valleys of eastern Norway and the rugged land of the western fjords. The gradual slopes in the east are intensively cultivated and heavily settled; more than half of Norway’s population lives in this region. Norway has also abundant rivers and lakes.

Fjords form Norway’s most distinctive physical feature—its deeply indented coastline. Geologists believe the fjords were once mountain valleys that were gouged by glaciers as the glaciers moved slowly to the sea. Later, the sea flooded the valleys to form fingers of water extending far into the interior. The most spectacular fjords are in the west, where mountains descend steeply to the sea. Norway’s most important harbors and cities are situated along the fjords, and where the land permits, farms line the steep banks.

More than 150,000 islands protect the coastline and gateways to the fjords from the worst of the stormy weather that sweeps the Arctic Ocean, and they provide an inland channel that in places is remarkably calm. Many of these islands, known as the skerry guard, are little more than rocks washed by the surf, but others are of considerable size. The Lofoten and Vesterålen island archipelagos in the northwest comprise Norway’s largest coastal island groups. The islands are the glaciated tops of an ancient volcanic mountain range, now partially submerged. Norway has a coastline of approximately 2,740 km (about 1,700 mi). If all the islands and inlets are included, Norway’s coastline extends about 21,930 km (about 13,620 mi).

Climate
Despite its northerly location, Norway has a generally favorable climate, with cool summers and mild winters. The warm waters of the North Atlantic Drift, an extension of the Gulf Stream, flow along the western coast of Norway and give the country a warmer climate than that of other countries at the same latitude. A maritime climate generally prevails over the coastal islands and lowlands, and most of the country’s fjords and harbors remain ice-free all year. At Bergen the average high temperature in January is 3°C (38°F), and the average in July is 19°C (66°F). Rainfall is heaviest along the west coast, with precipitation decreasing inland. The average annual precipitation in Bergen is 1,930 mm (76 in).

In the interior, a more continental climate prevails. Winters are typically colder, and summers are warmer. At Oslo the average high temperature in January is 5°C (41°F), slightly warmer than Bergen; however, the average high in July is significantly warmer at 28°C (82°F). Precipitation is generally less here than on the west coast, averaging 760 mm (30 in) annually. In the highlands of northern Norway the climate is subarctic, although temperatures are significantly milder in coastal areas.

People
The Norwegians are a remarkably homogenous people of Germanic origin. Apart from several thousand Saami and people of Finnish origin in the northern part of Norway, the country has no large minority groups. Norway has the lowest population density in continental Europe, with 15 persons per sq km (39 per sq mi). Moreover, the distribution of the population is extremely uneven. About half of the country’s population lives in the southeast, and more than three-quarters of all Norwegians live within about 16 km (about 10 mi) of the sea. Some 78 percent of Norway’s population lives in urban areas. Almost all important settlements are situated on, or within easy reach of, the coastline, which offers good transportation links and a moderate climate.

Principal Cities
Oslo is the nation’s capital and the principal port and industrial center. It is also the largest city, and about one-fourth of the total population of Norway lives in the vicinity of Oslo. Modern architecture dominates the sprawling city, which covers hundreds of square kilometers and is one of the world’s largest cities in area. Oslo is home to the Storting, the national parliament and many cultural institutions.

Bergen is the cultural center of western Norway and the second-largest city. Bergen was once an important port for the Hanseatic League, and it remains an important shipping and transportation hub. Also called the “Gateway to the Fjords,” Bergen is the center of Norway’s west coast tourism industry.
Trondheim, founded in AD 997 by Olaf I, was for many years the capital of the Viking kings. Norwegian monarchs are still anointed at the majestic 11th-century Nidaros Cathedral—one of Norway’s most popular tourism destinations—and the city is considered a national shrine. A sheltered port serves the city, which lies amid a productive agricultural area.

Other important cities are Stavanger, former center of the Norwegian canning industry and now a base for offshore oil and natural gas operations; and Tromsø, Norway’s gateway to the Arctic.

Language
Despite Norway’s ethnic homogeneity, two distinct forms of the Norwegian language are spoken in the country. Both forms of the language are officially recognized as equal, and both must be offered in schools. The majority language, Bokmål (“book language”), is spoken by more than 80 percent of the population and taught to about 83 percent of all children in schools. Bokmål is a Norwegian form of the Danish language, which was used by the administrative and educated elite while Norway was under Danish rule (1397-1814). Nynorsk (New Norse) is taught to about 17 percent of children in schools, mainly in rural western areas. It was developed in the 19th century, as part of a Norwegian nationalist revival, from a synthesis of rural dialects and medieval Old Norse. Efforts to merge Bokmål and Nynorsk into a common tongue called Samnorsk (Common Norwegian) have made little progress to date. Finno-Ugric Saami languages are spoken by the Saami people, many of whom still inhabit their traditional lands in the far north.

Religion
The Evangelical Lutheran Church is the national church of Norway. About 94 percent of the population belongs to the church, although many are nonpracticing members. The church is supported by the state, and the clergy is nominated by the king. Complete religious freedom is guaranteed by law.

Education
Compulsory education was established in Norway in the late 19th century. Norway has virtually no illiteracy. Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 16 and is provided by the state free of cost. For their elementary education, children attend a six-year lower school, which prescribes the same curriculum for all students. Students then attend a three-year secondary school, which offers many elective courses. At age 16, pupils who are qualified may attend a videregående skole (high school), where a three-year course of study prepares them for a difficult matriculation examination for the universities or for a vocational or technical occupation. Norway also has a system of folk high schools, or rural boarding schools, which provide courses in a wide variety of subjects for young adults who have completed their compulsory studies.

Norway has four public universities and ten colleges of university standing. The principal university is the University of Oslo (founded 1811), which also hosts the Nobel peace prize ceremony in the presence of the king of Norway (Nobel Prizes); the other universities are the University of Bergen (1948), the University of Tromsø (1968), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (1968). All colleges and universities are state supported.

Economy of Norway
Before the 20th century, most Norwegians made a living by farming, forestry, or fishing. Norway rapidly industrialized during the 20th century. Until the 1970s, this industrial expansion was based mainly on the exploitation of Norway’s vast waterpower resources and the materials provided by Norway’s farms, forests, and seas. During the 1970s, offshore drilling for petroleum and natural gas in Norway’s sector of the North Sea expanded rapidly, providing valuable new resources for industrial growth. Norway’s economy has since grown dependent on oil and natural gas production and is subject to fluctuations in international oil prices.

Norway’s standard of living has increased steadily since World War II. Taxes have also increased. Norwegians pay about half of their income directly or indirectly to the government, making Norwegians among the highest taxed of all Europeans. At the same time, Norway’s growing prosperity, driven in part by the exploitation of North Sea oil and gas reserves, has allowed the country to enlarge its already extensive social welfare system. Today, Norwegians enjoy one of the highest per capita standards of living in the world.

Norway depends heavily on foreign trade and therefore advocates free trade. However, Norway has shown reluctance to forge closer bonds with other countries. Part of this reluctance stems from Norway’s desire to preserve its unique social democratic institutions as well as its small-scale agricultural and fishing operations. Norway was a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA, established in 1960). But Norwegian voters have consistently rejected membership in the European Union (EU). As an EFTA member, however, Norway is permitted to participate in a free-trade zone called the European Economic Area (EEA). With the exception of the fishing and agricultural sectors, this allows Norway full access to the EU’s large internal market.

The basic monetary unit of Norway is the Norwegian krone. The krone is divided into 100 øre.

The Official Website of Norway
http://www.norway.no