Norway
(pronounced ; Norwegian: Norge
(Bokmål), Noreg
(Nynorsk) or Norga
(North Sami)), officially the Kingdom of Norway
, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty. The majority of the country shares a border to the east with Sweden; its northernmost region is bordered by Finland to the south and Russia to the east. The United Kingdom and Faroe Islands lie to its west across the North Sea, Iceland and Greenland lie to its west across the Norwegian Sea, and Denmark lies south of its southern tip across the Skagerrak Strait.
Bouvet Island and Peter I Island are dependent territories (Norwegian: biland
) of Norway, but not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, a claim that has been recognised by Australia, France, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. [1]
Norway's extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea, is home to its famous fjords.
After the Second World War, the country experienced rapid economic growth, particularly as a result of large oil deposits discovered in the early 1970s. Today it ranks amongst the wealthiest countries in the world, [2] [3] [4] with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation. In August 2009 the nation's sovereign wealth fund announced that it owned approximately 1% of all the stocks in the world, presumably referring to publicly traded stocks. Norway is the world’s seventh largest oil exporter [5] and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of its GDP. [6]
Following the ongoing financial crisis of 2007-2009, bankers have deemed the Norwegian krone to be one of the most solid currencies in the world. [7]
Norway also has rich resources of gas fields, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. The country was the second largest exporter of seafood (in value, after the People’s Republic of China) in 2006. [8] Other main industries include shipping, food processing, shipbuilding, metals, chemicals, mining, fishing and pulp and paper products. Norway maintains a Scandinavian welfare model with universal healthcare, subsidised higher education and a comprehensive social security system. Norway was ranked highest of all countries in human development from 2001 to 2006. [9] It was also rated the most peaceful country in the world in a 2007 survey by Global Peace Index. [10]
Although having rejected EU membership at two referendums, it maintains close ties with the Union and its member countries, as well as with the United States. It is considered a prominent participant in diplomacy and international development, having been heavily involved with the failed Oslo Accords and negotiated a truce between the Sri Lanka government and the Tamil Tigers. Norway remains one of the biggest financial contributors to the UN, [11] and participates with forces in international missions, notably in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Sudan.
A unitary state with administrative sub-divisions on two levels known as counties (fylker) and municipalities (kommuner), Norway is a constitutional, hereditary monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with King Harald V as its Head of State. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act.
Norway is a founding member of UN, NATO, the Council of Europe and the Nordic Council, and member of the European Economic Area, WTO and OECD.
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NORWAY TICKETS
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Etymology
Norway is officially called
Kongeriket Norge
in the
Bokmål written norm, and
Kongeriket Noreg
in the
Nynorsk written norm.
The usual
Old Norse form of
Norway
is
Noregr
and the usual medieval Latin form
Nor(th)vegia
, though the earliest known written occurrence of the name is English (in the late-ninth-century account of the travels of
Ohthere of Hålogaland), in the form
norðweg
.
[12] [13] Although some medieval texts attribute the name to a mythical King
Nórr, it is conventionally derived today from Old Norse *
norðvegr
, meaning "the northern route" (the way northwards). There is, however, some possibility that medieval forms in
norð-
,
north-
are folk-etymologisations, and that the name has other origins.
History
Prehistory
Archaeological findings indicate the area currently constituting Norway has been inhabited since at least the 10th millennium BC (see
Scandinavian prehistory).
[14] The indigenous people of
Northern Norway and
Central Norway are the
Sámi people, though
Norse culture arrived very early on the scene here also. The current monarch of Norway, representing Government, has stated that the kingdom was founded upon the territories of two peoples - the
Norwegians and the Sámi.
[15]
In the first centuries AD, Norway consisted of a number of
petty kingdoms. According to tradition,
Harald Fairhair (Harald Hårfagre) unified them into one in 872 AD after the
Battle of Hafrsfjord in
Stavanger, thus becoming the first king of a united Norway. In fact, though, Harald's realm was mainly a
South Norwegian coastal state.
Viking Age
The
Viking Age, 8-11th centuries AD, was characterized by expansion and emigration by
Viking seafarers. Many Norwegians left the country to live in
Iceland, the
Faroe Islands,
Greenland, and parts of
Britain and
Ireland. The modern-day
Irish cities of
Limerick,
Dublin, and
Waterford were founded by Norwegian settlers.
[16] Norse traditions were slowly replaced by
Christianity in the 10th and 11th centuries. This is largely attributed to the missionary kings
Olav Tryggvasson and
St. Olav.
Haakon the Good was Norway's first Christian king, in the mid tenth century, though his attempt to introduce the religion was rejected.
Kalmar Union, union with Denmark
In 1319, Sweden and Norway were united under King Magnus Eriksson. In 1349, the
Black Death killed between 50% and 60% of the population,
[17] resulting in a period of decline, both socially and economically. Ostensibly, royal politics at the time resulted in several personal unions between the
Nordic countries, eventually bringing the thrones of Norway,
Denmark, and
Sweden under the control of Queen
Margrethe I of Denmark when the country entered into the
Kalmar Union. Although Sweden broke out of the union in 1521, Norway remained with Denmark until 1814, a total of 436 years. During the
national romanticism of the 19th century, this period was by some referred to as the "400-Year Night", since all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centered in
Copenhagen in Denmark.
With the introduction of
Protestantism in 1536, the archbishopric in Trondheim was dissolved, and the church's incomes were distributed to the court in
Copenhagen in Denmark instead. Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of
St. Olav at the
Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with cultural and economic life in the rest of Europe. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces
Båhuslen,
Jemtland, and
Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of wars between
Denmark–Norway and Sweden.
Union with Sweden (19th century)
After
Denmark–Norway was attacked by the
United Kingdom, it entered into an alliance with
Napoleon, with the war leading to dire conditions and mass
starvation in 1812. As the Danish kingdom found itself on the losing side in 1814 it was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden, while the old Norwegian provinces of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands remained with the Danish crown.
[18] Norway took this opportunity to declare independence, adopted a constitution based on
American and
French models, and elected the crown prince of Denmark-Norway
Christian Frederik as king on 17 May 1814. This caused the
Norwegian-Swedish War to break out between Sweden and Norway but as Sweden's military was not strong enough to defeat the Norwegian forces outright and Norway's treasury was not large enough to support a protracted war, and as British and Russian navies blockaded the Norwegian coast,
[19] Norway agreed to enter a
personal union with Sweden.
Under this arrangement, Norway kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service.
This period also saw the rise of the
Norwegian romantic nationalism, as Norwegians sought to define and express a distinct national character. The movement covered all branches of culture, including literature (
Henrik Wergeland,
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson,
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen,
Jørgen Moe), painting (
Hans Gude,
Adolph Tidemand), music (
Edvard Grieg), and even language policy, where attempts to define a native written language for Norway led to today's two official written forms for
Norwegian:
Bokmål and
Nynorsk.
Modern history
Christian Michelsen, a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman, Prime Minister of Norway from 1905 to 1907 played a central role in the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden on 7 June 1905. After a national referendum confirmed the people's preference for a monarchy over a republic, the Norwegian government offered the throne of Norway to the Danish Prince Carl and
Parliament unanimously elected him king, the first king of a fully independent Norway in 586 years. He took the name of
Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of independent Norway.
In 1898, all men were granted universal suffrage, followed by all
women in 1913.
However, independence was temporarily interrupted on 9 April 1940 until 8 May 1945,
when Norway was occupied by
Nazi Germany. During
World War I, Norway was a neutral country. In reality, however, Norway had been pressured by Great Britain to hand over increasingly large parts of its massive merchant fleet to Britain at low rates, as well as to join the trade blockade against Germany. Norway also claimed neutrality during
World War II, but was
invaded by German forces on 9 April 1940.
Norway was unprepared for the German surprise attack, so military resistance only lasted for two months. The armed forces in the north launched an offensive against the German forces in the
Battles of Narvik, until they were forced to surrender on
June 10 after losing allied help following the
fall of France. King Haakon and the Norwegian government deserted away to
Rotherhithe,
London while the rest of the country was left to fight alone. On the day of the invasion, the collaborative leader of the small National-Socialist party
Nasjonal Samling —
Vidkun Quisling — tried to seize power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority,
Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling, as
minister president
, later formed a collaborationist government under German control. During the five years of
Nazi occupation, Norwegians built a
resistance movement which fought the German occupation forces with both armed resistance and civil disobedience. More important to the
Allied war effort, however, was the role of the Norwegian
merchant navy. At the time of the
invasion, Norway had the fourth largest merchant marine in the world. It was led by the Norwegian shipping company
Nortraship under the Allies throughout the war and took part in every war operation from the
evacuation of Dunkirk to the
Normandy landings. Each December Norway gives a
Christmas tree to the
United Kingdom as thanks for the UK's assistance during World War II. A ceremony takes place to erect the tree in London's famous
Trafalgar Square.
[20]
Post war history
From 1945 to 1961, the
Labour Party held an absolute majority in the
parliament. The government, led by prime minister
Einar Gerhardsen, embarked on a program inspired by
Keynesian economics, emphasizing state financed industrialization, cooperation between
trade unions and
employers' organizations. Many measures of state control of the economy imposed during the war were continued, although the
rationing of dairy products was lifted in 1949, while price control and rationing of housing and cars continued as long as until 1960.
The war time alliance with Britain and the US was continued in the post war years. Although pursuing the goal of a socialist economy, the Labour Party distanced itself from the communists (especially after Soviet seizure of power in
Czechoslovakia in 1948), and strengthened its foreign policy and defence policy ties with the US. Norway received
Marshall aid from 1947, joined the
OEEC one year later and
NATO in 1949.
Around 1975, both the proportion and absolute number of workers in industry peaked. Since then labour intensive industries and services like factory mass production and shipping have largely been off sourced. In 1969
Philips Petroleum discovered
petroleum resources at the
Ekofisk field. In 1973 the government founded the State oil company,
Statoil. Oil production didn't become a net income before the early 1980s due to the heavy capital investments required in the petroleum industry.
Norway was one of the founding members of European Free Trade Area (EFTA). Two
referendums to join the
European Union failed by narrow margins in 1972 and 1994. In 1981 a conservative government lead by
Kåre Willoch replaced Labour with a policy of stimulating the
stagflated economy by tax cuts, economic liberalization, deregulation of markets and measures to curbing of the record high inflation (13,6 % 1981).
Norway's first woman prime minister,
Gro Harlem Brundtland of the Labour party, continued many of the reforms of her right wing predecessor, while backing traditional Labour issues like
social security, high taxes, industrialization of nature, and feminism. By the late 1990s, Norway had paid off foreign debt and started accumulating a
sovereign wealth fund. Since the 1990s, one of the dividing issues in politics has been how much petroleum income the government should spend, relative to how much it should save.
Geography, climate, and environment
thumb
Image:Inderøy-Sund-Straumen.jpg
|thumb|200px|Typical Norwegian lowland landscape near the
Trondheimsfjord
Image:islands of norway.jpg
|thumb|200px|Some of the larger
islands along the coastline of northern Norway.
Norway comprises the western part of
Scandinavia in
Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by huge
fjords and thousands of
islands, stretches over 2,500 km and over 83,000 km including the fjords and islands. Norway shares a 2,542 km land border with
Sweden,
Finland, and a short border line to
Russia at the east. To the west and south, Norway is bordered by the
Norwegian Sea, the
North Sea, and
Skagerak. The
Barents Sea washes on Norway's northern coasts.
At 385,252 km² (including
Svalbard and Jan Mayen), Norway is slightly larger than Germany, but, unlike Germany, 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. The longest is
Sognefjorden. Norway also contains many glaciers and
waterfalls.
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. Due to 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. The southern and western parts of Norway experiences more precipitation, and have milder winters than the south-eastern part. The lowlands around the capital Oslo have the warmest and sunniest summers, but also cold weather and
snow in wintertime (especially inland). Average temperatures have risen the last decades, decreasing the amount of days with snow cover in the lowlands.
Due to Norway's high
latitude, there are large seasonal variations in daylight. From late May to late July, the sun never completely descends beneath the horizon in areas north of the
Arctic Circle (hence Norway's description as the "Land of the
Midnight Sun") and the rest of the country experiences up to 20 hours of daylight per day. Conversely, from late November to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the north, and daylight hours are very short in the rest of the country.
Throughout Norway, one will find stunning and dramatic scenery and landscape. The west coast of southern Norway and the coast of northern Norway present some of the most visually impressive coastal sceneries in the world.
National Geographic has listed the Norwegian fjords as the world's top tourist attraction.
The 2008
Environmental Performance Index put Norway in second place, after
Switzerland, based on the environmental performance of the country's policies.
[21]
Politics and government
thumb, the current
King of Norway
Norway is a
constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary system of
government.
Oslo is the capital city.
Constitution
The
Constitution of Norway from
1814 was inspired by the
United States Declaration of Independence in
1776 and the
French revolution in
1789 and subsequent constitutions, and was considered to be one of the most radically democratic constitutions in the world at the time of its adoption. Inspired by
Montesqieu’s ideas, the Constitution separates power in three branches of government, the
executive,
legislative and
judiciary. Based on the prevailing ideas during Enlightenment concerning distribution of power, the elected national assembly was only partly supposed to control the government, which was appointed by the King and in turn kept at bay by the independent courts. In 1884, a
parliamentary system of government (
Norwegian:
parlamentarisme
) was introduced as
customary law, making the
Storting the supreme branch of government. In practice, this meant that any government must have sufficient backing in the national assembly, even though executive power is formally vested in the King. However, the Constitution has recently been amended, so today the parliamentary system of government enjoys explicit legal authority. The powers of the national government stem from the
Storting, or more accurately, its composition following elections.
Monarchy
The Royal Family of Norway is a branch of the princely family of House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. Since 1991 the king has been Harald V, the 66th since Unification, but the first king in many hundred years to actually have been born in Norway.
Following the introduction of a parliamentary system of government in 1884, the duties of the Monarch have become largely representative and ceremonial.
[22] He or she:
- Is Head of State
- Opens the Storting
- Formally dissolves and installs governments
- Presides over meetings in the Council of State
- Functions as the nominal head or High Protector of the Church of Norway
- Is Commander-in-Chief of the Norwegian Defence Force
- Receives credentials from Ambassadors-in-waiting
- Represents Norway during state visits both abroad and in Norway
- Serves as fountain of honour
- Holds audiences with prominent Norwegian figures within politics, industry, commerce and culture.
However, the Monarch does retain some royal prerogatives. He may issue pardons for prisoners (Article 20) and engage in war (Article 26), although it is unlikely that any of these two prerogatives would be put into use today. However, during the
German occupation,
Haakon VII said he would
abdicate rather than appoint a
collaborationist government led by
Vidkun Quisling.
The Monarch acts a symbol of unity, and a majority of Norwegians are still in favour of retaining the monarchy. There is also broad political consensus on this issue.
The Norwegian monarchy is unique in the sense that in 1905, when Norway declared its independence, a referendum was held asking the electorate to vote for either a monarchy or a republic. Even though only men were allowed to vote at the time, women also organised petitions. The referendum (and the petitions) resulted in a majority in favour of a monarchy.
Council of State
The Council of State consists of the
Prime Minister (the
head of government) and other ministers, formally appointed by the King. It is the equivalent of a cabinet.
Parliamentarism has evolved since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must not have the parliament against it, and that the appointment by the King is a formality when there is a clear majority in Parliament for a party or a
coalition of parties. After elections resulting in no clear majority to any party or coalition, the leader of the party most likely to be able to form a government is appointed Prime Minister by the King. Norway has often been ruled by
minority governments.
The King has government meetings every Friday at the
Royal Palace (Council of State), but the government decisions are decided in advance in government conferences headed by the Prime Minister every Tuesday and Thursday. In order to form a government, more than half the membership of the Council of State is required to belong to the Church of Norway. Currently, this means at least ten out of 19 members. After the negotiations of looser ties between the
church and the state, it was decided that this requirement will be abolished in the near future. Nevertheless, only members of the Church of Norway are allowed to discuss matters relating directly to the Church (like the appointment of a bishop) within the Council of State.
Storting
The Norwegian
parliament is the
Storting (
Stortinget
). It currently has 169 members (an increase from 165 effective in the
September 2005 elections). The members are elected from the 19
counties for four-year terms according to a system of
proportional representation. An additional 19 seats ("levelling seats") are allocated on a nationwide basis to make the representation in parliament correspond better with the popular vote. There is a 4 percent
election threshold to gain levelling seats. The word
Storting
means "Grand Assembly".
The Storting is a qualified
unicameral body. After elections it elects a quarter of its membership to form the
Lagting, a sort of
upper house, with the remaining three quarters forming the
Odelsting, a
lower house. When voting the two
chambers divide, and this division of chambers is also used on very rare occasions such as
impeachment. The original idea in 1814 was probably to have the Lagting act as an actual upper house, and the senior and more experienced members of the Storting were placed here. Laws are in most cases proposed by the government through a Member of the Council of State, or in some cases by a member of the Odelsting in case of repeated disagreement in the joint Storting. In modern times the Lagting rarely disagrees, effectively
rubber-stamping the Odelsting's decisions.
Impeachment cases are very rare and may be brought against Members of the Council of State, of the
Supreme Court (
Høyesterett
), or of the Storting for criminal offenses which they may have committed in their official capacity. The last case was in 1927, when Prime Minister
Abraham Berge was acquitted.
Constitutional amendments of 20 February 2007 provide for:
- The abolition of division after the 2009 general election (making the Storting fully unicameral). Legislation will go through two readings, or three in case of dissent, before being passed and sent to the King for assent.
- Changes in impeachment procedures. The current system (indictments raised by the Odelsting and judged by the Lagting and the Supreme Court justices as part of the High Court of the Realm) will be replaced by new system (indictments raised by the Storting in plenary session; impeachment cases will be heard by the five highest-ranking Supreme Court justices and six lay members in one of the Supreme Court courtrooms, instead of the Lagting chamber; Storting representatives no longer perform as lay judges).
Supreme Court
The
judiciary is referred to as the
Courts of Justice of Norway. It consists of a
Supreme Court of 18 permanent judges and a
chief justice,
appellate courts, city and district courts, and conciliation councils. Judges attached to regular courts are appointed by the king-in-council.
In its 2007 Worldwide Press Freedom Index,
Reporters Without Borders ranked Norway at a shared 1st place (with Iceland) out of 169 countries.
[23] The death penalty was abolished in Norway in 1902. Death penalty for high treason in war and war-crimes was also abolished in 1979.
Foreign relations and military
thumb Fridtjof Nansen
class frigate
Norway maintains embassies in 86 countries.
[24] 60 countries maintain an embassy in Norway, all of them in the capital, Oslo.
[25]
Norway is a founding member of the
United Nations,
NATO and the
Council of Europe. The Norwegian electorate has twice rejected treaties of accession to the
European Union (EU). Most legislation made by the EU is however implemented in the country due to Norway's membership in the
European Economic Area (EEA). This ensures Norway's access to the EU's internal market.
The
Norwegian Armed Forces currently numbers about 23,000 personnel, including civilian employees. According to the current (as of 2009) mobilization plans, the strength during full mobilization is approximately 83,000 combatant personnel. Norway has
conscription for males (6–12 months of training) and voluntary service for females.
[26]
Because of the effect of the failed neutrality of Norway during World War II and their subsequent surrender to Germany in June 1940,
[27] Norway was one of the founding nations of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 4 April 1949, thus abandoning the neutrality policy first imposed. Norway claims to have never formally surrendered to the German invasion. Their monarchy and some government officials fled to the
United Kingdom.
Norway contributes with forces in international missions organised by NATO, the
United Nations (UN) and the
European Union (EU),
[28] notably in:
- Kosovo: Kosovo Force (KFOR) and United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
- Afghanistan: International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)
- Bosnia: (in NATO/EUFOR HQ and Liaison Observer Team in Cazin)
- Sudan: United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS)
Subdivisions and cities
Norway is divided into nineteen first-level administrative regions known as
fylker
("
counties", singular
fylke
) and 430 second-level
kommuner
("
municipalities", singular
kommune
). The
fylke
is the intermediate administration between state and municipality. The King is represented in every county by a Fylkesmann.
The counties of Norway are:
- Akershus
- Aust-Agder
- Buskerud
- Finnmark
- Hedmark
- Hordaland
- Møre og Romsdal
- Nord-Trøndelag
- Nordland
- Oppland
- Oslo
- Rogaland
- Sogn og Fjordane
- Sør-Trøndelag
- Telemark
- Troms
- Vest-Agder
- Vestfold
- Østfold
There are 96 settlements with
city status in Norway. In most cases, the city borders are coterminous with the borders of their respective municipalities. Often, Norwegian city municipalities include large non-built up areas; for example, Oslo municipality contains large forests, located north and south-east of the city, and over half of Bergen municipality consists of mountaineous areas. The ten largest municipalities with city status in Norway are (as of 1 January 2008):
[29]
| Municipality
| Population
| Area
| Density
|
| Oslo
| 568,809
| 453 km²
| 1256/km²
|
| Bergen
| 250,985
| 465 km²
| 540/km²
|
| Trondheim
| 166,708
| 341 km²
| 489/km²
|
| Stavanger
| 120,798
| 71 km²
| 1701/km²
|
| Bærum
| 108,967
| 191 km²
| 571/km²
|
| Kristiansand
| 79,498
| 276 km²
| 288/km²
|
| Fredrikstad
| 72,388
| 290 km²
| 250/km²
|
| Tromsø
| 66,003
| 2557 km²
| 26/km²
|
| Sandnes
| 62,832
| 302 km²
| 208/km²
|
| Drammen
| 60,878
| 137 km²
| 444/km²
|
Sandvika in
Bærum municipality (population of 108,144 as of 2008) declared itself a city in 2003 (permitted since 1996), but the "city border" of Sandvika is usually not considered to be coterminous with the municipality border. As Sandvika and most of Bærum in general is included in the Oslo
urban area, as defined by
Statistics Norway, its population is not possible to estimate.
Norway also has two integral overseas territories,
Jan Mayen and
Svalbard. There are also three
Antarctic and
Subantarctic dependencies:
Bouvet Island,
Peter I Island and
Queen Maud Land.
Economy
Norwegians enjoy the second highest
GDP per-capita (after Luxembourg) and third highest
GDP (PPP) per-capita in the world. Norway maintained first place in the world in the
UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) for six consecutive years (2001–2006).
The Norwegian economy is an example of a
mixed economy, featuring a combination of
free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors. The state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, such as the strategic
petroleum sector (
StatoilHydro), hydroelectric energy production (
Statkraft), aluminum production (
Norsk Hydro), the largest Norwegian bank (
DnB NOR) and telecommunication provider (
Telenor). The government controls 31.6% of publicly-listed companies. When non-listed companies are included the state has even higher share in ownership (mainly from direct oil license ownership).
Norway is a major
shipping nation, and has the world's 6th largest
merchant fleet, with 1412 Norwegian-owned merchant vessels (2009).
Referendums in 1972 and
1994 indicated that the
Norwegian people wished to remain outside the
European Union (EU). However, Norway, together with
Iceland and
Liechtenstein, participates in the
European Union's single market via the
European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. The EEA Treaty between the
European Union countries and the
EFTA countries – transposed into Norwegian law via "EØS-loven"
[30] – describes the procedures for implementing European Union rules in Norway and the other EFTA countries. This makes Norway a highly integrated member of most sectors of the EU internal market. However, some sectors, such as agriculture, oil and fish, are not wholly covered by the EEA Treaty. Norway has also acceded to the
Schengen Agreement and several other intergovernmental agreements between the EU member states.
The country is richly endowed with natural resources including
petroleum,
hydropower,
fish,
forests, and
minerals. Large reserves of
petroleum and
natural gas were discovered in the 1960s, which led to a continuing boom in the economy. Norway has obtained one of the highest standards of living in the world in part by having a large amount of natural resources compared to the size of the population. The income from natural resources includes a significant contribution from petroleum production and the substantial and well-managed income related to this sector. Norway also has a very low unemployment rate, currently 3% (June 2009)
[31]. The hourly productivity levels, as well as average hourly wages in Norway are among the highest in the world. The
egalitarian values of the Norwegian society ensure that the wage difference between the lowest paid worker and the CEO of most companies is much smaller than in comparable western economies. This is also evident in
Norway's low Gini coefficient.
Cost of living is about 30% higher in Norway than in the United States and 25% higher than the United Kingdom.
The standard of living in Norway is among the highest in the world.
Foreign Policy Magazine ranks Norway last in its
Failed States Index for 2009, judging Norway to be the world's most well-functioning and stable country. Continued oil and gas exports coupled with a healthy economy and substantial accumulated wealth lead to a conclusion that Norway will remain among the richest countries in the world in the foreseeable future.
Resources
Export revenues from oil and gas have risen to 45% of total exports and constitute more than 20% of the
GDP.
[32] Only
Russia and OPEC member
Saudi Arabia export more oil than Norway, which is not an OPEC member. To reduce over-heating from oil money and the uncertainty from the oil income volatility, and to save money for an aging population, the Norwegian state started in 1995 to save petroleum income (taxes, dividends, licensing, sales) in a
sovereign wealth fund (
"Government Pension Fund — Global"). This also reduces the boom and bust cycle associated with raw material production and the marginalization of non-oil industry (see also
Dutch Disease).
The control mechanisms over petroleum resources are a combination of state ownership in major operators in the Norwegian oil fields (
StatoilHydro approximately 62% in 2007) and the fully state-owned
Petoro (market value of about twice Statoil) and
SDFI. Finally the government controls licensing of exploration and production of fields. The fund invests in developed financial markets outside Norway. The budgetary rule ("Handlingsregelen") is to spend no more than 4% of the fund each year (assumed to be the normal yield from the fund ).
By January 2006, the
Government Pension Fund of Norway fund had reached a value of USD 200 billion. During the first half of 2007, the pension fund became the largest fund in Europe, with assets of about USD 300 billion (equivalent to over USD 62,000 per capita). The savings equal the Norwegian GDP and are the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation as of April 2007. Projections indicate that the Norwegian pension fund may become the largest capital fund in the world. Currently it is the second-largest state-owned
sovereign wealth fund, second only to the
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Conservative estimates tell that the fund may reach USD 800-900 billion by 2017. As of July 2009, the size of the fund is approximately USD 370 billion, and it controls approximately 1.25% of all listed shares in Europe. The Norwegian Central Bank operates investment offices in London, New York and Shanghai. New guidelines (implemented in 2007) allow the fund to invest up to 60% of the capital in shares (maximum of 40% prior), while the rest may be placed in bonds and real-estate.
Other
natural resource-based economies, such as
Russia, are trying to learn from Norway by establishing similar funds. The investment choices of the Norwegian fund are directed by
ethical guidelines; for example, the fund is not allowed to invest in companies that produce parts for nuclear weapons. The highly
transparent investment scheme is lauded by the international community.
The future size of the fund is of course closely linked to the price of oil and to developments in international financial markets. The Norwegian trade surplus for 2008 reached approximately USD 80 billion. With an enormous amount of cash invested in international financial markets, Norway has financial muscles to avert many of the worst effects of the financial crisis that hit most countries in the fall of 2008. As most western countries struggle with burgeoning foreign debt, Norway remains an island of stowed-away wealth, financial stability and economic power to meet the challenges of the worldwide economic crisis. In spite of the crisis, Norway still runs a 7% state budget surplus, being the only western country to run a surplus as of July 2009.
In 2000, the government sold one-third of the then 100% state-owned oil company
Statoil in an
IPO. The next year, the main telecom supplier,
Telenor, was listed on
Oslo Stock Exchange. The state also owns significant shares of Norway's largest bank,
DnB NOR and the airline
SAS. Since 2000,
economic growth has been rapid, pushing unemployment down to levels not seen since the early 1980s (unemployment in 2007: 1.3%). The international financial crisis has primarily affected the industrial sector, but it is unlikely that unemployment will surpass 5-6% in 2009-2010. Norway is among the least affected countries of the international economic downturn. Neighbouring
Sweden is experiencing substantially higher actual and projected unemployment numbers as a result of the ongoing recession.
Norway is also the world's second largest exporter of fish (in value, after China).
generate roughly 98–99% of Norways electric power.
[33]
Education
Higher education in Norway is offered by a range of seven
universities, five specialised colleges, 25
university colleges as well as a range of private colleges. Education follows the
Bologna process involving
Bachelor (3 years),
Master (2 years) and
PhD (4 years) degrees.
[34] Acceptance is offered after finishing
upper secondary school with
general study competence.
Public education is virtually free,
[35] with an academic year with two
semesters, from August to December and from January to June. The ultimate responsibility for the education lies with the
Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Demography
As of 2009, Norway's population numbers roughly 4.8 million.
Most Norwegians are
ethnic Norwegians, a North
Germanic people. The
Sami people traditionally inhabit central and northern parts of Norway and Sweden, as well as in northern Finland and in Russia on the Kola Peninsula. Another national minority are the
Kven people who are the descendants of Finnish speaking people that moved to northern Norway in the 18th up to the 20th century. Both the Sami and the Kven were subjected to a strong assimilation policy by the Norwegian government from the 19th century up to the 1970s.
[36] Because of this "
Norwegianization process", many families of Sami or Kven ancestry now self-identify as ethnic Norwegian.
[37] This, combined with a long history of co-habitation of the Sami and North Germanic peoples on the Scandinavian peninsula, makes claims about ethnic population statistics less straightforward than is often suggested — particularly in central and northern Norway. Other groups recognized as national minorities of Norway are
Jews,
Forest Finns,
Roma/Gypsies and
Romani people/Travellers.
In recent years,
immigration has accounted for more than half of Norway's population growth. According to
Statistics Norway (SSB), a record 61,200 immigrants arrived in the country in 2007 — 35% higher than 2006. At the beginning of 2008, there were 459,600 persons in Norway with an immigrant background (i.e. immigrants, or born of immigrant parents), comprising 9.7% of the total population. 350,000 of these were from a non-Western background, which includes the formerly Communist countries according to the definition used by Statistics Norway. The largest immigrant groups by country of origin, in order of size, are
Poles,
Pakistanis,
Swedes,
Iraqis,
Somalis,
Vietnamese,
Danes, and
Germans.
[38] Norwegians of Pakistani descent are the largest visible minority group in Norway, with most of its 30,000 members living around Oslo. The Iraqi immigrant population has shown a large increase in recent years. After the enlargement of the EU in 2004, there has also been an influx of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, particularly
Poland. The largest increase in 2007 was of immigrants from
Poland,
Germany,
Sweden,
Lithuania and
Russia.
[39] [40]
There are almost 4.7 million
Norwegian Americans according to the 2006 U.S. census,
[41] and most live in the
Upper Midwest. The number of Americans of Norwegian descent living in the U.S. today is roughly equal to the current population of Norway.
Religion
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