"text":"Two centuries of Viking raids into Europe tapered off following the adoption of Christianity by King Olav TRYGGVASON in 994; conversion of the Norwegian kingdom occurred over the next several decades. In 1397, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway but agreed to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence. Although Norway remained neutral in World War I, it suffered heavy losses to its shipping. Norway proclaimed its neutrality at the outset of World War II, but was nonetheless occupied for five years by Nazi Germany (1940-45). In 1949, Norway abandoned neutrality and became a member of NATO. Discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960s boosted Norway's economic fortunes. In referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU. Key domestic issues include immigration and integration of ethnic minorities, maintaining the country's extensive social safety net with an aging population, and preserving economic competitiveness."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden"
"text":"Finland 709 km, Sweden 1,666 km, Russia 191 km"
}
},
"Coastline":{
"text":"25,148 km (includes mainland 2,650 km, as well as long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 22,498 km; length of island coastlines 58,133 km)"
},
"Maritime claims":{
"territorial sea":{
"text":"12 nm"
},
"contiguous zone":{
"text":"10 nm"
},
"exclusive economic zone":{
"text":"200 nm"
},
"continental shelf":{
"text":"200 nm"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers; rainy year-round on west coast"
},
"Terrain":{
"text":"glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north"
"text":"most Norweigans live in the south where the climate is more mild and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated"
"text":"Beerenberg (elev. 2,227 m) on Jan Mayen Island in the Norwegian Sea is the country's only active volcano"
}
},
"Environment - current issues":{
"text":"water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Geography - note":{
"text":"about two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much-indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of the most rugged and longest coastlines in the world"
"text":"Norwegian 94.4% (includes Sami, about 60,000), other European 3.6%, other 2% (2007 est.)"
},
"Languages":{
"text":"Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities",
"note":{
"text":"Sami is an official language in nine municipalities"
}
},
"Religions":{
"text":"Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran - official) 82.1%, other Christian 3.9%, Muslim 2.3%, Roman Catholic 1.8%, other 2.4%, unspecified 7.5% (2011 est.)"
"text":"6.6 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)"
},
"Population distribution":{
"text":"most Norweigans live in the south where the climate is more mild and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated"
"text":"King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS, son of the monarch (born 20 July 1973)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Erna SOLBERG (since 16 October 2013)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"State Council appointed by the monarch, approved by Parliament"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"the monarchy is hereditary; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the parliament"
}
},
"Legislative branch":{
"description":{
"text":"unicameral Parliament or Storting (169 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 9 September 2013 (next to be held in September 2017)"
"text":"Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (consists of the chief justice and 18 associate justices)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"justices appointed by the monarch (King in Council) upon the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board; justice retirement mandatory at age 70"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Courts of Appeal or Lagmensrett; regional and district courts; Conciliation Boards; ordinary and special courts; note - in addition to professionally trained judges, elected lay judges sit on the bench with professional judges in the Courts of Appeal and district courts"
"text":"Center Party or Sp [Trygve Slagsvold VEDUM] ++ Center-Right Coalition (includes FrP, H, KrF, V) ++ Christian Democratic Party or KrF [Knut Arild HAREIDE] ++ Conservative Party or H [Erna SOLBERG] ++ Green Party or MDG [Rasmus HANSSON and Hilde OPOKU] ++ Labor Party or Ap [Jonas Gahr STORE] ++ Liberal Party or V [Trine SKEI GRANDE] ++ Progress Party or FrP [Siv JENSEN] ++ Red-Green Coalition (includes Ap, Sp, SV) ++ Socialist Left Party or SV [Audun LYSBAKKEN]"
"text":"Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (Naeringslivets Hovedorganisasjon) or NHO [President Tore ULSTEIN; CEO Kristin SKOGEN LUND] ++ Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge) or LO [Gerd KRISTIANSEN]",
"other":{
"text":"environmental groups; media; digital privacy movements"
"text":"Henrik Ibsens gate 48, 0244 Oslo; note - the embassy will move to Huseby in the near future"
},
"mailing address":{
"text":"PSC 69, Box 1000, APO AE 09707"
},
"telephone":{
"text":"[47] 21-30-85-40"
},
"FAX":{
"text":"[47] 22-44-33-63, 22-56-27-51"
}
},
"Flag description":{
"text":"red with a blue cross outlined 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 (Danish flag); the colors recall Norway's past political unions with Denmark (red and white) and Sweden (blue)"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"lion; national colors: red, white, blue"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Ja, vi elsker dette landet\" (Yes, We Love This Country)"
"text":"adopted 1864; in addition to the national anthem, \"Kongesangen\" (Song of the King), which uses the tune of \"God Save the Queen,\" serves as the royal anthem"
"text":"Norway's has a stable economy with a vibrant private sector, a large state sector, and an extensive social safety net. Norway opted out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994; nonetheless, as a member of the European Economic Area, it contributes sizably to the EU budget. ++ ++ The country is richly endowed with natural resources in addition to oil and gas, including hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals. The government manages the country’s petroleum resources through extensive regulation. The petroleum sector provides about 9% of jobs, 15% of GDP, and 39% of exports, according to official national estimates. Norway is one of the world's leading petroleum exporters, though oil production in 2015 was close to 50% below its peak in 2000; annual gas production, conversely, more than doubled over the same time period. ++ ++ In anticipation of eventual declines in oil and gas production, Norway saves state revenue from petroleum sector activities in the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, valued at over $800 billion as of early 2016. The government allows itself to use up to 4% of the fund’s value, its annual expected real rate of return, to help balance the federal budget each year. After solid GDP growth in 2004-07, the economy slowed in 2008, and contracted in 2009, before returning to modest, positive growth from 2010 to 2015. Lower oil prices in 2015 caused growth to slow, increased unemployment, and weakened the Norwegian krone. The latter trend has mitigated the negative impact of lower oil and gas prices by making Norwegian exports cheaper for foreign buyers. The government has expressed willingness to increase public spending from the sovereign wealth fund to help prevent a recession."
"text":"data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data exclude treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions"
"text":"country code - 47; 2 buried coaxial cable systems; submarine cables provide links to other Nordic countries and Europe; satellite earth stations - NA Eutelsat, NA Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Norway shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) (2015)"
"text":"state-owned public radio-TV broadcaster operates 3 nationwide TV stations, 3 nationwide radio stations, and 16 regional radio stations; roughly a dozen privately owned television stations broadcast nationally and roughly another 25 local TV stations broadcasting; nearly 75% of households have access to multi-channel cable or satellite TV; 2 privately owned radio stations broadcast nationwide and another 240 stations operate locally (2008)"
"text":"974 (Antigua and Barbuda 9, Bahamas 186, Barbados 38, Belize 2, Bermuda 5, Brazil 3, Canada 4, Chile 1, Comoros 1, Cook Islands 8, Croatia 2, Curacao 2, Cyprus 14, Denmark 2, Dominica 1, Equatorial Guinea 1, Estonia 2, Faroe Islands 13, Gibraltar 46, Hong Kong 48, Indonesia 3, Isle of Man 30, Italy 6, Liberia 38, Libya 1, Malta 96, Marshall Islands 75, Netherlands 19, Panama 81, Portugal 2, Saint Kitts and Nevis 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 13, Singapore 153, Spain 10, Sweden 3, UK 32, US 17, Vanuatu 1, unknown 3) (2010)"
"text":"Norwegian Army (Haeren), Royal Norwegian Navy (Kongelige Norske Sjoeforsvaret, RNoN; includes Coastal Rangers and Coast Guard (Kystvakt)), Royal Norwegian Air Force (Kongelige Norske Luftforsvaret, RNoAF), Home Guard (Heimevernet, HV) (2013)"
"text":"19-35 years of age for male compulsory military service; 16 years of age in wartime; 17 years of age for male volunteers; 18 years of age for women; 1-year service obligation followed by 4-5 refresher training periods through ages 35-60, totaling 18 months (2012)"
"text":"Norway asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land and its continental shelf); Denmark (Greenland) and Norway have made submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) and Russia is collecting additional data to augment its 2001 CLCS submission; Norway and Russia signed a comprehensive maritime boundary agreement in 2010"
