Kingdom of Norway

Norway, officially Kingdom of Norway is a sovereign and unitary monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula plus the island Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Until 1814, the Kingdom included the Faroe Islands (since 1035), Greenland (1261), and Iceland (1262). It also included Shetland and Orkney until 1468.

Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) and a population of 5,109,059 people (2014). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden (1,619 km or 1,006 mi long). Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, and the Skagerrak Strait to the south, with Denmark on the other side. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea.

Geography

Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, stretches 25,000 kilometres (16,000 mi) and 83,000 kilometres (52,000 mi) and include fjords and islands. Norway shares a 1,619-kilometre (1,006 mi) land border with Sweden, 727 kilometres (452 mi) with Finland, and 196 kilometres (122 mi) with Russia to the east. To the north, west and south, Norway is bordered by the Barents Sea, the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and Skagerrak. The Scandinavian Mountains form much of the border with Sweden.

At 385,252 square kilometres (148,747 sq mi) (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen) (and 323,802 square kilometres (125,021 sq mi) without), much of the country is dominated by mountainous or high terrain, with a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords: deep grooves cut into the land flooded by the sea following the end of the Ice Age. Sognefjorden is the world's second deepest fjord, and the world's longest at 204 kilometres (127 mi). Hornindalsvatnet is the deepest lake in all Europe. Permafrost can be found all year in the higher mountain areas and in the interior of Finnmark county. Numerous glaciers are found in Norway.

Norway lies between latitudes 57° and 81° N, and longitudes 4° and 32° E.

The land is mostly made of hard granite and gneiss rock, but slate, sandstone, and limestone are also common, and the lowest elevations contain marine deposits. Because of the Gulf Stream and prevailing westerlies, Norway experiences higher temperatures and more precipitation than expected at such northern latitudes, especially along the coast. The mainland experiences four distinct seasons, with colder winters and less precipitation inland. The northernmost part has a mostly maritime Subarctic climate, while Svalbard has an Arctic tundra climate.

Because of the large latitudinal range of the country and the varied topography and climate, Norway has a larger number of different habitats than almost any other European country. There are approximately 60,000 species in Norway and adjacent waters (excluding bacteria and virus). The Norwegian Shelf large marine ecosystem is considered highly productive.

Info:

Royal Motto: Alt for Norge - All for Norway
Anthem: Ja, vi elsker dette landet (de facto) - Yes, we love this country
Royal Anthem: Kongesangen - The King's Song
Capital: Oslo
Official Languages: Bokmål, Nynorsk and Norsk
Writing System: Latin (Dano-Norwegian alphabet)
Religion: Church of Norway
Demonym: Norwegian | In Norwegian: Nordmann
Legislature: Storting
Area: 385, 178 km2
Currency: Norwegian Krone
Time Zone: CET (UTC+1)
Summer (DST): CEST (UTC+2)
Date Format: dd.mm.yyyy
Drives on the: right
Calling code: +47
ISO 3166 Code: NO
International TLD: .no

Largest Cities of Norway

1. Oslo
2. Bergen
3. Stavanger/Sandnes
4. Trondheim
5. Drammen
6. Fredrikstad/Sarpsborg
7. Porsgrunn/Skien
8. Kristiansand
9. Tønsberg
10. Ålesund
11. Moss
12. Sandefjord
13. Arendal
14. Haugesund
15. Bodø
16. Tromsø
17. Hamar
18. Halden
19. Larvik
20. Askøy

Flag of Norway

The flag of Norway is a red with an indigo blue Scandinavian cross fimbriated in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog, the flag of Denmark.

Official Website: Norway.no

Did You Know?

• Norway’s formal name is Kongeriket Norge (Kingdom of Norway).
• Norway was originally called Nordweg, meaning the “Northern Way.”
• Norway’s national symbol is the lion.
• Norway has a total area of 125,021 square miles (323,802 square km), which includes Bouvet, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard Islands.
• Beerenberg, at 7,306 feet (2,227 m), on Jan Mayen Island in the Norwegian Sea, is the Norway’s only active volcano.
• In December 2010, the Norwegian newspaper Aftenpost claimed to have gotten hold of Julian Assange’s Wikileaks’ purported 250,000 confidential U.S. Embassy cables.
• Norway has the highest gasoline prices in the world at US$9.79 per gallon, even though Norway is one the biggest exporters of oil in the world.
• The Lærdal Tunnel is the world’s longest road tunnel at 15 miles (24.5 km).
• According to the 2013 Global Peace Index, Norway is one of the most peaceful countries in the world, ranking 11th out of 162 countries.
• The cheese slicer was invented in Norway in 1925 by Thor Bjørklund.
• In Norway, you can buy alcoholic beverages only from stores named Vinmonopolet. There are only two in each city, and none in the countryside.
• Norwegian Erik Rotheim invented the forerunner of the can-and-aerosol system we known as the aerosol spray can. He was granted a patent for his invention in Norway on October 8, 1926.
• The official Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square in London has come from Norway every year since 1946.
• If you own a television in Norway, you have to pay an annual licensing fee of US $480.66.
• Minnesota is the unofficial Norwegian capital of the United States, and more Norwegians live in Minnesota than in any other state.
• The word “slalom” (slalåm) originated in Morgedal, Norway, home of Telemark ski designer Sondre Norheim. The first syllable, sla, means “slope, hill, or smooth surface,” while låm is the track down the slope. The normal slalom was a cross-country run over fields, hills, and stone walls, weaving among thickets. Slalom was first contested as an Olympic sport at the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where Norwegian Schou Nilsen won a Bronze medal in the Women’s combined event.
• Grandiosa frozen pizza is Norway’s unofficial national dish.
• Norway is not a formal member of the European Union, having opted out during a referendum in November 1994.
• Norway is the world’s largest exporter of salmon.
• Grimstad, Norway, was the home of playwright Henrik Ibsen and is also the sunniest place in Norway.
• Sognefjorden is the largest fjord in Norway and third largest in the world. It is the longest ice-free fjord in the world and stretches 127 miles (205 km) inland from the ocean.
• Trondheim, Norway, was one of Europe’s first wireless cities.
• The Norwegians founded Dublin, Ireland, in A.D. 836.
• Norway’s Hardangervidda Plateau is the biggest mountain plateau in Europe and home to the continent’s largest herd of wild reindeer.
• Edvard Munch was a Norwegian painter and printmaker, who is famous for his painting The Scream (1893).
• Norway was one of the founding nations of the United Nations in 1945, and the first U.N. Secretary-General was Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie
• During World War II, the Norwegian mining town of Kirkenes suffered more bomb attacks than any other place in Europe except for Malta.
• Troldhaugen, Norway, is the home of composer Edvard Grieg as well as having the aquarium with the largest collection of saltwater fish in Europe.
• The Norwegian pop music group A-ha wrote the title song for the 1988 James Bond film The Living Daylights.
• In 1990, Norway established a permanent research station, named Troll, in the Antarctic.
• In January 1993, Norway’s Erling Kagge became the first man to go alone and entirely unaided to the South Pole.
• Norwegian King Olav V won an Olympic gold medal in sailing in 1928 and was an active sailor all his life.
• Coffee came to Norway about 280 years ago, but it wasn’t generally accepted until the 1870s. Today, Norwegians are among the world’s biggest consumers of coffee per inhabitant.
• Oslo-born Grete Waitz was the first women to run a marathon in less than two and a half hours

References

• Wikipedia
• Fact Slides
• Wikimedia