Norway

The Kingdom of Norway (Norwegian: Kongeriket Norge - bokmål; Kongeriket Noreg - nynorsk) is a Nordic country on the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, located in Europe, and bordering Sweden, Finland and Russia. Norway has a very elongated shape; the country's extensive coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean is home to its famous fjords. The Kingdom of Norway also includes the Arctic island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The Norwegian sovereignty on Svalbard is based upon the Svalbard Treaty, but this does not apply to Jan Mayen. Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and a claim for Peter I Island in the South Pacific Ocean are also external dependencies, but these are not part of the Kingdom. Norway also claims Queen Maud Land in Antarctica where it has established the Troll permanent research station.

History

Archaeological finds indicate that there were people in Norway about 12,000 years ago. They probably came from more southern regions, that is northern Germany, and traveled farther north along the Norwegian coastline.

In the 9th century, Norway consisted of a number of petty kingdoms. According to tradition, Harald Fairhair gathered the small kingdoms into one in 872 with the battle of Hafrsfjord. He became the first king of a united Norway.

The Viking age (8th to 11th centuries) was one of unification and expansion. The Norwegians established settlements on Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and parts of Britain and Ireland, and attempted to settle at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada (it is the Vinland of the Saga of Eric the Red). Norwegians founded the modern-day Irish cities of Limerick and Waterford and established trading communities near the Celtic settlements of Cork and Dublin which later became Ireland's two most important cities. The spread of Christianity in Norway in this period is in large part attributed to the missionary kings Olav Trygvason (995-1000) and Saint Olav (1015-1028), although Haakon the Good was Norway's first Christian king and the Norse tradition was replaced slowly over two centuries (9th and 10th centuries).

In 1349, the Black Death wiped out between 40% and 50% of the Norwegian populationcausing a decline in both society and economics. During this decline, the Fairhair dynasty died out in 1387. Royal politics at the time resulted in several personal unions between the Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margrethe when the country entered into the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden. Sweden declared its independence in 1523, but Norway remained under the Danish crown until 1814. During the national romanticism of the 19th century, this period has sometimes been referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centered in Copenhagen, Denmark. However, it must be said that the common people of Norway had more freedom than the Danish people because the rural communities of Norway were organised differently than those of Denmark. Other factors also contributed to Norway's decline in this period. With the introduction of Protestantism in 1537, Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Bohuslän, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of the wars between Denmark-Norway and Sweden.

After Denmark-Norway was attacked by England, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon, and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars and in dire economic conditions. The Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models, and elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on May 17, 1814. However, Sweden militarily forced Norway into a personal union with Sweden, establishing Charles XIII of Sweden as king of Norway (as Carl II). Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service.
Following the war the Social Democrats came to power and ruled the country for much of the cold war. Norway joined NATO in 1949, and became a close ally of the United States. Two plebiscites to join the European Union failed by a narrow margin.

Geography and climate

At 323,802 km² (exclusive of Jan Mayen, Svalbard, and other possessions), Norway is larger than both Italy and Great Britain, but somewhat smaller than Germany. It is approximately the same size as the U.S. state of New Mexico. Norway forms the Western part of Scandinavia. The rugged coastline, broken by massive fjords and thousands of islands, stretches over 25,000 km.

Norway shares a 2,542 km land border with Sweden, Finland, and Russia to the east. To the west and south, Norway is bordered by the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and Skagerak. The Barents Sea represents Norway's northern border.

Norway is a rugged and mountainous country, containing a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords, deep grooves cut into the land that flooded with water. The largest of these is Sognefjorden. Norway also contains many glaciers and waterfalls. Norway is made of mostly hard granite rock, but also some limestone, and with marine deposits in the lowest elevations. Due to the gulf stream and prevailing westerlies, Norway experiences warmer temperatures and more precipitation than expected at such northern latitudes, especially along the coast. The mainland experiences four distinct seasons, with colder winters and less precipitation inland. The northernmost part has a mostly marine subarctic climate, while Svalbard has an arctic tundra climate.
There are large seasonal variations in daylight. In areas north of the the Arctic circle the sun may never completely descend beneath the horizon. That is why Norway is called the "Land of the Midnight Sun." Inhabitants south of the Arctic circle still enjoy sunlight most of the day during the summer.

Politics

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. As it stands, however, 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, or cabinet). The reserve powers vested in the Monarch by the constitution are significant and an important security part of the role of the Monarchy, and were last used during World War II. The Council of State consists of a Prime Minister and his council, formally appointed by the King. Parliamentarism has evolved since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must not have the parliament against it, and that the appointment by the King is a formality.

Economy

Norway possesses the second highest GDP per capita in the world, and the highest position in the World on the Human Development Index (HDI) for the fifth consecutive year. The Norwegian economy is an example of mixed economy, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector and the electricity production. The control mechanisms over the petroleum resources is a combination of state ownership in major operators in the Norwegian fields (Statoil ca 70% in 2005, Norsk Hydro 43% in 2004) while specific taxes on oil-profits for all operators are set to 78%, finally the government controls licensing of exploration and production of fields. The country is richly endowed with natural resources: petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. Norway has obtained one of the highest standards of living in the world, partly from petroleum production. Norway also has a very high employment ratio.

In 2004, oil and gas accounted for 50% of exports. Only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway, which is not a member of OPEC. The last 30 years, the Norwegian economy has shown various signs of the economic phenomenon called Dutch disease. In response to Dutch Disease, and to concerns about oil and gas reserve depletions, in 1995 the Norwegian state started to put away the annual surplus in a fund, now called The Government Pension Fund (usually called the "oil fund" in Norway). The fund is invested in developed financial markets outside Norway. The fiscal strategy is to spend the "normal interest" of the fund each year, set to 4%. By January 2006, the Fund was at USD 200 billion, representing 70% of GDP in Norway. During the first half of 2006, the pension fund became the largest fund in Europe, totaling about USD 300 billion.
The Norwegian currency is the krone.