Population: 4,752,735
Calling code: +47
Currency: Norwegian krone (NOK)
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a
sovereign State of northern Europe, whose form of government is the
parliamentary democratic monarchy. Its territory is organized in
eighteen provinces or fylker and its capital is Oslo.
Together with Sweden, Finland and a part of Russia, it forms the
Scandinavian peninsula. On the other hand, Norway,
Sweden and
Denmark make up Scandinavia. The islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen
are also part of the Norwegian national territory. The sovereignty
over Svalbard was established by the Treaty of Svalbard, signed in
1920, and has its capital in Longyearbyen. The island of Bouvet, in
the South Atlantic, and the island of Pedro I, in the south of the
Pacific Ocean, are considered dependencies and therefore do not make
up part of the Kingdom as such. Norway is one of the countries that
claims Antarctic territory: the Land of Queen Maud.
Its
territory, located between the parallels 57 ° and 71 ° north
latitude and between the meridians 4 ° and 31 ° east longitude, has
borders to the north with the Barents Sea, to the northeast with
Russia and
Finland, to the east with Sweden, to the south with the
Strait of Skagerrak and to the west with the Atlantic Ocean. Along
its extensive Atlantic coast, Norway has numerous fjords, glacial
valleys that are an icon of the country.
Since the Second
World War, the country has experienced rapid economic growth and is
currently one of the richest countries in the world, ranked third
according to its GDP per capita. Due to the Scandinavian model of
welfare, its system is qualified as a socialist state, since despite
its level of economic freedom the state owns the key industrial
sectors such as oil (Statoil) or hydroelectric power (Statkraft) and
is involved in the organization and financing of social welfare
available to citizens to a greater extent than other European
countries, accompanied by a broad-based progressive tax system aimed
at the redistribution of income from the richest sectors of society
to the poorest .
The social equity values of Norwegian
society have kept the pay gap between the lowest paid worker and the
CEOs of most companies much smaller compared to Western economies
possessing one of the lowest crime rates in the world.
Southern towns and suburbs
Ås
Drøbak
Ski
Gudbrandsdalen
Hafjell
Kvitfjell Alpinanlegg
Stjørdal (Stjørdalshalsen)
Trondheim
Hammerfest
Honningsvåg
Karasjok
Flekkefjord
Kristiansand
Lyngdal
Barentsburg (Баренцбург)
Hornsund
Longyearbyen
Norway has experienced several territorial reforms in
recent years, the last of which took place on January 1, 2020. The
traditional division into five parts of the country (landsdel) was
retained, the previous 19 fylke (provinces) were merged into just 11
fylke, and of the previous 428 municipalities, 356 municipalities
remained after the reform. There are additional regulations for the
capital Oslo and the archipelago of Svalbard (Spitsbergen), which as a
special territory has extensive self-government rights. The Norwegian
island areas of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are traditionally not assigned to
any fylke, but form territories with special status. In mid-2022,
however, a new territorial reform was decided, after which the number of
provinces should rise again to 15.
Administrative divisions in
Norway:
North Norway
Trondelag
Sorlandet
Vestlandet
Ostlandet
The 20 largest cities and municipalities in the country
1 Oslo
- the capital and also the country's largest city, with numerous museums
of national and international importance, seat of the Norwegian
Parliament, the King and the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, which awards
the Nobel Peace Prize every year on December 10th in Oslo City Hall.
2 Bergen - old trading center of the Hanseatic
League, whose old wooden houses the tyskebrygge are part of the UNESCO
World Heritage. In addition, the second largest city offers a rich
cultural and breathtaking natural landscape. Bergen is also the port of
departure for the legendary Hurtigruten, the Norwegian mail service.
3 Stavanger - Fish and oil have made this city rich. Stavanger has
overtaken Trondheim as the third largest city in recent years. Despite
the unmistakable influence of the oil industry around the new port
facilities, Stavanger shows itself in the old town center, in Gamle
Stavanger, with its white-painted wooden houses, the narrow streets and
the historic ambience of 200 years ago as extremely worth seeing.
4
Trondheim - once the capital of Norway and now a major technology hub.
The city has the largest and most important cathedral in Scandinavia,
the Nidarosdomen.
5 Drammen, an industrial and mining town that is
part of the metropolitan area of Oslo - together the two cities
represent the largest contiguous settlement area in Norway. Despite its
proximity to the capital, Drammen, located at the mouth of the
Drammenselva in the Drammensfjord, has retained its independence (and
the oldest still producing brewery in Norway). Like almost every
Norwegian city, Drammen is also a winter sports resort.
6 Fredrikstad
8 Porgrunn/Skien
9 Kristiansand
10 Tonsberg
11 Ålesund - The
city of Art Nouveau.
12 Moss
13 Sandefjord
14 Arendal
15
Haugesund
16 Bodø
17 Tromsø with the world's northernmost
university.
18 Hamar
19 Halden
20 Larvik - Port city on the
south coast, birthplace of important shipbuilders and adventurers: Colin
Archer and Thor Heyerdahl
21 Aksøy
Other notable cities:
22
Hammerfest - long the world's northernmost city, was replaced by
Honningsvåg in the 1990s.
23 Narvik - End point of the "ore railway"
from Sweden and thus the northernmost city in Norway that can be reached
by rail.
24 Sandefjord - town of whaling
25 Harstad
26
Lillehammer - picturesque winter sports town. Venue of the Winter
Olympics.
27 Molde
28 Mo i Rana
29 hoards
The fjords of western Norway, such as the Geirangerfjord and the
Nærøyfjord, together represent the fjord landscape as part of the UNESCO
World Heritage. Other well-known fjords are the Sognefjord, the longest
fjord in Europe, the Trollfjord with its only 100 m wide estuary into
the Raftsund and the Hardangerfjord, whose slopes are among the largest
fruit-growing areas in Norway.
Hardangervidda - the largest plateau
in Europe with the Hardangervidda National Park, with the two highest
mountains, Sandfloeggi and Hårteigen, as well as the Hardangerjøkulen
glacier in northern Hardangervidda. The Bergen Railway traverses
northern Hardangervidda, giving travelers who don't want to lace up
their hiking boots a glimpse of this pristine landscape, which is
snow-covered for most of the year.
Jotunheimen - a magical landscape
with the highest mountains in the country.
Lofoten - an archipelago
located about 100 to 300 km north of the Arctic Circle and traditionally
characterized by fishing.
North Cape Magerøya
Trollveggen -
mountain massif with the highest drop-off in Europe, a popular spot for
BASE jumpers
Hessdalen - 12 km long valley where strange light
phenomena can be observed in the sky
The Telemark in Southern Norway
with the Telemark Canal.
The bird island Runde is located in Herøy
Municipality.
The former industrial facilities of the Vemork power
station in Rjukan and Notodden in Telemark have been a UNESCO World
Heritage Site since 2015
Norway is particularly known for its amazing and varied nature. The
many fjords on the west coast reach far inland and are bordered by high
mountains. The country was once a Viking kingdom. Economically, it is
best known for its oil and fish exports.
Norway is geographically
very extensive. The straight line from the southern tip at Cape
Lindesnes near Mandal to the North Cape is a good 1700 km, 2518 km by
road. At its narrowest point, south of Narvik, the width is only 6 km.
In this country, which is comparable in area to Germany or the United
Kingdom, only 5 million people live, around 1 million of them in the
metropolitan area around the capital Oslo alone. This means that one
inhabitant has an average of 65,000 m². Due to the topology of the
country, however, only a good 3% of the area can be used for
agriculture; 44.4% consists of mountains and plateaus, 38.2% are forest,
13% inland water and swamps (source: Statistisk Sentralbyrå, March
2006). In many of these unpopulated areas, national parks with
comprehensive nature conservation provisions have been established.
Downhill and cross-country skiing and snowboarding are popular in
the winter, while hiking and cycling are popular in the summer months.
For adventure seekers, nature offers kayaking, rafting, paragliding, or
exploring caves and glaciers. Drivers will like the long drives along
the fjords and mountains in the west or the midnight sun in the north.
In short, Norway has a long list of outdoor activities.
Border controls reintroduced: Border controls have been temporarily
reintroduced in Norway. This is temporarily limited to May 11,
2023.[obsolete]- Shipping companies are also obliged to check the entry
documents before the start of the journey. For EU citizens, this means
that if you forget your ID card or passport, you will currently be
turned away at the ferry terminal or other entry points. It is therefore
currently absolutely necessary to carry the identification papers with
you. Current information can be found at norwegen.no.
Norway is a
member of both the Schengen Agreement and the Nordic Passport Union.
Entries from the Schengen area are only subject to passport and customs
controls in exceptional cases. Norway is not a member of the EU, so
customs regulations also apply to private goods traffic (even if it is
rarely checked). It is possible to arrive by car from Sweden, Finland or
Russia, by ferry from Denmark, Germany or the UK and by plane.
100 cigarettes or 125g of tobacco products (snuff, cigars) and 100
sheets of rolling paper (from 18; also applies to duty-free purchases
upon arrival at Oslo Airport) (as of Jan 2023)
one of the following
combinations (over 22% from 20 years; alcohol over 60% is completely
forbidden):
1 liter of liquor (23-60% alc.) and 2 bottles of wine
(1.5 liters) and 2 liters of beer, or
3 liters of wine (4 bottles)
and 2 liters of beer, or
5 liters of beer (max. 4.7% alc.).
Goods
up to 6000 nkr., including
Bring a total of 10 kg of meat and meat
products, cheese (only from EFTA countries, otherwise after an official
veterinary inspection) and animal feed. Dog and cat food are not
affected by this restriction.
Cash over 25000 nkr is to be declared.
For stays abroad of less than 24 hours, the exemption only applies
if goods that have been taxed in an EFTA state are carried along. There
is a simplified customs procedure for private individuals who carry
comparatively small quantities but more than the allowances. This
includes up to 27 liters of beer or alcoholic beverages up to 22% (duty
22-121 nkr/l), 4 liters of schnapps (duty 385 nkr/l) and tobacco
products up to 500 g (duty 353 nkr/100).
A pet ID card must be presented at customs (red passage) for each of the maximum five animals. This is standardized in the EU/EFTA. From other countries, you can only enter the country with animals via the Oslo Airport Gardermoen and Storskog border crossings (at least 48 hours in advance). Pets born since 2011 must be microchipped and have a valid rabies vaccination. Dogs including puppies must have been treated for tapeworm infestation (fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis). Fighting dog breeds and mixed-breed wolves are generally prohibited.
The quickest way to travel to Norway from Germany is by plane. The
flight time from Munich to Oslo is about 2¼ hours, from Hamburg about an
hour. Prices have come down drastically thanks to competition from
budget airlines, but vary significantly depending on the day of the week
and the month. Airlines with regular scheduled flights to Norway are
Norwegian, Lufthansa, SAS and KLM (no direct flights).
There are
numerous smaller airports along the long coastline, but most
international flights are to Oslo, Torp (Sandefjord), Bergen, Stavanger,
Tromsø and Trondheim.
At some Norwegian airports it is not
possible to exchange money. You should therefore make sure you have
enough cash (NOK) before you travel.
Travelers from Copenhagen usually have to change trains in Gothenburg or Stockholm. Some connections also go via Helsingør (by boat). The travel time for this route is a little more than 9 hours, but if booked in good time it is much cheaper than the plane, and there are also no disadvantages that are typical of airports, such as baggage checks. You can also bring as much luggage as you can/want to carry yourself. Likewise, the often long journey to and from the airport, which is often far away from the destination, especially with low-cost airlines, is eliminated (low-cost airlines often use special airports that usually only have the name in common with the destination - e.g. Frankfurt-Hahn) .
There are a number of companies offering tourist trips to Norway.
Various international bus routes run from Sweden to Oslo. The most
important providers are Eurolines, Swebus Express and Säfflebussen.
There are connections from Gothenburg and Copenhagen almost every hour.
The bus density from Stockholm is also far higher than that of the train
connections. Those who want to travel cheaply should visit
Lavprisekspressen.no for bus tickets between the major cities of Norway,
Denmark and Sweden.
Other express bus lines run from Sweden to
Bodø and Mo i Rana, but also from Denmark to Stavanger.
In addition to the ferries, there are various ways to get here by
car. Depending on personal preference, a shorter ferry passage
(Vogelfluglinie) can be taken, or it goes over the new bridges in
Denmark to Sweden. Depending on the travel destination in Norway, there
are now different routes. Travelers to the south of Norway, to Trondheim
and to the Lofoten use the E 6 from Malmö/Helsingborg, which leads to
Oslo via Gothenburg. This road, which opens up almost all of Norway,
continues from Oslo in the direction of Trondheim. Travelers who want to
get to the North Cape quickly should take the Swedish E 4, which is much
faster and leads to Finland via Stockholm.
Ship
From Germany
From Germany, the two Colorline ferries commute daily from Kiel to Oslo.
Departs Kiel at 2 p.m., arrives in Oslo the next morning at 10 a.m.
Directly upon arrival at the ferry terminal, there is a bus to the city
center. It then returns at 2 p.m. Arrival in Kiel the next morning again
at 10 a.m. The Color Fantasy has been operating this route since 2004
and the Color Magic since 2007, both of which are among the largest
RoPax ferries currently in service.
The ships of the Colorline
have increasingly experienced a change from ferry to cruise ship, a
large part of the guests make up guests on the so-called mini cruise.
Low-budget travelers can no longer book cheap single beds, and there are
no longer any lounge chairs available. While the mini-cruise is
advertised as having very reasonable prices, a one-way crossing usually
costs double or more than an entire mini-cruise (although you can't book
vehicles for it). The change is also evident inside the ship: there are
no seating areas without gastronomic service, in the evening people in
evening dress often dominate life on board, most passengers populate the
gastronomy and shops rather than the outer decks soon after the ship has
cast off.
Colorline Terminal Oslo, Terminalen Hjortnes, 0250
Oslo. Tel.: +49 431 73 00 100 (service number in Germany). Simple cafe
on the 4th floor, check-in on the 1st floor. Open: Open Mon-Fri:
8am-3pm, Sat-Sun: 9am-3pm.
Colorline Terminal Kiel, Norwaykai, 24143
Kiel-Gaarden. Tel.: +49 431 73 00 100 (daily 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.), e-mail:
servicecenter@colorline.de. Open: Open daily 8am - 3pm.
From the
Netherlands
New ferry connection from Netherlands Eemshaven to Norway
Kristiansand with Holland Norway Lines.
From Denmark
Copenhagen - Oslo (16½ h) with DFDS Seaways.
Hirtshals - Kristiansand
(3¼ hours) with Colorline and in 2¼ hours with Fjord Line's catamaran.
Hirtshals - Larvik (3¼ h) with Colorline.
Hirtshals - Langesund (4½
h) with Fjord Line.
Hirtshals - Stavanger (11½ h) - Bergen (+ 8 h)
Fjord Line.
In the high season, on the usual changeover days for
holiday homes, the ferries are often fully booked. On these days you
should have booked a seat or cabin if you don't want to sit on the
floor.
From Sweden
Strömstad - Sandefjord with Colorline.
Norway has a well-developed local and long-distance transport system. It is mostly served by buses and ferries. Most timetables are available online via websites (e.g. www.rutebok.no) or using apps for Android or iOS devices.
Domestic flights are a matter of course in Norway, a dense network of
small regional airports covers the country and is indispensable for
business travelers, especially in central and northern Norway, where the
rail network is becoming thinner and thinner. In addition to Norway's
largest airport, Oslo-Gardermoen Airport, each county usually has
several regional airports that are served by international airports (see
Arrival). The following are some important airports, especially in the
northern Fylke, where most of the places where Hurtigruten docks also
have an airfield:
Finnmark: Alta, Båtsfjord, Berlevåg, Hammerfest,
Honningsvåg, Kirkenes, Vadsø, Vardø
More and Romsdal: Kristiansund,
Molde, Alesund
Nord-Trøndelag: Rørvik, Trondheim
Nordland: Bodø,
Brønnøysund, Leknes, Mo i Rana, Narvik, Stokmarknes, Svolvær
Regionally, many coastal towns can be reached most quickly by
ferries, and many places on the fjords can also be reached by ferries.
However, in the land of tunnel and bridge engineers, tunnels are
increasingly being used to connect islands to the mainland and spanning
fjords with gigantic bridge constructions. Ferry connections are
therefore becoming fewer and fewer, which is good for the speedy
connection, but is detrimental to nostalgia - the latter bothers locals
less than tourists. However, the tendency to build bridges and tunnels
is unfavorable for cyclists, for whom most tunnels and some bridges are
closed.
Among the supra-regional ship connections, the
Hurtigruten, the mail ship line (literally translated as "the fast
line"), is particularly worth mentioning. In seven days, the line
connects Bergen with Kirkenes in the very north, calling at numerous
small ports as the main task of the ships, which are increasingly
adapted to cruise standards, is the supply of goods and mail.
The Norwegian State Railways (NSB) connects the main cities up to
Bodø. Narvik can also be reached via the Swedish rail network. However,
due to the many fjords, there are no direct rail lines between the major
cities on the west coast; the network is mainly focused on Oslo.
However, traveling by train offers some of the most spectacular scenery
in the world. With the InterRail ticket you can travel through
Scandinavia very cheaply. Most long-distance connections are served
several times a day. Seats on long-distance trains require a paid (60
NOK) reservation. The InterRail ticket is not valid in couchette
compartments.
Important railway routes in Norway:
Bergen
Railway from Oslo to Bergen, the journey goes straight through the
northern Hardangervidda.
Dovre Railway from Oslo via Lillehammer and
Dombås to Trondheim, passing through both Gudbrandsdalen and Dovrefjell.
Flåm Railway from Flåm to Myrdal, the route connects the Aurlandsfjord
and thus the region around the Sognefjord with the Bergen Railway. The
train is mainly used by tourists.
Nordland Railway from Trondheim to
Bodø.
Rauma Railway from Dombås to Åndalsnes, a 114 km branch of the
Dovre Railway.
Røros Railway, a non-electrified branch of the Dovre
Railway, which connects Røros with Trondheim and Hamar.
Sørland
Railway from Oslo via Kristiansand to Stavanger.
There are also
regional routes such as the Kongsvinger Railway from Oslo to Kongsvinger
and the Hoved Railway from Oslo to Eidsvoll
Norwegian State
Railways NSB tickets can be booked in advance online or by telephone. On
most trains except local trains (lokaltog) a prior (free) seat
reservation is obligatory, which is purchased with the ticket. If you
spontaneously want a ride, ask the conductor (conductor) if there is
still room, which is usually not a problem. When booking online, you
have the option of choosing your own seat using a compartment plan that
shows the number of seats still available. There are (limited) MiniPris
tickets on all routes. A standard ticket can be canceled until the train
departs, while MiniPris tickets cannot. A journey in the comfort area
costs NOK 90 in addition to the ticket price, with the night train you
can choose from various overnight accommodation options (sove). Children
aged 5-15 travel for free on a parent's Standard ticket, while a
parent's MiniPris ticket requires a separate ticket purchase. Children
from 0 - 4 years generally travel free of charge. With small children it
is advisable to book a place in the family compartment when booking.
Seniors receive a 50% discount on the price of a standard ticket.
Bicycles can be taken on all trains, but there are quotas in some cases,
so that prior reservation is strongly recommended, especially on routes
heavily frequented by tourists, such as the Bergen Railway. An extra
ticket is required for a bicycle, which is the same price as a
children's ticket on the booked route (50% of the standard price), but
no more than 179 NOK.
With your own car you are always the fastest! This phrase may apply
to getting to the ferry terminals in Frederikshavn and Hirtshals - the
speed limit on Danish motorways has recently been raised to 130 km/h and
congestion is a problem in Aalborg - but not in Norway. Here you can
drive at a maximum of 80 km/h on country roads and 90 km/h, sometimes at
least 110 km/h on the motorway. On the European roads, however, one is
regularly warned of stationary speed cameras (automatic traffic
control), mobile radar controls are rarely carried out (well hidden and
without warning), radar cars (civilian police vehicles with travel time
measurement) are more common. Meanwhile, there are also some 'double'
speed cameras, i. H. even if you keep to the maximum speed at both speed
cameras, the second speed camera recognizes through time measurement
whether you were too fast in between and flashes anyway. Nevertheless,
you should comply with the speed limit, the penalties are similar to
those in Switzerland (e.g. +5 km/h 600 NOK), but probably not
enforceable in German-speaking countries (i.e.: possible penalties are
not mandatory unless you are Norwegian police officers in the country
are asked to pay) - unless you use a rented car from a car rental
company with Swedish or Norwegian license plates. Many 50 km/h zones,
roundabouts, signposts and creeping mobile homes make driving on the
transit routes a torture for some - others enjoy the overall smooth
ride, which allows for breathtaking views from the car window.
In
many places, especially on tunnels and upgraded routes as well as city
passages, you have to pay a toll, when you arrive primarily on the
motorway in the direction of Oslo and on this first before Drammen (30
NOK for cars). Otherwise the car toll is 10 to 25 NOK for cars. There
are three different types of toll booths (called TOLL or BOMSTASJON).
The toll is payable in NOK at the machine. Attention: never drive on red
- video registration. Sometimes there are also euro-compatible and
human-manned stations. As a tourist, you can also register online in
advance with a credit card; the amount is then conveniently debited and
you lose no time at the toll stations. As a foreigner, you can simply
drive through these automatic toll stations, you will receive the fee
bill without surcharges at the owner's address and can then simply be
transferred. It should be noted that if you rent a car, the car rental
company's fee for the invoice transfer will be added. This does not
apply to manually manned toll stations.
Important: Dipped
headlights are mandatory 24 hours a day, i.e. also during the day.
Banning smoking at the wheel was discussed, but this proposal was
rejected. General: The fines, especially for exceeding the speed limits,
are among the highest in Europe, which, if you don't comply with the
rules, tear holes in the holiday budget. Even small upward deviations
(from 4 km/h) are penalized.
When driving, the following
circumstances should be observed:
The right-before-left rule is
omnipresent.
Some mountain roads are not wide enough for two cars to
pass each other. Passing points are marked with a large M.
Winter
tires are required by law in the cold season.
The dipped headlights
must also be switched on during the day.
Sheep or cattle can be
expected on the roads at any time, particularly in late summer and
autumn (downturn).
Long-distance cycling in Norway is naturally a challenge - flat
stages on Norway's numerous cycle routes are few and far between. But if
you are a touring cyclist and have stamina and, if necessary, a certain
endurance for the many climbs, you will be rewarded with lonely routes
through nature, spectacular views and rapid descents after challenging
climbs.
The main cycling routes in Norway are the ten National
Cycle Routes:
Route 1: Kystruta with the North Sea Coast Cycle Route
Norway and further from Bergen up to the North Cape
Route 2:
Porsgrunn - Stavanger
Route 3: Kristiansand - Ålesund
Route 4:
Oslo - Bergen (including Rallarvegen)
Route 5: Numedalsruta (Larvik -
Molde)
Route 6: Roros - Leirvik
Route 7: Pilgrimsruta (Halden -
Trondheim via Lillehammer)
Route 8: Oppdal - Molde
Route 9: Halden
- Trondheim via Kongsvinger
Route 10: North Cape - Lindesnes
These
and other cycling routes in Norway can be found on this map with lots of
information about the route. Important sources of information are still
the pages of cyclingnorway and the pages of the Norwegian Cyclists'
Union. A database maintained by touring cyclists provides assistance in
route selection with regard to clearance and usability by cyclists of
the countless tunnels in Norway.
The official language in Norway is Norwegian. The language comes in
two written variants, Bokmål and Nynorsk. Various dialects of Norwegian
are also spoken. About 85% of the population writes in Bokmål, 15% in
Nynorsk. Bokmål corresponds most closely to the dialects of Eastern
Norway, while Nynorsk corresponds to those of Western Norway and the
Trondheim area. Knowledge of Danish is sufficient to understand these
languages.
Norwegians tend to speak good to very good English,
which (as in the rest of Scandinavia) is due to the fact that American
films are not dubbed but only subtitled in Norwegian - learning the
language is therefore almost inevitable, at least for the younger
generations given. German or French are much less common, but it is not
uncommon to find German-speaking staff in tourist information offices or
on large campsites.
The letters å, æ and ø come at the end of the
alphabet. This should be taken into account when using dictionaries or
similar directories.
The local currency is the Norwegian Krone (NOK). At the moment 1 €
equals about 10.94kr. One kroner is equal to 100 øre, but there are no
øre coins in circulation anymore, the smallest coin is the 1 kroner
piece. Prices are still marked with Øre, but the purchase amount is
rounded at checkout.
There is no uniform shop closing time law in
Norway, but the opening hours are usually as follows:
Retailers:
Mon-Fri: 09:00 - 16:00 Sat: 09:00 - 13:00
Supermarkets: Mon-Fri:
09:00 - 20:00 (21:00) Sat: 09:00 - 18:00 (19:00)
Banks: Mon-Fri:
08:15 - 15:00 Sat: -
Post: Mon-Fri: 08:30 - 16:00 Sat: 08:30 - 13:00
It is customary in many shops, banks and post offices to take a
number. These numbers are then displayed on a board with instructions on
which counter to go to, or the number is called out. If you haven't
drawn a number, it's not your turn.
The prices for groceries are
on the same level as in Switzerland, i.e. higher than in Germany, but
the prices in the shops are very different, so that a price comparison
can be very worthwhile.
Norway is often considered a "dry
country" because alcohol prices are very high. A glass of beer or wine
can be had in restaurants for around NOK 60 (€9). Beer is available in
supermarkets, but like in Sweden and Finland, wines and hard liquors are
only available in state shops (Vinmonopolet). You must be at least 18
years old to purchase beer and wine. You can only buy high-proof (more
than 22%) from the age of 21.
You can get cash in Norway with the
EC card at all ATMs that are available in every town.
Tax-free
shopping: In about 3,000 shops, you can have a "tax-refund cheque"
issued for goods worth more than NOK 300. This means that when you leave
Norway, you get back part of the Norwegian VAT, which is currently
(February 2013) 25%. You get a refund of approx. 11-19%, but you have to
have the goods still in their original packaging when you leave the
country and be out of the country at the latest four weeks after the
purchase. When leaving the country, you go to the relevant counters at
the airport, the ferry or the border crossing with the tax-refund check
and the purchased items as well as a valid ID.
Typical Norwegian food was made up of whatever could thrive in the
harsh climate. The produce was bunkered for a year until the next
harvest and contained enough energy for harder work tasks. Typical
examples were porridge, soups, imaginative preparations made from
potatoes, salted and smoked meat and fresh, salted or smoked fish.
However, the regional differences were sometimes very large, so that
some Norwegians find it difficult to answer the question of which dish
is traditionally Norwegian.
Today, higher-quality traditional
dishes are often based on wild game and fresh fish. Steaks and meatballs
from reindeer or elk have an international reputation, as do fresh,
smoked or breaded salmon and other fish products. Bakery products such
as Lukket valnøtt (cream cake with marzipan icing) have also made a
contribution to international cuisine.
When out and about in the
country's small cafés, you'll find vafler on the dining table very often
- Norwegians prefer rømme og syltetoy with their waffles, sour cream and
strawberry jam. It takes a little getting used to for the palate, which
expects (sweetened) whipped cream from the cream on the waffle, but it
is definitely worth trying.
Another specialty that is somewhat
unusual for Central European tastes is brunost (brown cheese), also
known as geitost (goat's cheese). However, while there is a wide variety
of geitost varieties in Norway, with different consistencies and all
sorts of spices, all forms of brunost are characterized by the sweet,
caramel-like taste, the caramel-like appearance, and even the
consistency is almost as sticky as caramel. There is hardly a breakfast
buffet in a hotel without a brunost that can certainly be considered a
typical Norwegian dish - it is even served as an accompaniment to the
vafler med rømme.
In larger cities there is usually a very wide range. In the summer,
when the weather permits, Norwegians party outside. Norwegians visit
pubs consciously and not just because. They are therefore usually
dressed to match the venue, although a casual style of dress is common.
Alcohol prices are much higher than in Central Europe. In bars and
restaurants, for example, a 0.3 liter glass of beer can easily cost the
equivalent of 10 euros. The same applies to a glass of wine, which costs
around 11.50 euros.
A single room in a mid-range hotel costs NOK 900 and up. It is worth
booking the hotel room in advance via the websites of the major
providers (e.g. Rica, Thon, Choice, Quality). The price is then
considerably cheaper than on site. Low budget hotels are very rare.
There are also cheap options such as camping cabins (400 to 800 NOK,
with space for 4 to 8 people), mountain huts (150 to 300 NOK per
person), youth hostels (150 to 250 NOK per person) etc. Most of these
options are self-catering, that is Bringing your own bed linen and
cleaning the room before departure.
Camping is the cheapest way
to stay overnight. A parking space usually costs 120 to 160 NOK, in
cities more. There are around 1200 campsites. Most are equipped with a
camping kitchen. As a result of the right of public access, wild camping
is allowed for one or two nights, but only if nobody is disturbed and
private property, such as meadows and fields, is not used. Disposing of
rubbish in rubbish bins should be a matter of course. Note: There will
be few camping opportunities in the valleys. In the mountains, on the
other hand, it gets very cold at night. There are also guesthouses
(Gjestegård) that rent rooms (some with breakfast). These are slightly
cheaper than the hotels. Single rooms are rarely offered (usually a
fixed price per room, regardless of whether all beds are used).
Norway generally has a low crime rate. Crime is mostly limited to
theft and vandalism, although property crime has at least increased in
recent years, increasingly due to gang crime.
In Norway, warning
signs are only put up for a real reason, i.e. H. where there are warning
signs, caution is urgently required. Every year tourists are injured or
even killed in the mountains for ignoring such warnings, e.g. B. because
they have entered a crevasse without sufficient knowledge or have
approached glacier tongues too far.
In general, there is a
tendency for vacationers to go on mountain tours without adequate
equipment, especially without weather protection, and with insufficient
physical condition, which they are not up to. The time recommendations
of the Norwegian hiking associations are basically for experienced,
trained local hikers and should be observed with a lot of respect by
inexperienced holidaymakers - including a generous time supplement for
your own stage planning. Wind and weather protection should always be
carried along, as well as a tent, mat and sleeping bag for longer hikes
in the mountains.
The healthcare system (helsevesen) in Norway cannot be compared to
that in Germany, so travelers to Norway should be warned in the event of
illness or injury on a trip to Norway:
Norwegian GP surgeries are
generally only open from 8am-2.30pm and are underrepresented in number -
long waits for an appointment (a week is not uncommon) are normal.
Regulated working hours also apply in the hospitals, as in the rest of
Norway's working life, which means that, except in absolute emergencies,
no operations or treatment are performed after 4 p.m. Waiting times of
up to 8 months for a new hip are not uncommon.
Holidaymakers
don't travel to Norway for a new hip, but they don't want to wait a week
for an appointment if they have an illness that requires treatment.
Therefore, like the Norwegians, people turn to a legevakt, an emergency
practice, for all non-life-threatening but urgent illnesses and
emergencies. These are - at least in the cities - usually staffed around
the clock (døgnvakt), but the same applies here as elsewhere in Norway:
take a number (kjølapp) and wait, often for several hours. In addition,
a treatment fee is generally due. The European Health Insurance Card
applies.
Thanks to the Gulf Stream, the climate in Norway is warmer than would be expected for similar latitudes. Almost half of the country lies north of the Arctic Circle. Summers can get quite warm (around 30°C) even in the north, but only for a short time. The length of winter and the amount of snow varies from year to year. Of course, more snow falls in the north; it's also decidedly darker. In the south and on the far west coast (especially in the Stavanger region) winters are fairly mild and rainy, while inland temperatures can reach -25°C. Some mountains have permanent glaciers.
In theory, it is illegal to drink alcohol in public. The associated
law even forbids drinking alcohol on your own garden terrace, as you
could be seen by other people. In practice, this law is rarely applied
and many Norwegians even pick up a beer in public parks. There is debate
about changing the outdated law and recent media debates: most
Norwegians seem to agree that drinking in public parks is fine as long
as the time of day is right, no one is bothered and people are stay
peaceful. However, if you start harassing other people or appear too
drunk, you may be asked by the police to throw the alcohol away. In the
worst case, you have to pay a fine. The situation on a street is
different. This is more likely to attract the attention of a police
officer than a picnic in the park.
post and telecommunications
post
The Norwegian Post does not distinguish between a letter and a
postcard, neither in national nor in international mail.
A postcard
or a letter (up to 20 g) to other European countries costs NOK 26. (from
01/2020).
Telecommunications and Wifi
Norway is a pioneer
when it comes to telecommunications. That's why there are only about 500
phone booths left in Norway, and the trend is falling. Some have even
been listed as historical monuments. With 66% of Norwegians having their
own internet connection, internet cafes are hard to find. It is
increasingly common for hotels and campsites, restaurants and cafés to
offer their customers WiFi, some for a fee, some for free. Even in the
high mountains you can easily access the Internet in some places -
provided you have your own mobile access device.
Cell phone
coverage is surprisingly high - you can even make cell phone calls in
many supposedly deserted mountain regions, at least near the road.
However, one should not rely on the cell phone in emergency situations
in the high mountains, cell phone reception is very uncertain in the
middle of Hardangervidda or Jotunheimen. It should therefore be a matter
of course for every hiker to leave the planned hiking route and a time
at the starting point, not only in their own interest, but also to save
possible rescue workers a long search.
Since Norway is part of
the EEA, the EU roaming rules have also applied here since June 2017, so
that your own tariff from Germany or Austria can be used without
additional costs.
Even in the most remote mountain huts it is
possible to send postcards.
The meaning and origin of the Norwegian country name have not been
clarified with certainty. There are mainly two theories. One posits a
descent from Old Norse norðrvegr, meaning "way north" or "land north".
As a second possibility, a derivation from norvegr is considered. The
first syllable would not go back to the cardinal point north, but to the
word nor, which means "narrow or narrow sound". According to this
interpretation, the overall name of the country should mean "land along
the narrow fjords".
The earliest mentions of the country name
come from English sources, such as Latin Nortuagia around 840,
Nort(h)wegia around 900 and Norwegia around 950 and Old English Norðweg
around 880. The oldest Scandinavian mentions are nuruiak (accusative,
read as Norwægh) on one of the Rune stones from Jelling around 980,
nuriki (dative, to be read as Noregi on the Kulistestein) around 1034
and Nóregr in five skaldic stanzas from the period 970–1070. It is
disputed among linguists whether the older sources, which originated
outside of Scandinavia, are closer to the original form or whether they
were influenced by a foreign worldview when they were produced.
In total, Norway has had six official names since a decision by the
Norwegian national parliament, Storting, in 2021. In short, these are
Norge in the language form Bokmål, Noreg in the language form Nynorsk,
Norga in North Sami, Nöörje in South Sami, Vuodna in Lule Sami and Norja
in Kveni. The official long forms for the kingdom are in Bokmål
Kongeriket Norge, in Nynorsk Kongeriket Noreg, in North Sami Norgga
gonagasriika, in South Sami Nöörjen gånkarïjhke, in Lule Sami Vuona
gånågisrijkka and in Kvenian Norjan kuninkhaanvaltakunta.
Norway is located in the western and northern part of the
Scandinavian Peninsula. The territory of the kingdom covers an area of
385,207 km². In addition to the continental "mainland" (Norwegian
Hovedland), the Kingdom of Norway includes the archipelago of
Spitsbergen (Svalbard) in the North Atlantic or in the Arctic Ocean with
Bear Island (Bjørnøya) and the island of Jan Mayen. The mainland without
Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen has an area of 323,810 km².
The
mainland is long and narrow and also has a very long coastline. The
width of the Norwegian mainland varies between 431 and 1.7 km, the
linear extension is about 1748 km as the crow flies. Cape Kinnarodden
represents the northernmost point of mainland Norway and Europe. Norway
has three land borders, the border with Sweden in the east and the
Finnish-Norwegian border and the border with Russia in the north-east.
Overall, the Norwegian border reaches a length of about 2564 km. The
country is surrounded by sea to the north, west and south, with the
Barents Sea to the north-east, the Norwegian Sea to the north-west, the
North Sea to the west and south-west and the Skagerrak connecting the
North and Baltic Seas to the south-east. The Norwegian Economic Zone
borders Denmark to the south and the United Kingdom to the west in the
North Sea.
Areas under Norwegian administration but not part of
the Kingdom of Norway are called Biland in Norwegian. One of these is
the uninhabited Bouvet Island (Bouvetøya) in the South Atlantic.
Furthermore, Peter I Island (Peter I Øy) in the Southern Ocean and Queen
Maud Land (Dronning Maud Land), a sector of the continent of Antarctica,
are claimed by Norway. The sovereignty over the areas classified as
Biland, unlike the areas belonging to the kingdom, can be relinquished
without changing the Norwegian constitution.
Norway is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. In
the area statistics for 2021, 1.7% of the total area was reported as
built-up area. 37.4% were considered forest areas and 3.5% agricultural
areas. More than 50% of the total area was classified as mountains,
plateaux or moorland, another 7% as freshwater or glaciers. In terms of
landscape, Norway is characterized by the Scandinavian mountains with
mountain massifs and barren high plateaux, the fells. About 20% of
mainland Norway lies at an altitude of at least 900 moh. The highest
point in Norway is Galdhøpiggen, in the Jotunheimen mountain range, at
2469 moh. The Beerenberg on the island of Jan Mayen is the only active
volcano in the kingdom.
The subsoil of Norway is roughly divided
into four areas. Thus, the Baltic Shield includes the Norwegian
basement, formed during the Precambrian period. In the northeast
Norwegian municipality of Sør-Varanger, the country's oldest rocks are
dated to be up to 2,900 million years old. Another area is the
Caledonian mountain belt, formed at the end of the Silurian period. In
the regions of Vestlandet and Trøndelag in particular, there is subsoil
created during the Devonian geochronological period. The fourth and
youngest area is the Oslograben (Norwegian: Oslofeltet).
Today's
surface geology is shaped by glaciation during the cold periods. The
glaciers intensified erosion and created u-shaped trough valleys, among
other things, and river valleys on the coast were deepened into fjords.
Especially on the west coast, narrow valleys and fjords were formed. In
eastern Norway, on the other hand, wider valleys were formed. Many
inland lakes were also created by glaciers or ice sheets (see list), so
they are fjord lakes. With an area of approximately 369 km², Lake Mjøsa
is Norway's largest lake and has cities such as Lillehammer and Hamar on
its shores. The deepest lake is Hornindalsvatnet in Møre og Romsdal with
a depth of 514 meters.
The longest rivers in Norway are the
Glomma, Tana and Pasvikelva rivers. The Glomma is about 620 km long and
flows into the Oslofjord at Fredrikstad. The river's catchment area is
over 41,000 km², covering over 12% of mainland Norway. Compared to other
European countries, the catchment areas of the Norwegian rivers are
mostly relatively small. The reason for this is that Norway has the
highest elevations on the Scandinavian Peninsula and thus the main
watershed near the Atlantic coast. The rivers west of the watershed are
accordingly mostly shorter and steeper than those east of it.
The coast of the Norwegian mainland consists of many narrow and deep
bays, the fjords, with which the salty sea reaches far inland in many
places. The 200 km long and 1300 m deep Sognefjord in Fylke Vestland is
Norway's longest and deepest fjord. Taking the fjords into account, the
length of the coastline on the mainland is given as around 29,000 km. If
the coastlines of the approximately 239,000 islands are included, the
coastline of the mainland reaches a length of over 100,000 km. The base
line of the coast without the fjords and islands is only about 2500 km
long. Since the length of the coast depends heavily on the selected
measurement accuracy, the exact length cannot be determined. With an
area of 2204 km², Hinnøya is the largest island in the mainland. The
coastal areas are the most densely populated and around 80% of
Norwegians live less than ten kilometers from the sea.
The
coastal areas are characterized by various factors and differ
regionally. Large parts of the coast are rocky, sometimes steep cliffs
drop off like at the North Cape. There is some sandy beach in more
sheltered places, such as in Fylke Rogaland. In some parts of the coast
there are rocky skerries that barely rise above the waves. The Norwegian
Continental Shelf is used primarily by the oil and gas industry.
The behavior of the tides differs significantly from that on the
southern and western coasts of the North Sea. West of the southwestern
Norwegian town of Egersund is an amphidromic centre, which is why there
is no tidal range there. Accordingly, the tidal range is low on the
south-east and south-west coasts of Norway. Further away from this
center, i.e. on the more northerly west coast, the tidal range is
larger.
The climate in Norway is characterized by large differences within
the country. The Scandinavian Mountains separate the narrow, humid
cool-temperate coastal strip in the west from the continental boreal
climate in the east. Norway's west coast has a mild and humid climate
for its northern latitude. The reason for this is the North Atlantic
Current, which allows relatively warm water to flow far north. The
moderating effect of the sea can be felt in the air temperatures due to
onshore winds.
The moisture in the air absorbed by the sea rains
down on the west side of the mountains. On the coast there are places
with more than 3000 mm of precipitation in an average year. In the lee
of the mountains, the amounts of precipitation are rather low. The
amount of precipitation along the entire coastal strip is significantly
lower in spring than in autumn.
Further inland, the climate is
more continental. This is due to the shielding effect of the mountains,
since the actual distance to the coast itself would not make that much
of a difference. Inland, the precipitation decreases, the temperatures
are higher there in summer, but significantly lower in winter than on
the coast.
Northern Norway is affected by the consequences of
global warming in the Arctic.
The Norwegian statistical authority Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB)
publishes figures for so-called tettsteder, i.e. urban settlements
independent of the municipal boundaries, in addition to the population
figures for the municipalities. A Tettsted has at least 200 inhabitants.
Most of the larger Tettsteder have official city status. A Tettsted is
sometimes made up of several settlements with city status. In 2022, a
total of 82.67% of Norway's population lived in a tetsted.
By far
the largest Tettsted in the country is the urban area of Oslo, which
extends far beyond the borders of Oslo Municipality. As of January 1,
2022, Oslo Municipality had 699,827 inhabitants, Tettsted Oslo had
1,064,235 inhabitants. Among other things, 127,577 inhabitants of the
municipality of Bærum and 69,702 inhabitants of the municipality of
Asker were counted for Tettsted Oslo.
vegetation
Except for a narrow strip on the southern and western
coasts, the vast majority of Norway lies in the vegetation zone of the
boreal coniferous forests, which in the mountains pass over subalpine
fell birch forests into the treeless alpine mountain tundra. In the
extreme north, above the climatic tree line (roughly on the Varanger
Peninsula) begins the arctic tundra, which continues on the Spitsbergen
archipelago. The south coast lies up to the edge of the highlands in the
mixed forest zone, which leads to the deciduous forests of Central
Europe. The mixed forests continue to the west and north in an
increasingly narrow strip.
In the rainiest areas of Vestlandet,
this mixed forest was originally defined as a temperate rain forest, in
which very tall spruces towered over the canopy of the deciduous forest
as emergents. Only marginal remnants of these forests remain.
seed plants and ferns
Over 1300 species of seed plants and ferns live
in Norway, with over half of the plant species thriving in forest areas.
In deciduous forests, the incidence of light on the forest floor changes
significantly over the course of the season. Therefore, there are many
spring bloomers in the deciduous forest. In the coniferous forest,
plants live under constant light conditions, since coniferous trees do
not lose their needles seasonally. Thus, the plants on the ground are
constantly exposed to varying degrees of shade. In addition, there are
two different types of coniferous forests in Norway, the spruce forest
and the pine forest. More arctic species grow in the wetter climate of
the spruce forest than in the dry pine forest.
Norway has over
40,000 lakes and many bogs and swamps in forested areas. Sites that
provide sufficient nutrients and are rich in minerals have a high
biodiversity. In other areas with few nutrients only a few species
thrive, but these are all the more numerous. The swamp forests vary in
appearance and ecology. Most of the forest lakes with no inflow or
outflow are dystrophic waters with few nutrients and little oxygen. The
water is brown in color and the bottom is muddy. There is often peat on
the edges of the banks. Other lakes are shallow and get all their
nutrients from rainwater. Peat often develops there, since no plant
residues can rot in the oxygen-poor moorland.
When water seeps in
steadily from the mountains, lush vegetation develops. Such areas were
popularly called Heumoore, since the population used to harvest the
grass. The large lakes in Norway are mostly oligotrophic. The water is
clear, with great depth of visibility and also poor in nutrients. The
ground consists of stones, gravel and sand. The flora here is different
from that in the forest lakes.
mosses
There are over 800
species of moss in Norway. The majority of these are found in forested
areas. They also inhabit bogs and wetlands as well as slow-flowing,
rocky streams and rivers. The moss most commonly found in water is
spring moss (Fontinalis antipyretica), which can grow up to 20 cm long.
Peat mosses dominate in bogs and wetlands, of which 25 species are known
in Norway. In the past they were used as insulating material for
building houses. In Vestlandet, where a humid climate allows for a long
growth phase, layers of peat moss over three meters thick are known.
Because of its large size and slow growth, mosses in the forest are
relegated to locations with little competition, such as rocks, wood,
sandy slopes and dark wooded areas.
Mushrooms
There are 10,000
species of fungus (fungi) in Norway, of which around 6000 are native to
the forest. Only around 2,500 species produce fruiting bodies in autumn.
The peduncle relatives (Polyporaceae) represent the most important group
of wood-degrading fungi, of which there are over 300 species in Norway.
These fungi cause a lot of damage in forestry.
Fauna
Due to
the large extent of the country, the difference in wildlife between the
south and the north of the country is marked. In the north, where
reindeer, mountain lemmings, arctic foxes and wolverines live, among
other things, it has an arctic character. The arctic fox is a critically
endangered species and has been under protection since the 1930s. The
animals living in the south often have their origins in central Europe
and displaced the arctic animals as the climate became milder.
In
total there are about 90 species of mammals in Norway. The largest
mammals on land are the moose that live in the forests. Deer live mainly
in western Norway, further north they cannot find food in the deeper
snow. Both domesticated and wild reindeer live in Norway. Among the
predators in the country are bears, wolves and lynxes. Furthermore,
polar bears are native to Svalbard. American mink spread across the
country after escaping from farms. Musk oxen have been successfully
resettled on Dovrefjell. Norway's bird life is rich in species. In 2020,
the number of bird species was given as 519. On the other hand, the
biodiversity of amphibians and reptiles is relatively poor. There are
three species of snakes found in Norway: the adder, the grass snake and
the smooth snake. There are some toad, frog and newt species.
44
species of freshwater fish live in Norwegian waters. Vestlandet is home
to mainly species that can survive in salt water. These include salmon
and trout. The fish stocks in Østlandet and Northern Norway are richer
in species. Carp fish live mainly in the warmer lakes and rivers in the
southeast of the country. Common species in northern Norway include
perch and pike. There are a few species of whales off the Norwegian
coast.
National parks
There are 40 national parks and over
3100 nature reserves in mainland Norway. At the end of 2020, around
17.5% of the area of mainland Norway was under protection. The kingdom's
other seven national parks are located on the Spitsbergen archipelago,
where over 64% of the land area had a protected status at the same time.
On the island of Jan Mayen, the figure was 99.5%.
The median age in Norway in 2020 was 39.5 years. The median age for
women was 40.2 years and for men 38.8 years. According to an estimate
for 2022, there were around 12 births and 7.96 deaths per 1000
inhabitants. The population grew at about 0.8% per year. The fertility
rate was 1.48 children per woman in 2020, the lowest it has ever been.
The average age of women giving birth for the first time was 29.9 years.
The proportion of people aged 67 and over increased from 8% in 1950 to
16% in 2020. In the same period, the average number of people in
households fell from 3.3 to 2.1.
In the 20th century, the
country's population more than doubled: the number of inhabitants rose
from 2.22 million (1900) to 4.48 million (2000). The mark of five
million inhabitants was exceeded in 2012. In the first years after the
end of the Second World War, the population grew by about one percent
per year, with the high birth rate being the main factor. Over time, the
number of births fell and population growth reached 0.3% per year in the
1970s. As of 2004, immigration contributed a larger share of population
growth than births. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a drop in
the number of immigrants, the number of births once again became the
most important factor in population growth.
About 82.7% (as of
2022) of the state's population is divided among areas classified as
Tettsteder and about 18.6% among the remaining areas. In 2020 there were
a total of 991 Tettsteder. One of the most densely populated regions of
the country is the area around the Oslofjord. In 2020, 44% of Norwegians
lived in the fylkern Oslo, Viken and Vestfold og Telemark bordering the
fjord. In Northern Norway it was 9% at the same time. The interior of
the country is sparsely populated and most of the population lives in
the valleys through which the main communication arteries pass. A total
of around 80% of the country's inhabitants live less than ten kilometers
from the sea, in Northern Norway 90% of the people live less than four
kilometers from the sea.
As of January 1, 2021, 800,100
foreign-born immigrants were living in Norway. This made up 14.8% of the
population. In Oslo at that time, the proportion of immigrants in all
districts was above the national average. Immigrants from Poland made up
the largest group. On January 1, 2021, 197,000 people, or about 3.7% of
the population, were among the Norwegian-born residents who had two
parents born outside the country and four grandparents born abroad. The
proportion of this group is 8.4% in Oslo. Overall, 24% of Norway's
immigrants or children of immigrants lived in Oslo and 27% in
neighboring Fylke Viken.
Norway is home to what is probably the largest group of the Sami, an
indigenous people living in northern Fennoscandia. Estimates range from
60,000 to 100,000 seeds in Norway, but there is no exact data. In
Norway, the Sami are divided into the group of the South Sami, the Pite
and Lule Sami and the North Sami. The Norwegian Sami population has its
own parliamentary representation in the Sameting, which is based in
Karasjok Municipality. While the Sami are legally regarded as indigenous
people, the Forest Finns, the Kvenen, the so-called Tatere, the Roma and
the Jews have national minority status.
In the 2021 Freedom in
the World country list, Norway received a score of 100 out of a possible
100 and was named one of the most robust democracies in the world.
However, it was noted that discrimination against Roma and other
minorities remained a problem.
Norwegian is a North Germanic language closely related to Danish and
Swedish. The written language is divided into two legally equal
varieties: About 85-90% of the locals write a language form known as
Bokmål (literally "book language") or until 1929 as Riksmål ("imperial
language"), the variant influenced by the urban dialects of Norway of
Danish can be seen. About 10-15% write Nynorsk ("New Norwegian"). This
language, which was called Landsmål (“national language”) until 1929,
has been recognized as the second official written language since 1885;
it was created by Ivar Aasen based on the Norwegian dialects and later
developed further. In the spoken language, dialects play a bigger role
than in many other countries.
The languages spoken by the Sami
from the Sami language family are legally equal to Norwegian. Since the
Sami have the status of Norway's indigenous people, the Sami languages
are more heavily protected than the other minority languages. The Sami
language family is divided into the languages Northern, Lule, Southern,
Pite and Ume Sami. In the course of the Norwegianization policy, the use
of these languages was pushed back for a long time from the mid-19th
century. Other minority languages are Kvenish, brought to the country by
Finnish immigrants, and Romani. Norwegian Sign Language was recognized
as a full language in 2009. Norwegian students usually learn English as
their first foreign language and later as an optional subject, German,
Spanish or French.
religions
In the 1814 constitution, the Evangelical Lutheran
religion was declared the public religion of the state. Persons of
Jewish faith were forbidden to settle in Norway. The relevant paragraph
was repealed in 1851 and all residents of Norway were given the right to
practice their religion freely. The number of Jewish citizens in 1940
was about 2170, of whom 767 were deported to the Auschwitz concentration
camp during the German occupation of Norway (see main article: History
of the Jews in Norway).
Even after the introduction of religious
freedom, the largest religious community remained the
Evangelical-Lutheran People's Church (Norwegian Church), led by the
President of the Bishops' Conference. A constitutional amendment in 2012
loosened the link between state and church, but the national church
retained a special role compared to other religious communities. For
example, the payment of salaries for church employees is supported by
the state. 64.9% of the total population belonged to the Norwegian
Churches in 2021.
Discrimination based on religious affiliation
is prohibited by law. From the age of 15, every person has the right to
join or leave religious communities.[69] In 2020, according to
Statistics Sentralbyrå (SSB), 47% of people over the age of 16 said they
belonged to a religion or belief.
The SSB stated the following
membership figures for 2021 (in brackets the development of the
respective number of members compared to 2016):
Church of Norway:
3,526,133 people (-6%)
Christianity (excluding the Norwegian Church):
370,997 people (+ 6%)
Islam: 169,605 people (+ 14%)
Members of
belief communities: 97,260 people (+ 8%)
Buddhism: 21,567 people (+
15%)
Hinduism: 11,970 people (+ 35%)
Sikhism: 4208 people (+ 19%)
Baha'i faith: 1085 people (-6%)
Judaism: 761 people (– 1%)
Of
the Christians outside the Norwegian Church, around 165,000 belonged to
the Catholic Church in 2020, 41,000 Pentecostal communities, 29,000
Orthodox churches, 19,000 different free churches, 13,000 each to the
Church of Sweden and Jehovah’s Witnesses, 11,000 each to the evangelical
Norwegian Missionary Association and the Norwegian Baptist Union, 10,000
to the United Methodist Church and 9,000 Christian Church.
The
majority of those who belong to a religious group outside the Church of
Norway are immigrants. This group includes those who immigrated to
Norway themselves or who have two foreign-born parents. Depending on
their country of origin, these people are mostly of Catholic or Muslim
faith. Muslims are over-represented in the Oslo region. The Jewish
communities have the majority of their members in the cities of Oslo and
Trondheim.
worldview communities
In Norway there is a humanist
association, the Human-Etisk Forbund, a worldview community of
non-religious and non-denominational people. The association was founded
in 1956 and had around 100,000 members in 2020, making it the largest
association of its kind in Norway.
In Norway, education is compulsory for children from the age of six
until the end of the tenth grade. All children have the right to attend
a public school free of charge. Attendance at private schools and home
schooling is also permitted. Furthermore, all students have the right to
go to secondary school (videregående skole) after primary school.
Compulsory schooling was introduced in 1739. In 1889 it was established
that compulsory education lasted seven years. The duration of the
obligation was later extended: in 1969 it was set to nine years and in
1997 to ten years. Sami students have the right to education in a Sami
language. For school-age immigrant children, the Norwegian state must
offer language courses in every municipality.
In addition to the
schools, the kindergartens are also subject to the Ministry of
Education. They are run by municipalities or privately. In 2021, 93.4%
of children between the ages of one and five attended kindergarten, and
the figure for children between the ages of three and five was 97.4%.
The ten-year primary school (grunnskole) is divided into a seven-year
stage for children (barnetrinn) and a three-year stage for young people
(ungdomstrinn). The majority of students go to secondary school after
completing primary school. This is divided into preparatory school
branches, which correspond to the upper level of the Gymnasium, and
school branches that prepare for a job. Technical schools (fagskoler)
offer vocational training following the post-secondary level.
There are ten universities and several state colleges in Norway. The
largest private university is Handelshøyskolen BI. The proportion of the
population over 16 years with university and college degrees increased
between 2016 and 2021 from 32.9% to 36.0%. Among women, the proportion
of university or college graduates was 40.7% in 2021. In addition, 3.1
percent of Norwegians over the age of 16 had a technical college degree
and 36.7 percent had a secondary school degree as their highest
qualification. In the 2015 PISA ranking, Norwegian students ranked 19th
out of 72 countries in mathematics, 24th in science and 9th in reading.
Norway is thus in the top third among the OWZE countries.
The standard of living in Norway is among the highest in the world, and the country has ranked first in the Human Development Index almost consistently since 1996 (as of 2020).
According to statistics agency Statistisk sentralbyrå, a total of 2,762,175 were employed in the fourth quarter of 2021. This corresponded to a share of about 68.1% of the population between 15 and 74 years. The NAV authority set the average number of people registered as unemployed in 2020 at 141,939.
Norway is considered a pioneer of women's rights. The Norwegian
Women's Rights Association was founded as early as 1884 by many of the
most prominent figures of the time, including several prime ministers.
Women were allowed to vote in regional elections as early as 1901.
The prerequisite, however, was that they owned land or were married to
landowners. In the 1906 election, pro-women suffrage supported the
Radicals, and a Radical victory meant that in 1907 those women who
already had regional suffrage gained national suffrage. In 1913 all
restrictions were lifted. Norway was the fourth country in the world to
introduce women's suffrage in 1913, after New Zealand, Australia and
Finland.
In 1978, Eva Kolstad became the world's first Ombud for
Equality.
In the Global Gender Gap Report 2020, which measures
equality between men and women in a country, Norway ranked second behind
Iceland.
Human settlement of today's territory began after the last cold
period around the 8th millennium BC. when hunter-gatherers followed the
melting ice north. Neolithic finds are the first to indicate agriculture
in present-day Norway. With the gradual advent of agriculture, more
people could be fed. In the north, the hunter-gatherer culture lasted
longer. The Alta rock carvings show motifs from this period.[ The
Neolithic was followed by the Bronze Age, although there are few bronze
finds in Norway. During the Bronze Age, the interior of the country was
increasingly populated. The Iron Age followed the Bronze Age. Findings
of larger graves from the Iron Age testify that people lived in one
place for several generations at that time.
The Viking Age lasted
from about 800 to 1050. Harald Hårfagre, who ruled from around 900, is
considered the first king of Norway. However, his sphere of influence
probably only extended over part of the country and not over a closed
kingdom over all parts of the country, as was often depicted in older
sources. The exact founding date of the Kingdom of Norway is disputed,
as many central sources are influenced by myth and are unreliable.
During the Viking Age Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland were
settled from Norway. Some Vikings - led by e.g. Bjarni Herjúlfsson,
Thorvald Eiriksson and Leif Eriksson - even reached Newfoundland on
several voyages around 1000 AD, off the north-east coast of the
continent known about 500 years later as America. Normandy, the Orkney
Islands and the Shetland Islands were also settled by Vikings.[89][96]
Under the reigns of Kings Håkon I, Olav I Tryggvason and Olav II
Haraldsson, Christianity became more widespread. The latter declared
Christianity to be the official religion around the year 1020.
From 1380 in personal union with Denmark, Norway joined the Kalmar Union
in 1397 and became a relatively insignificant member. The Kalmar Empire
formally lasted until Sweden left (1523), with Denmark until 1814.
Because of political support from France, Denmark had to cede Norway to
the King of Sweden after the Napoleonic Wars on January 14, 1814 in the
Peace of Kiel. However, there was no direct transfer, so that Norway
became independent for a short time and a constitution was adopted in a
national assembly on May 17, 1814 in Eidsvoll, which is still in force
with minor changes. The Storting arranged the first May 17 celebration
in 1836; since that day, May 17 is considered Norway's national holiday.
91 years of personal union with Sweden followed. This was dissolved
on August 13, 1905, after an overwhelming majority of Norwegians voted
in a referendum to end this union. On November 12-13, 1905, a plebiscite
was held on whether Norway should be a monarchy; 78.9% of voters voted
in favour. King of Norway became Prince Carl of the House of Glücksburg;
he took the name Haakon VII.
During World War I, Norway, Denmark
and Sweden declared their neutrality. In 1920 the country joined the
League of Nations.
In the spring of 1940, during World War II,
neutral Norway came under German occupation in Operation Weserübung.
Josef Terboven was appointed Reichskommissar for Norway. The occupation
was militarily justified with the imminent landing of British troops and
the strategically important ports on the Norwegian coast, which were
important for the supply of iron ore from Kiruna in Sweden. Above all,
the importance of Narvik for the German war economy is disputed, because
the Third Reich was less dependent on Swedish iron ore deliveries than
commonly assumed. This is confirmed by Hitler's instruction to make the
port facilities unusable for the enemy. More important for the German
war economy were the Norwegian raw materials, mainly aluminum,
molybdenum and pyrites (pyrite and marcasite), with the creation of a
"European Greater Economic Area" under German hegemony being planned as
part of the National Socialist Europe plans. Norway put up military
resistance for six weeks, but was defeated by the German Navy. Norwegian
National Socialists (Vidkun Quisling) allied themselves with the Germans
and came to power as a result. Since most of the Norwegian population
was hostile to them, resistance organizations became important.
One consequence of the German occupation was the so-called tyskerbarna,
the "German children" fathered by German soldiers with Norwegian women.
Their mothers were referred to pejoratively as tyskertøser (roughly
"German hussy"). The approximately 10,000-12,000 children were exposed
to massive discrimination in Norwegian post-war society and were
sometimes abused. It was not until 1998 that Prime Minister Kjell Magne
Bondevik asked the tyskerbarn to apologize for the injustice done to
them. The disenfranchisement and deportation of Norwegian Jews remained
unexplored for a long time. Almost 800 of the approximately 2,100 Jews
who lived mainly in Oslo and Trondheim were transported to the
Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp and murdered there. The victims
included Ruth Maier and 15-year-old schoolgirl Kathe Lasnik, whose fate
was worked up by the philosopher Espen Søbye.
The years after the
Second World War were politically dominated above all by the social
democratic party Arbeiderpartiet (Ap). From 1945 she had the absolute
majority in the national parliament for 16 years and she provided the
prime minister until 1965 with an interruption of only three weeks.
After 1945, an attempt was initially made to adopt a neutral position in
foreign policy in order to prevent conflicts with the opposing major
powers. In 1948, however, Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen turned his
back on this position and the Soviet Union. In April 1949, Norway was
one of the founding members of NATO. The Norwegian government initially
planned to form a Scandinavian military alliance. However, since Sweden
did not want to take part in this, Denmark and Norway entered the NATO
negotiations.
In 1960 the European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
was founded with Denmark, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United Kingdom. Modern history since 1969 has been characterized by
growth and wealth through oil. Accession to the European Union was
rejected twice in referendums (September 25, 1972 and November 28,
1994). As a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), Norway is on an
equal footing with an EU member in many respects and, as part of the
Nordic Passport Union, is also a member of the Schengen Agreement (see:
Norway and the European Union).
On July 22, 2011, two devastating
attacks took place in Oslo and on the island of Utøya, killing a total
of 77 people. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg described the attack as a
"national tragedy" and the worst act of violence since World War II.
The Norwegian constitution of May 17, 1814 is inspired by the French
constitution of 1791. Montesquieu's principle of the separation of
powers was a fundamental principle. Despite the liberal orientation of
state law, Jews were forbidden to enter the Reich until 1851. The
constitutional text, originally written in Danish and only carefully
modernized until 2012, was translated into two official Norwegian
versions for the bicentenary of the constitution, one in Bokmål and one
in Nynorsk.
The separation of powers enshrined in the
constitution led in the course of the 19th century to several trials of
power between the government bureaucracy (executive), which was largely
controlled by the Swedish royal family, and the Storting (Norwegian
National Assembly; legislature). The Crown attempted to expand its
privileges as an executive power and to largely exclude the Storting
from government business, invoking the constitution. The conflict came
to a head as the class differences between the official power elite and
the rising bourgeoisie in Norway widened in the course of
industrialization. The rejection of the royal bureaucratic state grew in
society. In local politics, the national government apparatus was
already practically disempowered by the introduction of local
self-government in 1837. Accordingly, the Swedish nobility made vigorous
efforts to maintain its influence at the national level.
Tensions
escalated until 1884, the year that marked the introduction of
parliamentarism in Norway. Against the opposition of King Oskar II, the
bourgeois-liberal Storting MP Johan Sverdrup pushed through the
constitutional principle that a government needs the support of the
Storting to stay in power. Due to this dependency, the political
sovereignty of the monarchy, which was enshrined in the separation of
powers, was effectively abolished in favor of a strengthening of
parliament. The king had to appoint Sverdrup as the new prime minister
to form the government. In 2007, with an amendment to Article 15 of the
constitution, the system of parliamentarism that had been practiced
under customary law since 1884 was finally recorded in the Basic Law.
The Norwegian national parliament is the Storting (literally "Big
Thing", "Grand Assembly"). The Storting is based in Oslo and consists of
169 MPs. These are elected every four years (until 1938 every third
year). In contrast to many nations, there is no possibility in Norway to
call for early elections. Of the 169 members of Parliament, 150 are
directly elected in the constituencies. The 19 other seats will be
allocated as compensatory mandates. Only parties that have achieved at
least 4% of the votes nationwide are considered for the equalization
mandates. The Storting is headed by a Presidium consisting of a
President and five Vice-Presidents. Since 2009, Parliament has been held
exclusively in one chamber. The division into an Odelsting and a Lagting
that previously existed for the deliberation of bills (but not for other
parliamentary responsibilities) was abolished with the constitutional
amendment of 2007 per 2009.
The Storting has the character of a
working parliament and is divided into twelve standing committees.
Norway is a nation with negative parliamentarism: the parliament
primarily controls the government and has the right of veto. New
governments are installed without the King's approval of Parliament. The
Storting is able to force a government to resign through a vote of
confidence.
Referendums in Norway are only consultative. They can
be carried out at both national and local level. In Norway there have
been six national referendums so far:
1905 about the dissolution of
the union with Sweden (result: yes).
1905 on the installation of
Prince Carl of Denmark as King Haakon VII (result: yes).
1919 on the
prohibition of alcohol (result: yes).
1926 about the lifting of this
ban (result: yes).
1972 on joining the European Community (result:
no).
1994 on joining the European Union (result: no).
Local
self-government is guaranteed regardless of Norway's unitary state
structure.
The head of state in Norway is King Harald V. He plays a ceremonial
and representative role in the political system: he appoints the prime
minister and ministers, chairs the Council of State, annually opens
Parliament and accredits foreign ambassadors. He was also the head of
the country's Lutheran church until a constitutional change in 2012. The
constitution of 1814 granted him only a limited right of objection
(veto) against laws passed by Parliament, which Parliament can reject.
No king has exercised this right since Norway separated from Sweden in
1905.
The king appoints the prime minister and, on his
suggestion, the ministers, whereby the parliament is not formally
involved in the process (“negative parliamentarianism”). However, the
appointment of the Prime Minister is based on the majorities in
Parliament and Parliament has the option of forcing a resignation via a
negative vote of confidence. The Council of State, to which all
ministers belong and where the head of state signs the laws and
ordinances, is formally involved in the actions of the government
through the regular meetings of the Council of State, which are chaired
by the king.
Prime Minister (Norwegian Statsminister) is Jonas
Gahr Støre from the social democratic party Arbeiderpartiet (Ap). His
Støre government, which has been in power since October 14, 2021,
succeeded the government of Høyre politician Erna Solberg, who has
governed in various constellations since October 2013: after the 2013
general election, she formed a minority government with the
Fremskrittspartiet (FrP), after the 2017 general election a minority
government with the FrP and the social-liberal party Venstre. In January
2019, the Christian Democratic Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF) joined the
coalition. The FrP left the government in January 2020. Before Solberg,
the Ap politician Jens Stoltenberg ruled from 2005 to 2013.
After
the Second World War, the Social Democratic Workers' Party under Einar
Gerhardsen had an absolute majority from 1945 to 1961. After that,
minority governments were usually formed. In the recent past there has
been a tendency to form coalition governments with a firm majority in
parliament and to act on the basis of a coalition agreement. So far
there have been no grand coalitions between the Social Democrats and the
Conservatives.
The Supreme Court of Norway (Norwegian Norges Høyesterett or Noregs Høgsterett) is the country's highest court. There is no court exclusively responsible for constitutional law.
Since January 1, 2020, the Norwegian mainland has been divided into
eleven administrative provinces (Fylker), which are traditionally
grouped into five parts of the country (landsdel). Except for Oslo, all
Fylker are divided into several municipalities. As of January 1, 2020,
there are a total of 356 municipalities in Norway. In June 2017, a
comprehensive administrative area reform was decided, which was
completed on January 1, 2020. It included a regional and a municipal
reform. As part of its implementation, the number of Fylker and the
municipalities fell. In June 2022, the Storting decided that as of
January 1, 2024, parts of the reforms from the period up to 2020 should
be reversed and the number of Fylker should increase to 15.
The
people's representatives at the level of the municipalities and the
Fylker are elected every four years. The elections are held two years
after the Storting elections. The parliaments at Fylkes level are called
Fylkesting. Each fylke also has a government representative who takes on
administrative tasks for the country's ministries. This is called the
Statsforvalter and reports to the local government. The Spitsbergen
archipelago, which does not form its own fylke, has a special
administrative role. There, instead of a statsforvalter, there is, among
other things, the post of sysselmester, which is under the supervision
of the Ministry of Justice.
In Norway, around 1.97 million workers were union members in 2021. Of these, around 978,000 belonged to the umbrella organization Landsorganisasjonen i Norge (LO), 388,000 to Unio, 230,000 to the Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund (YS) and 243,000 to Akademikerne.
Norway is a member of the Nordic Council, a forum of the Nordic
countries. Economically, it is a member of the European Free Trade
Association (EFTA) and part of the European Economic Area. Furthermore,
Norway participates in the European single market of the European Union
(EU). The population rejected EU membership in two referendums. The
German Foreign Office wrote in 2017 that Norway is internationally
committed to political and economic stability and the expansion of
international law, among other things. In addition to maintaining
national sovereignty, the main goals of Norwegian foreign policy include
engagement in the area of human rights and integration into
international organizations such as NATO. Norwegian economic policy is
also shaped by maritime interests.
Norway has maintained direct
relations with Germany since independence in 1905. Germany is one of the
most important cooperation partners in the EU. In 1999 the Norwegian
embassy moved from Bonn to Berlin, where the Nordic countries maintain
the Nordic embassies complex. Austria and Norway established diplomatic
relations in 1906. Over time, the embassies responsible for Austria were
in Berlin, Prague and Bern. In 1960 the Norwegian embassy in Vienna was
opened. Both Austria and Norway are founding members of EFTA. The
Norwegian embassy in Bern is responsible for Switzerland, Liechtenstein
and the Vatican City. Liechtenstein and Switzerland, along with Norway
and Iceland, are among the remaining EFTA member states. Germany,
Austria and Switzerland each have embassies in Oslo.
Before the
February Revolution of 1917, there had been lively trade with Russia,
which had produced its own mixed language (Russenorsk). After the end of
the Soviet Union in 1991, cooperation increased again. In 2010, Norway
and Russia were able to agree on a border for their respective sovereign
territories in the Barents Sea. A visa-free zone of about 30 kilometers
on both sides of the border was established in 2012 for border residents
of Russia and Norway. From the mid-2010s, relations between the
countries deteriorated again. An annual risk analysis by Norwegian
intelligence services, published in February 2023, cited Russia as the
top threat to Norway.
Norway is pursuing the goal of not allowing any new vehicles with internal combustion engines in the passenger car and light commercial vehicle sector from 2025. The purchase of electric cars is subsidized by the state, among other things, through lower taxation. In 2020, Norway was the first country in the world with an electric car registration rate of over 50%.
The Norwegian Army (Forsvaret) consists of four branches: the Army
(Hæren), the Navy (Sjøforsvaret), the Air Force (Luftforsvaret) and the
Homeland Security (Heimevernet). Norway is a founding member of NATO and
the country was the first NATO member state to remove eligibility
restrictions for women in all positions in the military. There is a
twelve-month conscription for both men and women. Norway spent around 2%
of its economic output on its armed forces in 2020.
In mid-2007,
the Norwegian Air Force took over the protection of neighboring Iceland,
which has no armed forces of its own, from the USA.
In 2019, the fire service in Norway had more than 3,700 professional and around 8,100 part-time firefighters working in 597 fire stations and fire stations, where 963 fire engines and 70 turntable ladders and telescopic masts were available. The proportion of women is two percent. The national fire brigade organization Norsk brannvernforening represents the Norwegian fire brigade in the world fire brigade association CTIF.
Generally
Norway is a highly developed industrial country rich in
natural resources such as fish, oil, gas and minerals. In terms of gross
domestic product (GDP) per capita, it is one of the richest countries in
the world. Norway's economy is considered to be a managed economy and
most companies are privately owned. However, the state is the majority
owner of several large industrial companies such as the gas and oil
company Equinor and the aluminum producer Norsk Hydro. An important
source of income is the export of oil and gas. Norway is also Europe's
largest and the world's second largest exporter of fish and seafood, and
fishing is of major economic importance.
The revenues from the
oil industry provide the basis for the State Pension Fund (Statens
pensjonsfond utland or Oljefondet). Established in 1996, the pension
fund has a market value of approximately NOK 10,398 billion (approx. EUR
997 billion). According to the so-called rule of action, a maximum of 4%
of the capital stock may be withdrawn from the fund for financing the
state budget each year. This upper limit is to be lowered to 3% in the
future. In the 2016 financial year, a total of NOK 220 billion (about
EUR 26 billion) was withdrawn from the oil fund. That is about 3% of the
capital stock. There is a consensus among Norwegian politicians and the
general public that the Norwegian oil and gas reserves should be
exploited in compliance with strict environmental and safety standards
and used for the benefit of the general public. In the 2017 budget, the
government expects revenue from the oil and gas sector to be NOK 164
billion (approx. EUR 18 billion), which is 14% of the total expected
state revenue.
The unemployment rate was 3.72% in 2019 and was
therefore rather low. Youth unemployment was estimated at 9.7% in 2018.
In 2016, 2.1% of all workers worked in agriculture and forestry, 19.3%
in industry and 78.6% in the service sector. The total number of
employees was given as 2.82 million at the end of 2022, of which about
1.33 million people were women.
In comparison with the average
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of the EU expressed in
purchasing power standards (EU27 = 100), Norway achieved an index of 147
in 2019. In the Global Competitiveness Index, which measures a country's
competitiveness, Norway ranks 11th out of 137 countries (as of
2017-2018). The country is ranked 28th out of 178 countries in the 2021
Economic Freedom Index. According to a 2017 study by Bank Credit Suisse,
Norway ranked 23rd in the world in terms of total national wealth. Total
holdings of real estate, stocks and cash totaled $1,286 billion. The
average wealth per adult is $320,475 and the median is $130,543 (in
Germany: $203,946 and $47,091 respectively). In terms of wealth per
inhabitant, Norway was one of the top 10 countries in the world.
Overall, 28.6% of Norway's total wealth was financial wealth and 71.4%
non-financial wealth. The Gini coefficient of wealth distribution was
80.5 in 2017, indicating relatively high wealth inequality. A total of
5% of Norwegians are wealthy millionaires.
Norway was the first
country to introduce a gender quota in 2003. Since 2008, a quota of at
least 40% women on the supervisory boards of listed companies has been
required by law.
Norway is a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and part of the European Economic Area (EEA). The EEA Agreement (Norwegian: EØS-avtalen) is considered Norway's most important trade agreement. Most of the free trade agreements between Norway and other countries have been negotiated jointly with the other EFTA member states. Overall foreign trade is positive for Norway, in 2020 the export surplus was NOK 10.4 billion. Compared to the previous year, exports fell by 15.5%, the surplus in 2019 was still NOK 156.75 billion. Important import goods include machinery and vehicles. Fuel exports are an important source of income, accounting for about 47% of total exports in 2019.
Electrical power is an important source of energy for Norway, with
hydropower playing a significant role in energy production. There are no
nuclear or coal-fired power plants on the Norwegian mainland, which is
partly due to a decision by the national parliament in 1979. In this it
was decided to continue to focus on the expansion of hydropower. About
90% of the electricity is produced in plants owned by municipalities,
county councils or the Norwegian state. The state owns about 35% of
production through state-owned power company Statkraft.
In 2018,
Norway had the second highest electricity consumption in the world after
Iceland with 24,047 kWh per capita. The OECD average was around 8000
kWh. Electrical energy is rather cheap compared to other European
countries. The proportion of households in which the heating system is
based on it is high in a European comparison. In 2020, the final energy
requirement was 211 TWh. In the previous year, around 32% of the total
energy demand was distributed among industrial companies, 22% among
private households and 17% among the service sector. Petroleum-based
fuels are the most common in the transport sector. In the heating
sector, Norway is the country in Europe that is most heavily heated with
heat pump heating. As of 2022, 60% of Norwegian households are using
heat pumps to meet their heating needs. After a ban on the installation
of new gas heating systems was decided in 2017, which came into force in
2020, the country relies entirely on heat pumps in the heating sector.
Hydropower
A large part of the country's electricity requirements
is covered by domestic hydroelectric power plants. In 2021 there were
around 1690 hydroelectric power plants in Norway, which accounted for
around 88% of Norway's electricity generation. The storage capacity of
the Norwegian storage power plants is around 70% of the annual energy
requirement. The use of hydropower has a long tradition in Norway and
was the basis of the country's industrialization. Simple water mills
were followed by water-driven generators and later smaller and larger
hydroelectric power stations for generating electrical energy.
wind energy
At the end of 2021, wind turbines with a capacity of 4655
MW were installed in Norway. In 2020, around 6.4% of the electricity
produced was covered by wind. The first wind farm was Smøla vindpark,
which started operating in 2002. The use of wind energy is being
expanded: in 2014 wind turbines with a capacity of 819 MW were
installed, at the end of 2017 it was 1,188 MW and in 2019 2,444 MW. The
largest onshore wind farm in Europe is the Fosen Vind wind farm, which
has been supplying electricity since test operations ended in March
2021.
The first tender for offshore wind farm projects began in
2023. Offshore wind farms with a capacity of 30 GW are to be installed
off the Norwegian coast by 2040.
Interstate electricity transport
With its electricity generated to a large extent from hydroelectric
power plants, Norway participates in the electricity exchange with other
European countries. During times when the hydroelectric power plants can
generate a lot of electricity, Norway sells electricity to other
countries. On the other hand, if electricity production is not favored
by high levels of precipitation or snowmelt and electricity is cheaper
in other countries, Norway buys electricity. Water is then stored in the
Norwegian reservoirs for later use.
In addition to several lines
between Norway and Sweden, there are also the transmission lines
Cross-Skagerrak between Kristiansand and Denmark. In 2008, NorNed, an
approximately 580-kilometer submarine cable connection between Norway
and the Netherlands, went into operation. The NordLink submarine cable
between Norway and Germany has been in regular operation since 2021; it
can transmit a power of 1,400 MW. The NSN Link submarine cable
connection between Norway and England, agreed by National Grid and
Statnett, went into operation in 2021. In addition, a NorGer submarine
cable connection is planned between Norway and Germany, but its
implementation is still unclear.
natural gas
In 2017 (estimated), Norway was the world's seventh
largest natural gas producing country with 123.9 bcm. Norway's natural
gas fields are located in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the
Barents Sea. In 2017 (estimated) Norway was the world's third largest
natural gas exporting country with 120.2 bcm. Statoil controlled about
70% of Norway's gas exports in 2017. Norway covers about a third of
Germany's natural gas requirements (2017). The two Europipe natural gas
pipelines connect the Norwegian natural gas field Ekofisk (Europipe 1)
in the North Sea and the Norwegian mainland (Europipe 2) with Germany.
oil
Norway was the world's fifteenth largest oil producing
country in 2018 with an estimated production of 1,517,000 barrels per
day. After the first Norwegian oil rigs were built in the North Sea,
production increased from the 1970s. Later, the activity was extended to
the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, which, however, have been less
explored than the North Sea. The maximum oil production was reached in
the years 2000/2001, the production volumes have been declining since
then.
Norway's strong petroleum industry and comparatively small
population result in Norway's very high per capita income. The state-run
Norwegian State Pension Fund Abroad (Statens pensjonsfond utland or
Oljefondet) was set up in 1990 to secure the long-term financing of the
expensive, very close-knit social network. The income from oil exports
is invested in it. This is done exclusively on foreign markets to
prevent the domestic economy from financially overheating and the
Norwegian krone from appreciating too much. The value of the Norwegian
oil fund at the end of 2019 was approximately EUR 949 billion (NOK
10,088 billion), which corresponds to an amount of approximately EUR
179,000 per Norwegian.
After the collapse in oil prices in the
second half of 2014, both production and development activities for oil
production at deeper depths were halted due to high costs. In Norway,
around ten percent of the approximately 100,000 jobs in the oil industry
are said to be up for grabs. In 2014, the state-owned energy company
Statoil went into the red for the first time since going public.
Stavanger is the economic center of the Norwegian petroleum industry and
the Norwegian Petroleum Museum.
Norway is the destination of several million tourists every year. In
2019, 5.88 million tourists visited the country, spending about 4.9
billion US dollars. In 2017, tourism accounted for about 6.9% of jobs
and tourism revenue accounted for 4.3% of total revenue. For some areas,
such as Svalbard, tourism is an essential source of income. In 2018,
33.8 million overnight stays were recorded, around 10.1 million were
attributed to foreigners. The most important countries of origin were
Germany, Sweden and the United States. In addition to hotels and
hotel-like establishments, which accounted for around 70% of overnight
stays, camping and so-called huts were the most common types of
overnight stays. Furthermore, cruises, such as with the mail ship line
Hurtigruten, are widespread. The summer season is the time with the most
visitors. In 2019, 52% of overnight stays were spread over the months of
May to August. Significant factors for holiday trips to Norway outside
of the summer are primarily winter sports and the Northern Lights.
The semi-public company Innovasjon Norge is responsible for Norway's
tourism strategy. For 2006, this indicated that the Holmenkollbakken ski
jump and its museum, the historic district and world heritage site
Bryggen in Bergen, the Kristiansand Dyrepark animal park and the
TusenFryd amusement park were among the most visited facilities.
According to estimates, Vigelandspark in Oslo was the busiest with over
a million people. Popular excursion destinations were also the
waterfalls Vøringsfossen, Kjosfossen, Låtefossen and Steinsdalsfossen,
the Trollstigen pass road and the fjords Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord.
The most popular holiday destinations include the Oslo region, the
Tromsø area, the Lofoten archipelago and the Bergen area. So-called
scenic routes were designed by the Norwegian road traffic authority
Statens vegvesen.
There are a total of eight UNESCO World
Heritage Sites in Norway.
Agriculture
Agriculture in Norway is heavily dependent on the
country's geography. Only 3.5% of the country's area is classified as
agricultural area by the statistical office Statistisk sentralbyrå
(SSB). This area is mainly distributed along the coast and in the
lower-lying areas inland. Due to the influence of the Gulf Stream,
grassland can be used as a basis for animal husbandry in Northern
Norway. Grain, on the other hand, is grown almost exclusively in the
south of the country. Since a large part of the area can only be used as
meadow or pasture due to the terrain and climate, animal husbandry has a
larger share of the income generated in the agricultural sector.
The number of farms is declining, in 2021 it was around 38,000. Within
ten years, the number had declined by about 16.5%. In 1969 there were
almost 155,000 companies. The average cultivated area has meanwhile
risen sharply: while in 1969 an average of around 6.2 hectares belonged
to a farm, in 2020 the figure was around 25.5 hectares. Compared to many
countries, this average size is small. In 2020, around 11,400 farmers
worked primarily in crop production and around 23,600 in livestock
farming. In addition, around 1,500 farmers combined the two areas.
fishing and whaling
Norway is one of the world's largest fishing
nations and fishing is one of the country's oldest industries. In 2018,
Norway ranked eleventh in the world in terms of the amount of fish
caught, according to the World Bank. According to this report, Norway
landed about 4.0 million tons in 2018. In 2018, 1.36 million tonnes of
Norway's total catch came from aquaculture, ranking Norway ninth in this
area.
In 2019, fish worth around 104 billion kroner was exported,
with salmon exports being the most important source of income, with a
value of around 72 billion kroner, ahead of cod. Other important fish
species included herring and mackerel.
Whaling in Norway has a
long tradition. Due to legal restrictions, however, the importance has
declined. Along with Iceland, Norway contradicted the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling of the International Whaling
Commission (IWC). Accordingly, commercial whaling is permitted and
annual catch quotas are set.
alcohol
Norway operates a
restrictive alcohol policy that began with taxes and production
restrictions in the 19th century. During Prohibition in Norway, which
started in 1914, the sale of alcohol was restricted and partially
banned. In 1936, Norway was the first country in the world to introduce
a blood alcohol limit for driving. In 2001 it fell from 0.5 to 0.2 per
thousand. Alcoholic beverages up to 4.7% volume can be sold in grocery
stores. Drinks with a higher alcohol content can only be purchased at
Vinmonopolet and licensed establishments. The first wine monopolies were
opened in 1922 as part of a relaxation of prohibition. In addition to
taxed sales, there are also non-taxed sales, which can be practiced
primarily at airports and on ferries. Compared to other European
countries, little alcohol is bought in Norway. In 2017, alcohol sales
per citizen aged 15 and over were reported as about 6.72 liters of pure
alcohol spread over the year. The part of this not taxed in Norway,
which also includes alcohol imported in border trade, was set at 0.78
litres.
The 2021 edition of the Central Bureau of Statistics' media report Norsk mediebarometer found that 98% of the population has access to the internet. 99% of people between the ages of nine and 79 owned a mobile phone and 96% a smartphone. 93% of the population used the internet on an average day in 2021, the most popular social medium was Facebook. As early as 2004, 90% owned their own mobile phone and 66% had Internet access. The country's largest telecommunications provider is Telenor.
Due to the country's length and geological conditions, the
construction and maintenance of transport infrastructure is complex and
expensive. Seafaring therefore formed the basis for transport in many
places up until the second half of the 19th century. Only then could
part of the traffic be relocated to the countryside through the
construction of railway lines. In the 20th century, the importance of
air and road transport for passenger transport grew, and goods transport
also shifted from sea to road. The Logistics Performance Index 2018
compiled by the World Bank lists Norway in 21st place.
road
traffic
In Norway, the public road network reached a total length of
around 94,902 kilometers in 2018. The current division of the road
network into Riksveier (German Reichsstrassen), Fylkesveier (German
Fylkesstrassen) and municipal roads largely goes back to a 1931 law. Due
to the geographical conditions, many bridges and tunnels, some in the
form of underwater tunnels, are integrated into the road network. Car
ferries continue to be of great importance, especially in the coastal
regions characterized by fjords.
rail transport
The first
railway line was opened in 1854, connecting Oslo with Eidsvoll. In 1861,
the first purely state railway line was put into operation. In the years
that followed, the network was further expanded, and the Bergensbanen
line was completed in 1909. From about 1957, the overall track length
decreased due to the hiring of smaller side lines. Because of the
increased number of automobiles from the 1960s, the railway continued to
lose importance.
In 2020, the rail network covered around 4200
kilometers, of which 2541 kilometers are electrified. Most passenger
trains are operated by the company Vy. The Oslo Sentralstasjon (Oslo S)
is the largest railway station in the country. Other important train
stations include Bergen train station and the train stations in
Trondheim, Bodø, Stavanger and Kristiansand. Fylke Troms og Finnmark has
no train connection. The implementation of the Nord-Norgebanen railway
project, which envisages a connection to Tromsø, was rejected by the
Storting in May 2020. (for history see Norsk Hoved-Jernbane)
In
1894, Oslo became the first Norwegian city to have an electric tram,
followed by Bergen in 1897 and Trondheim in 1901. A subway system only
exists in Oslo (Oslo T-bane).
air traffic
Due to the mountains
and long fjords, large travel time savings are often achieved over
relatively short distances in air transport compared to road transport.
First flights took place in Norway in 1912. From the 1970s and again
from 2002, the number of annual air passengers in Norway began to
increase sharply.
The Avinor company, which reports to the
Ministry of Transport, operates 44 airports in Norway, and other
airports are privately owned. Norway's largest commercial airport is
Oslo Gardermoen. Avinor finances the operation of the smaller airports
from the profits from the largest airports. The main domestic airlines
are SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Norwegian Air Shuttle and the regional
airline Widerøe, whose flights are subsidized in the sparsely populated
north. Other major airports in addition to Oslo Airport Gardermoen are
the airports in Bergen, Stavanger, Trondheim, Tromsø, Bodø, Ålesund,
Sandefjord-Torp and Kristiansand.
ship traffic
Norway's
geography gives special importance to shipping and Norway is one of the
largest shipping nations in the world. In 2021, the Norwegian merchant
fleet consisted of 1,603 vessels over 100 gross tonnage (GT). Of these
vessels, 682 were registered in the country's international ship
register, NIS.
From 1893 Hurtigruten ships established the
connection between Trondheim and Hammerfest, later the line was
extended. Goods, mail and passengers are transported there, and over
time tourists have also become aware of the connection. A total of 34
ports are served in the daily liner service. With the increased
development of infrastructure on land, many ship connections lost their
importance, for example the route between Oslo and Bergen known as
Kystruta was discontinued in 1969. Especially in the provinces of
Vestland, Trøndelag and Nordland, speedboats such as catamarans are used
for local traffic.
In 2000 the city of Bergen was the European Capital of Culture, in 2008 it was Stavanger. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually in Oslo.
Edvard Munch is Norway's most famous painter, and most of his works
can be seen in the Munch Museum in Oslo. Gustav Vigeland is considered
the country's most important sculptor. In the 19th century, painters
such as Johan Christian Clausen Dahl, Adolph Tidemand and Hans Gude
became internationally known. Dahl, who specializes in landscape
painting, is also referred to as the "father of Norwegian painting".
Since Norway was a rather poor country for a long time, hardly any
monumental buildings were built until the Middle Ages. Wood was the
dominant building material until the Christianization of Norway and the
construction of the first church buildings made of stone, but it was
still used frequently afterwards. From the middle of the 14th century,
the plague epidemics led to a decline in building activity, which only
ended in the 16th century with new Renaissance buildings. From around
1700, the wealthiest townsfolk began to build more lavish private
houses, such as Stiftsgården in Trondheim.
In the 19th century,
several neoclassical buildings such as the Royal Palace in Oslo were
built by the public purse. Important architects included Hans Ditlev
Franciscus von Linstow and Christian Heinrich Grosch. As in many other
countries, attempts were made in Norway around 1900 to develop its own
style of architecture, which resulted in the dragon style. In addition
to the medieval stave churches, the stabbur used as food stores were
also typical Norwegian architecture. The period of Norwegian national
romanticism was followed by periods in which neo-baroque, neo-classicism
and functionalism were more widespread. Important architects of the 20th
century included Henrik Bull and Sverre Fehn. In the early 2000s, the
Snøhetta architectural office began to implement international and
national projects such as the Oslo Opera House.
Well-known
Norwegian buildings include the wooden stave churches. Of the 28
surviving stave churches, Borgund Stave Church and Urnes Stave Church
are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the best-known modern
churches is the Arctic Cathedral in Tromsø.
An important part of the library system in Norway is the fact that library use is free for all residents of Norway, although every municipality is obliged to have a library. Norway has one of the most comprehensive legal deposit systems in the world.
The public broadcaster Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) offers national TV and radio programs as well as regional offers. Larger private TV stations are TV 2 and TVNorge. In 2020, 48% of the population watched television on an average day, 39% without taking online offers into account. The most popular TV channels were NRK1 and TV 2. 49% of Norwegians listened to the radio every day in 2020, down from 71% in 1991. The radio stations with the largest audiences were NRK P1 and P4 Radio Hele Norge.
In 2020, around 24% of the population read a printed newspaper on an
average day, up from 85% in 1994. The share of the population reading
online newspapers or newspapers in printed format was 77% in 2020. In
2012, according to a representative survey for the Norsk mediebarometer,
25 percent of those surveyed used two or more newspapers; In 1991 it was
still 50 percent.
The country’s top-circulation titles in 2019
were Aftenposten, the tabloids Verdens Gang (VG), Dagbladet and the
Bergen daily newspaper Bergens Tidende. Digital leaders have been the
websites of VG, Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Dagbladet and TV 2. There are
also numerous regional newspapers. At the end of 2010, 226 newspapers
were published in Norway, compared to 218 at the end of 2019. The two
largest newspaper groups in 2019 were Schibsted and Amedia, which
together published 86 newspapers.
Norway's first professional theater was founded in 1827, initially in
private hands. The first state grants were not distributed until the
1920s. Important spoken theater stages are the Nationaltheatret in Oslo
as the largest Norwegian theatre, Den Nationale Scene in Bergen as the
oldest Norwegian theater and the Norske Teatret in Oslo, which plays in
the Nynorsk language form. Other larger theaters are the Trøndelag
Teater in Trondheim, the Rogaland Teater in Stavanger, the Agder Teater
in Kristiansand, the Drammens Teater in Drammen and the Sami Beaivváš
Sámi Našunálateáhter in Kautokeino. Norway's largest musical theater is
Den Norske Opera & Ballet, based in the Oslo Opera House.
One of
the most important playwrights was the national poet Henrik Ibsen
(1828-1906) with dramas that were still often performed, such as Peer
Gynt or The Wild Duck. Another influential figure in Norwegian theater
is Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Folk music has a long tradition in Norway and appears in Old Norse
literary sources. Joik is one of the most important elements in Sami
folk music. In modern times, singer Mari Boine is one of the best-known
representatives of Norwegian Sami music. The best-known Norwegian
composer is Edvard Grieg with his romantic compositions. Other important
composers include Johan Svendsen, Ole Bull, and Ludvig Mathias Lindeman.
In the field of popular music, the band a-ha is one of Norway's most
successful representatives. Wencke Myhre is one of the best-known pop
singers who also became successful in German-speaking countries in the
1960s. From the late 1990s, hip-hop became more prominent in youth
culture, with the duo Karpe counting among the most successful players
in the genre in Norway. In the field of electronic music, for example,
Kygo and the duo Stargate achieved international success.
In the
metal scene, Norway is famous for its numerous black metal bands such as
Enslaved. Norwegian bands are seen as defining the genre. Norway also
has a very lively jazz scene with several jazz events such as the
Kongsberg Jazz Festival. Important representatives include Jan Garbarek,
Knut Riisnæs, Terje Rypdal and Karin Krog. Important Norwegian music
awards are the Spellemannpris, the Critics' Prize and the Buddypris for
jazz music.
To date, eight World Heritage sites in Norway have been recognized by
UNESCO. Most recently, in 2015, the industrial towns of Rjukan and
Notodden were added to the list of World Heritage Sites.
The
eight World Heritage Sites are:
the Hanseatic district of Bryggen in
the city of Bergen
the stave church of Urnes
the former copper
mining town of Røros in central Norway
the stone carvings at Alta in
Northern Norway
the Vega Archipelago, a uniquely open cultural
landscape
the Struve arc, a geodetic measuring point
the western
Norwegian fjords Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
the Rjukan-Notodden
industrial heritage sites with the Rjukanbanen
Norway is primarily a winter sports nation and has a long tradition
in Nordic skiing. Many developments in skiing, especially in the field
of ski jumping and cross-country skiing, have their origins in Norway.
The country is often a leader in many winter sports disciplines in
international competitions. Successful winter athletes such as Oscar
Mathisen, Sonja Henie, Kjetil André Aamodt, Terje Håkonsen, Marit
Bjørgen and the most successful biathlete of all time Ole Einar
Bjørndalen emerged. The 1952 Winter Olympics took place in Oslo and the
1994 Winter Games were held in Lillehammer.
In the field of
summer sports, sailing and shooting sports were of particular importance
for a long time. For example, the Norwegian kings Olav V and Harald V
took part in sailing at the Olympic Games and World Championships for
their country. Only towards the end of the 20th century did sports such
as football, athletics and cycling become more important. The divisions
of the Norges idrettsforbund og olympiske og paralympiske komité (NIF)
with the most members are football, skiing, golf and handball. The
federation is Norway's largest voluntary organisation, and it became
more important in the 1970s, after sport was recognized by the state as
part of the "extended concept of culture". Chess is a popular sport in
Norway, successful players include Simen Agdestein and Magnus Carlsen.
For a long time, women were not allowed to practice many sports or
were not allowed to compete. After the gradual opening, which brought
access to top-class sport in many disciplines, especially in the 1970s,
the national teams of soccer and handball players were able to win
international titles. In 1983, runner Grete Waitz won the first women's
world championship in marathon running. From the 1990s, ski jumping
eventually became a more widespread sport for women as well.