Norway

Map showing the location of Norway (green) in Europe

Norway is a country in north-western Europe. It shares borders with Sweden, Finland, and Russia. The capital city is Oslo. Other big cities in Norway are Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim and Kristiansand. Norway's currency is called the Norwegian krone. Norway is not a member of the European Union. The Norwegian people voted "no" for joining the EU.

Norway's History

The flag of Norway

Norway's history is dominated by the sea, which has provided much of the wealth and income to the expert seafarers who lived here. From 900-1349 A.D, Norway is marked by war as warlords try to conquer each other's lands and as Vikings from Norway travel the seas in search of wealth and land. With their superior boats, they traveled on shallow rivers and pillaged places which were thought inaccessable, but also traded wares all over europe. These Vikings discovered and settled far-off places like Newfoundland and Iceland and they conquered places like Normandy and the Orkneys.

After the Black Death in 1350, Norway lost half of its population and it became part of The Kalmar Union (Norway, Denmark and Sweden) during 1397-1450. When Sweden went out of the union, Norway was a province owned by Denmark from 1450-1814. In 1814, Norway made its own constitution. Because of the Napoleonic wars, Norway was made mostly autonomous, albeit in an union with Sweden. A feeling of nationalism and conflicting trade policies made the union unpopular in Norway, and by 1905 Norway became fully independent from Sweden without a war. After an election, the Norwegian people chose to be a democracy with a king, and they found the Danish King's son for the role. He took the more Norwegian-like name Haakon, and his son took the name Olav. The Queen continued to be Maud.

National Theatre of Norway in Oslo

Reine in Lofoten, Northern Norway

Constitution — A permanent set of laws for a country

Norway's Geography

Fjords, long inlets from the sea, cover most of Norway's coastline. Norway is a very long country, like Chile. It stretches from 57° and 81° North and parts of the north are in the Arctic Circle.

Norway has 239,057 registered islands spread across the coastline of 83,000 kilometres.

Norway's highest mountain is Galdhøpiggen at 2,469 metres.

Norway's People

Geiranger, Norway

Norways' population is mostly ethnic Norwegians and people from the other Scandinavian countries. Approximately 5 million people live in Norway.

The majority of Norwegians are Protestant Christian. There are also small minorities of Catholic Christians, Muslims and Jews.

The main language of Norway is Norwegian (which has 2 written forms). A variety of Sami languages are spoken by the Sami people especially in the north of the country.

One famous Norwegian artist was Edvard Munch who is famous for The Scream. Most of the famous artists such as Henrik Ibsen or Edvard Grieg lived during the 1800s.

Norway's Sights

Norway is very popular with tourists especially those who like the great outdoors. Norway is a very expensive country but many tourists visit every year to see the famous fjords, the unspoiled nature and the attractive towns around the country.

The most visited tourist sites in Norway are Holmenkollen Ski Jump and Bryggen which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The capital, Oslo, is popular for business trips and sight-seeing trips and cruises in the Arctic north are popular especially during the winter.