Norway facts for kids

**Kingdom of Norway**
Kingdom of Norway ; Kongeriket Norge (Bokmål); Kongeriket Noreg (Nynorsk)
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Royal: Alt for Norge; ("Everything for Norway"); 1814 Eidsvoll oath: Enig og tro til Dovre faller; ("United and loyal until the mountains of Dovre crumble")
	Anthem: Ja, vi elsker dette landet; ("Yes, we love this country") Royal anthem: Kongesangen; ("The King's Song")
	Location of Norway (dark green) on the European continent (dark grey) — [Legend]
Capital; and largest city	Oslo
Official languages	Norwegian (Bokmål and Nynorsk)
Recognised regional languages	Northern Sami, Lule Sami, Kven and Southern Sami
Ethnic groups	81% Norwegians, 2% Sami, 17% other
Demonym(s)	Norwegian
Government	Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
• King	King Harald V
• Prime Minister	Erna Solberg (H)
• President of the Storting	Olemic Thommessen (H)
• Chief Justice	Tore Schei
• Current coalition	Conservative Coalition
Legislature	Storting
Establishment
• Unification	872
• Constitution	17 May 1814
• Dissolution of union with Sweden	7 June 1905
• Restoration from German occupation	8 May 1945
Area
• Total	385,170 km2 (148,710 sq mi) (67th1)
• Water (%)	6.03
Population
• 2014 estimate	5,541,000 (116th)
• 2001 census	4,858,200
• Density	13.26/km2 (34.3/sq mi) (213th)
GDP (PPP)	2010 estimate
• Total	$255.285 billion
• Per capita	$52,012
GDP (nominal)	2010 estimate
• Total	$414.462 billion
• Per capita	$84,443
Gini (2000)	25.8; low · 5th
HDI (2013)	0.944; very high · 1st
Currency	Norwegian krone (NOK)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	47
ISO 3166 code	NO
Internet TLD	.no2
	Includes Svalbard and Jan Mayen. (Without these two areas, the area of Norway is 323,802 km2, placing it 67th in the world.); Two more TLDs have been assigned, but to date not used: .sj for Svalbard and Jan Mayen; .bv for Bouvet Island.; This percentage is for the mainland and also includes glaciers;

Norway is a country in the north of Europe. It is the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula. The mainland of Norway is surrounded by a coast on the west side and borders Russia, Finland, and Sweden to the east. The coast touches the Oslofjord, Skagerrak, and the North Sea.

The Kingdom of Norway has been independent since 1905. Its head of state is now King Harald V. The national day is May 17, which celebrates Norway's constitution of 1814. The parliament is called Stortinget and its members are elected by the people every 4 years.

About 5 million people live in Norway. The capital is the city of Oslo. It is also the largest city, with a population of over 942,000. Other major cities are Bergen with 251,000 people and Trondheim with 172,000; both of these have been the Norwegian capital in earlier years.

Norwegian is the national language. There are two official written versions of Norwegian called Bokmål and Nynorsk. Many Sami individuals are native speakers of one of the Sami languages. Nord-samisk is also an official language in a number of kommuner. ( Each kommune has a mayor. )

History

Major pieces of Norwegian history include :

The battle of Hafrsfjord ( 872 A.D. ) resulted in small kingdoms becoming one, larger, kingdom, ruled by Harald I of Norway which is Harald the First.
In 1349 half of the Norwegian people died, getting sick from the bubonic plague. The last of the early Norwegian kings died in 1387.
The union with Denmark : Norway was the weaker part of the union with Denmark, which lasted until 1814 when Norway tried to get free. The Norwegian constitution was written in 1814 and signed on May 17th that year. However, Denmark, on the losing side of the Napoleon wars, lost Norway to Sweden, on the winning side. Norway could not escape the much greater military force of Sweden, and formally entered into union with Sweden in November 1814.
The union with Sweden : It lasted from 1814 until June 7th, 1905 when Norway finally became a separate nation again.
In 1905 Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King of Norway and he became King Haakon VII, and his wife, Princess Maud, became Queen Maud. Their son, Prince Alexander of Denmark, became Crown Prince Olav and followed after his father as King Olav V in 1957. Olav and his wife, Crown Princess Märtha, had three children; Princess Ragnhild, Princess Astrid and Prince Harald (later Crown Prince Harald and in 1991 he followed his father as King Harald V).

King Harald is the first king born in Norway in over 600 years. He has two children; Princess Märtha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus.

In World War I Norway was neutral and served as a trading nation. Norway tried to stay neutral in World War II, but was occupied by German forces from 9 April 1940 to 8 May 1945.

Government

Ministry of Defence

The Government has Norwegian soldiers working in Afghanistan, together with soldiers from other countries that belong to NATO. The Norwegian parachute regiment is known for being very good. Since 2013, the Norwegian Minister of Defence is Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide.

Economy

Exports include : natural gas, oil, hydroelectric power, and fish. Other natural resources are agriculture, forests, and minerals.

The Government collects much money from various sources, and has policies intended to spread this wealth among Norwegians. This spread of wealth, is done both directly and indirectly.

Ethnicity

Most people in Norway are ethnic Norwegians. They speak a language that is related to German and early English. Swedish and Danish are so close to Norwegian that most Norwegians understand them. Across Norway, many different dialects are spoken. Norwegians disagree on how to make one correct written language. Therefore, there are two standard languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Nynorsk is used in writing in most of the western areas and in the central mountains. Bokmål is written by most people in the rest of the country.

A native population of Norway, the Sami people, has its home in the northern parts of the country. Their language is not at all related to Norwegian. In some parishes in the far north, they make up the majority of people. Many Sami now live outside the Sami homeland, mostly in Oslo and other big cities. Earlier, Sami people were forced to speak Norwegian in school. Now Sami is taught as the first language in school for Sami children, and Norwegian is the first foreign language.

Many immigrants have come to Norway in the last 30–40 years. They mostly live in and around Oslo, and in the other big cities. Many immigrants come from nearby countries, like Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Russia. There are also many from countries far away, such as Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq and Vietnam.

Traditionally, all Norwegians were Lutherans, a variety of the Protestant faith. Still, more than 80% of Norwegians are Lutherans. Other important faiths include Islam, other Protestant groups and Catholicism.

Tourism

Among tourists to Norway, more come from Germany than from any other country. There are also many Swedes, Danes, British, Dutch and Italians visiting Norway. The Swedes and Danes often come in winter to go skiing. The others mainly come in summer.

Organisations associated with the Government of Norway

NATO : Norway was a founding member.
United Nations

Media

The largest national newspapers in Norway are Verdens Gang (VG), Aftenposten and Dagbladet.

Norwegian culture

Norwegian culture can be compared to English culture in the way that it is considered a bad thing to show off, as opposed to the US, where this is more acceptable. This is a big aspect of Norwegian culture, and it is related to the philosophy of egalitarianism. Because of this, people will understate things, for example if a Norwegian says something is good or nice, it usually means that it's really great.

Norway also has a rich cultural history, going all the way back to the age of the Vikings, and up to today with several writers and painters. The most famous Norwegian cultural person is probably Henrik Ibsen who wrote several plays and novels, and they often upset people because he challenged popular attitudes such as the role of women. Other famous writers include Knut Hamsun, Jonas Lie, Amalie Skram and more recently, Jens Bjørneboe. Famous painters and musicians include Edvard Munch, Theodor Kittelsen, Ole Bull and Edvard Grieg.

Norwegian Politics

In Norway power is shared among three branches: The justice sector, the government and the parliament (Stortinget). Norway also has a king, Harald 5, but he does not have any real power and acts as a symbol and ambassador. This form of government is called a constitutional monarchy. Elections are held every four years, and the winner of the election is the party or coalition of parties that gets the most votes and seats in the parliament. After the elections are done, the winners work together to find out who the prime minister should be, as well as who the other ministers should be.

Here is a short summary of the biggest political parties in Norway, from left to right on the political axis:

Red (Rødt): A revolutionary socialist party which works for equality of income, labour rights, a controlled economy and feminism. Red is the only party on this list that is not in the Norwegian parliament.
Socialist Left Party (Sosialistisk venstreparti): The party is not very radical and is concerned with environmental issues as well as education. The party is traditionally regarded as the "teacher's party" because of their focus on learning and school. One might call SV more of a social democratic party than a socialist party, since their socialist views have faded over the years. They were more radical in the 1970s and 80s.
Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet): The Labour Party is the biggest party in Norway. They work for a strong economy with many regulations on private businesses, and are traditionally the party for workers, securing labour rights and the welfare state.
Centre Party (Senterpartiet): The Centre Party used to be known as the farmer's party; they no longer use this name, but still they are mostly popular in the countryside and other rural regions, since they work for the environment and protection of Norwegian farmers. For example, making foreign food cost more so that people will buy from Norwegian farmers. This is called protectionism.
Green Party (Miljøpartiet de Grønne): The Green party works for the environment only, and has recently been gaining a lot of popularity for its radical politics. They are mostly a left-side party, but will switch sides if it helps the environment.
Liberal Party (Venstre): Even though it is called Left in English, it is actually a social liberal party that belongs to the centre-right side of Norwegian politics. They work for liberal rights like freedom of speech, gender equality and they are also concerned with environment. Because of this they heavily support public transport.
Kristelig Folkeparti: The Christian People's Party is at present more active in local than national politics.
Conservative Party (Høgre): The flagship of the right side of politics, it is a conservative party and is the second biggest party in Norway. It works for a free market, liberal rights and equality of opportunity. They are friendly towards private businesses and support economic growth by making taxes smaller, so that more people can start businesses.
Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet): The Progress Party is a right-side party. It works for stronger immigration laws, a free market and tough penalties for crimes. They also support private schools and flat taxes.

The Conservative Party and the Progress Party are currently working together in a coalition government, after getting elected in the 2013 elections. It's also a minority government, so it has to work together with the other parties in the parliament to make change.

Related pages

Images for kids

Nordic Bronze Age rock carvings at Steinkjer, Central Norway
Locations of the Germanic tribes described by Jordanes in Norway
Viking swords found in Norway, preserved at Bergen Museum
Viking helmet found at Gjermundbu in Buskerud, is the only complete Viking Age helmet that has been found
The Gokstad ship at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway
Norwegian, Danish and Swedish expansion during the Viking age between 800–1050
Norwegian Kingdom at its greatest extent, c. 1265
The Battle of the Sound between an allied Dano-Norwegian–Dutch fleet and the Swedish navy, 8 November 1658 (29 October O.S.)
The 1814 constitutional assembly, painted by Oscar Wergeland
Harvesting of oats in Jølster around 1890
A Sami family in Norway around 1900
A bride from Hardanger in national costume about 1900's.
Scenes from the Norwegian Campaign in 1940
Norwegian fighter pilots in the United Kingdom during World War II
Since the 1980s oil production has helped to expand the Norwegian economy and finance the Norwegian state.
left
The tallest vertical rock face in Europe, Trollveggen and Trollryggen over the river Rauma in Romsdalen valley.
Norwegian lowland landscape near the Gaulosen branch of Trondheimsfjord
Reine in Lofoten, Northern Norway
The Arctic fox has its habitat in high elevation ranges on the mainland as well as on Svalbard.
Cold-water coral reefs in Skagerak off of the southern coast of Norway.
The Royal Palace in Oslo.
King Harald V and Queen Sonja of Norway, reigning since 1991.
The Storting is the Parliament of Norway.
Erna Solberg, the Prime Minister of Norway since 2013.
A geopolitical map of Norway, showing the 19 fylker, the Svalbard (Spitsbergen) and Jan Mayen islands, which are part of the Norwegian kingdom
Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtjof Nansen class frigate
Norwegian Leopard tanks in the snow in Målselv
Graphical depiction of Norway's product exports in 28 colour-coded categories.
GDP and GDP growth
Agriculture is a significant sector, in spite of the mountainous landscape (Flakstad)
Oil production has been central to the Norwegian economy since the 1970s, with a dominating state ownership (Statfjord oil field)
Stockfish has been exported from Lofoten in Norway for at least 1,000 years
E6 highway at Brattlikollen outskirts of Oslo
[visualisation]]]
Ethnic woman in Norwegian local geographic environment at Voss near Gudvangen in 1959
Demographics in Norway
Minneapolis–Saint Paul has the largest concentration of ethnic Norwegians outside Norway, at 470,000.
Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim
Heddal stave church, Notodden, the largest stave church in Norway
The main building of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim
Distribution of Norwegian dialect groups: North Norwegian (yellow), Trøndelag Norwegian (navy blue), West Norwegian (orange) and East Norwegian (pale blue).
Bryggen in Bergen is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Traditional Norwegian farmer's costumes, known as folkedrakt, and modern costumes inspired by those costumes, known as bunad, are widely used on special occasions.
Knut Hamsun, author
Henrik Ibsen
The Urnes Stave Church has been listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Dalen Hotel in Telemark built in dragestil ("Dragon Style"), a style of design and architecture that originated during the period of Norwegian romantic nationalism.
The 17th-century town of Røros, designated in 1980 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has the narrow streets and wooden houses of the period.
Brudeferd i Hardanger by Adolph Tidemand og Hans Gude, 1848
Biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen from Norway is the most successful Winter Olympian of all time, with 13 medals
The Norwegian women's national bandy team in 2006