Norway

Norway, country of northern Europe that occupies the western half of the Scandinavian
peninsula. Nearly half of the inhabitants of the country live in the far south, in the region around
Oslo, the capital. About two-thirds of Norway is mountainous, and off its much-indented
coastline lie, carved by deep glacial fjords, some 50,000 islands.
Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Indo-European peoples settled Norways coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement

near the present capital of Oslo some 6,000 years ago. The interior was more sparsely settled,
owing to extremes of climate and difficult terrain, and even today the countrys population is
concentrated in coastal cities such as Bergen and Trondheim. Dependent on fishing and farming,
early Norwegians developed a seafaring tradition that would reach its apex in the Viking era,
when Norse warriors regularly raided the British Isles, the coasts of western Europe, and even
the interior of Russia; the Vikings also established colonies in Iceland and Greenland and
explored the coast of North America (which Leif Eriksson called Vinland) more than a thousand
years ago. This great tradition of exploration by such explorers as Leif Erikkson and his father,
Erik the Red, continued into modern times, exemplified by such men as Fridtjof Nansen, Roald
Amundsen, and Thor Heyerdahl. Weakened by plague and economic deterioration in the late
Middle Ages and dominated by neighbouring Denmark and Sweden, Norwegians turned to
trading in fish and lumber, and modern Norway, which gained its independence in 1905,
emerged as a major maritime transporter of the worlds goods as well as a world leader in
specialized shipbuilding. In the 1970s the exploitation of offshore oil and natural gas became the
major maritime industry, with Norway emerging in the 1990s as one of the worlds leading
petroleum exporters.
Lying on the northern outskirts of the European continent and thus avoiding the characteristics of
a geographic crossroads, Norway (the northern way) has maintained a great homogeneity
among its peoples and their way of life. Small enclaves of immigrants, mostly from southeastern
Europe and South Asia, established themselves in the Oslo region in the late 20th century, but
the overwhelming majority of the countrys inhabitants are ethnically Nordic. The northern part
of the country, particularly the rugged Finnmark Plateau, is home to the Sami (also called Lapps
or Laplanders), a Uralic people whose origins are obscure. Life expectancy rates in Norway are
among the highest in the world. The main political division reflects differing views on the
importance of free-market forces; but the socialists long ago stopped insisting on nationalization
of the countrys industry, and the nonsocialists have accepted extensive governmental control of
the countrys economy. Such evident national consensusalong with abundant waterpower,
offshore oil, and peaceful labour relationswas a major factor in the rapid growth of Norway as
an industrial nation during the 20th century and in the creation of one of the highest standards of
living in the world, reinforced by a comprehensive social welfare system.
Norways austere natural beauty has attracted visitors from all over the world. The country has
also produced many important artists, among them composer Edvard Grieg, painter Edvard
Munch, novelists Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset, and playwright Henrik Ibsen. Of his country
and its ruminative people, Ibsen observed, The magnificent, but severe, natural environment
surrounding people up there in the north, the lonely, secluded lifethe farms are miles apart
forces them tobecome introspective and serious.At home every other person is a
philosopher!
Northern lights illuminating the sky near Kautokeino, Nor.
jamenpercy/Fotolia
Land
With the Barents Sea to the north, the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea to the west, and
Skagerrak (Skager Strait) to the south, Norway has land borders only to the eastwith Sweden,
Finland, and Russia.
Norway occupies part of northern Europes Fennoscandian Shield. The extremely hard bedrock,
which consists mostly of granite and other heat- and pressure-formed materials, ranges from one
to two billion years in age.
Relief
Glaciation and other forces wore down the surface and created thick sandstone, conglomerate,
and limestone deposits known as sparagmite. Numerous extensive areas called peneplains,
whose relief has been largely eroded away, also were formed. Remains of these include the
Hardanger Plateau3,000 feet (900 metres) above sea levelEuropes largest mountain
plateau, covering about 4,600 square miles (11,900 square km) in southern Norway; and the
Finnmark Plateau (1,000 feet [300 metres] above sea level), occupying most of Finnmark, the
northernmost and largest county of Norway.
From the Cambrian through the Silurian geologic period (i.e., from about 540 to 415 million
years ago), most of the area was below sea level and acquired a layer of limestone, shale, slate,
and conglomerate from 330 to 525 feet (100 to 160 metres) thick. Folding processes in the Earth
then gave rise to a mountain system that is a continuation of the Caledonian orogenic belt.
Norway has an average elevation of 1,600 feet (500 metres), compared with 1,000 feet (300
metres) for Europe as a whole.
Rivers running westward acquired tremendous erosive power. Following fracture lines marking
weaknesses in the Earths crust, they dug out gorges and canyons that knifed deep into the
jagged coast. To the east the land sloped more gently, and broader valleys were formed. During
repeated periods of glaciation in the Great Ice Age of the Quaternary Period (i.e., about the last
2.6 million years), the scouring action of glaciers tonguing down the V-shaped valleys that were
then part of the landscape created the magnificent U-shaped drowned fjords that now grace the
western coast of Norway. Enormous masses of soil, gravel, and stone were also carried by glacial
action as far south as present-day Denmark and northern Germany. The bedrock, exposed in
about 40 percent of the area, was scoured and polished by the movements of these materials.
Scenic fjord, or sea inlet, winding deep into the mountainous coast of western Norway.
Bob and Ira Spring

Connect with Britannica
There are four traditional regions of Norway, three in the south and one in the Arctic north. The
three main regions of the south are defined by wide mountain barriers. From the southernmost
point a swelling complex of ranges, collectively called Lang Mountains, runs northward to
divide eastern Norway, or stlandet, from western Norway, or Vestlandet. The narrow coastal
zone of Vestlandet has many islands, and steep-walled, narrow fjords cut deep into the interior
mountain region. The major exception is the wide Jren Plain, south of Stavanger. An eastward
sweep of the mountains separates northern stlandet from the Trondheim region, or Trndelag.
Northern Norway, or Nord-Norge, begins almost exactly at the midpoint of the country. Most of
the region is above the Arctic Circle, and much of it is filled with mountains with jagged peaks
and ridges, even on the many islands.
Drainage
The Glma (Glomma) River, running south almost the entire length of eastern Norway, is 372
miles (600 km) longclose to twice the length of the two other large drainage systems in
southern Norway, which meet the sea at the cities of Drammen and Skien. The only other long
river is the 224-mile- (360-km-) long Tana-Anarjkka, which runs northeast along part of the
border with Finland. Norway has about 65,000 lakes with surface areas of at least 4 acres (1.5
hectares). By far the largest is Mjsa, which is 50 miles (80 km) north of Oslo on the Lgen
River (a tributary of the Glma).
Soils
In the melting periods between ice ages, large areas were flooded by the sea because the
enormous weight of the ice had depressed the land. Thick layers of clay, silt, and sand were
deposited along the present coast and in large areas in the Oslo and Trondheim regions, which
rise as high as 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level today. Some very rich soils are found below
these old marine coastal regions. In the large areas covered by forests, the main soil has been
stripped of much of its mineral content, and this has created poor agricultural land.
In the interior of the stlandet region, farms are located along the sides of the broad valleys, the
bottoms of which contain only washed-out deposits of soil. With rich glacier-formed soils,
exceptionally mild winters, long growing seasons, and plentiful precipitation, the Jren Plain
boasts the highest yields of any agricultural area in Norway.
Norway, country of northern Europe that occupies the western half of the Scandinavian
peninsula. Nearly half of the inhabitants of the country live in the far south, in the region around
Oslo, the capital. About two-thirds of Norway is mountainous, and off its much-indented
coastline lie, carved by deep glacial fjords, some 50,000 islands.

Indo-European peoples settled Norways coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement

near the present capital of Oslo some 6,000 years ago. The interior was more sparsely settled,
owing to extremes of climate and difficult terrain, and even today the countrys population is
concentrated in coastal cities such as Bergen and Trondheim. Dependent on fishing and farming,
early Norwegians developed a seafaring tradition that would reach its apex in the Viking era,
when Norse warriors regularly raided the British Isles, the coasts of western Europe, and even
the interior of Russia; the Vikings also established colonies in Iceland and Greenland and
explored the coast of North America (which Leif Eriksson called Vinland) more than a thousand
years ago. This great tradition of exploration by such explorers as Leif Erikkson and his father,
Erik the Red, continued into modern times, exemplified by such men as Fridtjof Nansen, Roald
Amundsen, and Thor Heyerdahl. Weakened by plague and economic deterioration in the late
Middle Ages and dominated by neighbouring Denmark and Sweden, Norwegians turned to
trading in fish and lumber, and modern Norway, which gained its independence in 1905,
emerged as a major maritime transporter of the worlds goods as well as a world leader in
specialized shipbuilding. In the 1970s the exploitation of offshore oil and natural gas became the
major maritime industry, with Norway emerging in the 1990s as one of the worlds leading
petroleum exporters.
Lying on the northern outskirts of the European continent and thus avoiding the characteristics of
a geographic crossroads, Norway (the northern way) has maintained a great homogeneity
among its peoples and their way of life. Small enclaves of immigrants, mostly from southeastern
Europe and South Asia, established themselves in the Oslo region in the late 20th century, but
the overwhelming majority of the countrys inhabitants are ethnically Nordic. The northern part
of the country, particularly the rugged Finnmark Plateau, is home to the Sami (also called Lapps
or Laplanders), a Uralic people whose origins are obscure. Life expectancy rates in Norway are
among the highest in the world. The main political division reflects differing views on the
importance of free-market forces; but the socialists long ago stopped insisting on nationalization
of the countrys industry, and the nonsocialists have accepted extensive governmental control of
the countrys economy. Such evident national consensusalong with abundant waterpower,
offshore oil, and peaceful labour relationswas a major factor in the rapid growth of Norway as
an industrial nation during the 20th century and in the creation of one of the highest standards of
living in the world, reinforced by a comprehensive social welfare system.
Norways austere natural beauty has attracted visitors from all over the world. The country has
also produced many important artists, among them composer Edvard Grieg, painter Edvard
Munch, novelists Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset, and playwright Henrik Ibsen. Of his country
and its ruminative people, Ibsen observed, The magnificent, but severe, natural environment
surrounding people up there in the north, the lonely, secluded lifethe farms are miles apart
forces them tobecome introspective and serious.At home every other person is a
philosopher!
Northern lights illuminating the sky near Kautokeino, Nor.
jamenpercy/Fotolia
Land
Test Your Knowledge

Drink to This
With the Barents Sea to the north, the Norwegian Sea and the North Sea to the west, and
Skagerrak (Skager Strait) to the south, Norway has land borders only to the eastwith Sweden,
Finland, and Russia.

Norway occupies part of northern Europes Fennoscandian Shield. The extremely hard bedrock,
which consists mostly of granite and other heat- and pressure-formed materials, ranges from one
to two billion years in age.
Relief
Glaciation and other forces wore down the surface and created thick sandstone, conglomerate,
and limestone deposits known as sparagmite. Numerous extensive areas called peneplains,
whose relief has been largely eroded away, also were formed. Remains of these include the
Hardanger Plateau3,000 feet (900 metres) above sea levelEuropes largest mountain
plateau, covering about 4,600 square miles (11,900 square km) in southern Norway; and the
Finnmark Plateau (1,000 feet [300 metres] above sea level), occupying most of Finnmark, the
northernmost and largest county of Norway.
From the Cambrian through the Silurian geologic period (i.e., from about 540 to 415 million
years ago), most of the area was below sea level and acquired a layer of limestone, shale, slate,
and conglomerate from 330 to 525 feet (100 to 160 metres) thick. Folding processes in the Earth
then gave rise to a mountain system that is a continuation of the Caledonian orogenic belt.
Norway has an average elevation of 1,600 feet (500 metres), compared with 1,000 feet (300
metres) for Europe as a whole.
Rivers running westward acquired tremendous erosive power. Following fracture lines marking
weaknesses in the Earths crust, they dug out gorges and canyons that knifed deep into the
jagged coast. To the east the land sloped more gently, and broader valleys were formed. During
repeated periods of glaciation in the Great Ice Age of the Quaternary Period (i.e., about the last
2.6 million years), the scouring action of glaciers tonguing down the V-shaped valleys that were
then part of the landscape created the magnificent U-shaped drowned fjords that now grace the
western coast of Norway. Enormous masses of soil, gravel, and stone were also carried by glacial
action as far south as present-day Denmark and northern Germany. The bedrock, exposed in
about 40 percent of the area, was scoured and polished by the movements of these materials.
Scenic fjord, or sea inlet, winding deep into the mountainous coast of western Norway.
Bob and Ira Spring

There are four traditional regions of Norway, three in the south and one in the Arctic north. The
three main regions of the south are defined by wide mountain barriers. From the southernmost
point a swelling complex of ranges, collectively called Lang Mountains, runs northward to
divide eastern Norway, or stlandet, from western Norway, or Vestlandet. The narrow coastal
zone of Vestlandet has many islands, and steep-walled, narrow fjords cut deep into the interior
mountain region. The major exception is the wide Jren Plain, south of Stavanger. An eastward
sweep of the mountains separates northern stlandet from the Trondheim region, or Trndelag.
Northern Norway, or Nord-Norge, begins almost exactly at the midpoint of the country. Most of
the region is above the Arctic Circle, and much of it is filled with mountains with jagged peaks
and ridges, even on the many islands.
Drainage
The Glma (Glomma) River, running south almost the entire length of eastern Norway, is 372
miles (600 km) longclose to twice the length of the two other large drainage systems in
southern Norway, which meet the sea at the cities of Drammen and Skien. The only other long
river is the 224-mile- (360-km-) long Tana-Anarjkka, which runs northeast along part of the
border with Finland. Norway has about 65,000 lakes with surface areas of at least 4 acres (1.5
hectares). By far the largest is Mjsa, which is 50 miles (80 km) north of Oslo on the Lgen
River (a tributary of the Glma).
Soils
In the melting periods between ice ages, large areas were flooded by the sea because the
enormous weight of the ice had depressed the land. Thick layers of clay, silt, and sand were
deposited along the present coast and in large areas in the Oslo and Trondheim regions, which
rise as high as 650 feet (200 metres) above sea level today. Some very rich soils are found below
these old marine coastal regions. In the large areas covered by forests, the main soil has been
stripped of much of its mineral content, and this has created poor agricultural land.
In the interior of the stlandet region, farms are located along the sides of the broad valleys, the
bottoms of which contain only washed-out deposits of soil. With rich glacier-formed soils,
exceptionally mild winters, long growing seasons, and plentiful precipitation, the Jren Plain
boasts the highest yields of any agricultural area in Norway.
Languages
The Norwegian language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic language
group. The Norwegian alphabet has three more letters than the Latin alphabet, , and ,
pronounced respectively as the vowels in bad, burn, and ball. Modern Norwegian has many
dialects, but all of them, as well as the Swedish and Danish languages, are understood throughout
all three of these Scandinavian countries. Until about 1850 there was only one written language,
called Riksml, or Official Language, which was strongly influenced by Danish during the
434-year union of the two countries. Landsml, or Country Language, was then created out of
the rural dialects. After a long feud, mostly urban-rural in makeup, the forms received equal
status under the terms Bokml (Book Language) and Nynorsk (New Norwegian), respectively.
For more than four-fifths of schoolchildren, Bokml is the main language in local schools, and it
is the principal language of commerce and communications. In daily speech Bokml is
predominant in the area around Oslo and the eastern Norwegian lowland, while Nynorsk is
widely spoken in the mountainous interior and along the west coast.
More than 15,000 Norwegians, mostly in scattered pockets of northern Norway, speak North
Sami as a first language. A Uralic language, Sami is the official language of a number of
municipalities.
Almost all educated Norwegians speak English as a second language. Indeed, so widespread is
its use that some commentators have voiced concern that English may displace Norwegian in
commerce and industry.
Religion
More than four-fifths of all Norwegians belong to the Evangelical Lutheran national church, the
Church of Norway, which is endowed by the government. The largest groups outside this
establishment are Pentecostals, Roman Catholics, Lutheran Free Church members, Jehovahs
Witnesses, Methodists, and Baptists. As a result of Asian immigration, there also are small
groups of Muslims and Buddhists.
Settlement patterns
stlandet contains more than half of Norways population, most of whom live in the
metropolitan area of the national capital, Oslo, and in the many industrial cities and urban
agglomerations on both sides of Oslo Fjord. With the lions share of the national wealth in
mining and manufacturing and the concentration of economic activity around Oslo Fjord,
stlandet has the highest average income per household of Norways traditional regions.

Harbour and castle in Oslo.
Digital Vision/Getty Images
Norway has never had the agricultural villages that are common elsewhere in Europe. The more
densely populated areas of the country have grown up around crossroads of transportation, from
which people have moved to the cities and suburbs. Thus, there is actually little borderline
between the rural and urban populations. For many years Oslo has attracted settlers from
throughout the country, becoming a national melting pot surrounded by the most important
agricultural and industrial districts of Norway. The coastline facing Denmark across the
Skagerrak passage, stretching from Oslo Fjord to the southern tip of Norway, is densely
populated and contains many small towns, coastal villages, and small farms. Centred on the city
of Kristiansand, this area is sometimes set apart as a fifth region: southern Norway, or Srlandet.
In Vestlandet the industrial city of Stavanger has attracted large numbers of settlers and has
continued to expand as Norways oil capital. Bergen, the capital of Vestlandet and Norways
largest city from the Hanseatic period to the mid-19th century, is a centre for fish exports.
Trondheim, the third largest city in Norway and for long periods the national capital, dominates
Trndelag. Troms is the capital of Nord-Norge and is a hub for various Arctic activities,
including fishing, sealing, and petroleum exploration.

Bergen, Nor., at twilight.
Digital Vision/Getty Images
Demographic trends
Largely as a result of a significant increase in the proportion of the population over age 80, the
population of Norway continued to grow slowly but steadily at the end of the 20th century. The
birth rate fell slightly during the 1990sto about half the worlds averagebut so did the death
rate, as life expectancy (about 75 years for men and about 81 years for women) was among the
highest in Europe.

Migration from rural to urban areas slowed in the 1980s. The movement away from Nord-Norge,
however, increased. At the beginning of the 21st century, about four-fifths of the population
lived in towns and urban areas.
In the 2010s Norways small but varied population of foreign nationals (most of whom lived in
urban areas) increased significantly, primarily as a result of the influx of migrants seeking to
escape turmoil in Africa and the Middle East (especially the Syrian Civil War). In the late 20th
century, more than half of foreign nationals in Norway had come from other European
countriesprimarily Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdomand people from those
countries, especially Sweden, continued to immigrate to Norway in the 21st century. The strict
policy concerning immigrants and refugees that Norway had practiced since the 1960s became
even more stringent in the 2010s, in response to the spike in arrivals of those seeking refugee
status. Emigrationof such great importance in Norway in the 19th and early 20th centuries
ceased to be of any significance, although in most years there is a small net out-migration of
Norwegian nationals.
Economy
The Norwegian economy is dependent largely on the fortunes of its important petroleum
industry. Thus, it experienced a decline in the late 1980s as oil prices fell, but by the late 1990s it
had rebounded strongly, benefiting from increased production and higher prices. In an effort to
reduce economic downturns caused by drops in oil prices, the government in 1990 established
the Government Petroleum Fund (renamed the Government Pension Fund Global in 2006), into
which budget surpluses were deposited for investment overseas. Norway reversed its negative
balance of payments, and the growth of its gross national product (GNP)which had slowed
during the 1980saccelerated. By the late 1990s Norways per capita GNP was the highest in
Scandinavia and among the highest in the world. The Norwegian economy remained robust into
the early 21st century, and Norway fared much better than many other industrialized countries
during the international financial and economic crisis that began in 2008. Nevertheless, foreign
demand for non-petroleum-related Norwegian products weakened during that period, and,
though not a participant in the single European currency, Norway was not immune to the
pressures of the euro-zone debt crisis.
About one-fourth of Norways commodity imports are food and consumer goods (including
motor vehicles); the rest consists of raw materials, fuels, and capital goods. The rate of
reinvestment has been high in Norway for a number of years. This is reflected in the relatively
steady employment in the building and construction industry. Rapid growth, however, has been
registered in commercial and service occupations, as is the case in most countries with a high
standard of living.
Fewer than 1 percent of the private businesses and industrial companies in Norway have more
than 100 employees. Nonetheless, they account for more than two-fifths of the private industrial
labour force. The smaller companies are usually family-owned, whereas most of the larger ones
are joint-stock companies. Only a few larger concerns are state-owned, most notably Statoil, the
state-owned petroleum industry, as well as the railways and the postal service. The state also has
large ownership stakes in hydropower stations and electricity plants.
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
By the beginning of the 21st century, the number of farms of at least 1.25 acres (0.5 hectare) had
decreased by more than half of the 1950 total of more than 200,000. Much of the abandoned
acreage was absorbed into the remaining farms. Nevertheless, many farms remain small; more
than half have more than 25 acres (10 hectares) of farmland, while less than one-tenth have more
than 125 acres (50 hectares). Labour for hire is scarce, and most of the work must be done by
farmer-owners themselves. Extensive mechanization and fertilization, however, have kept total
farm output on the increase. Livestock is the major agricultural product, and, although the
country is more than self-sufficient in animal products, it remains dependent on imports for
cereal crops.
The agricultural core of the stlandet region lies in the lowlands extending eastward and
southward to the Swedish border. With suitable precipitation during the growing season, the
highest July temperatures in Norway, a soil consisting of relatively rich marine deposits, and
large nearby markets, the land is intensively cultivated. There are even a number of large,
heavily mechanized farms producing cereal grains, which generally do not grow well in such
latitudes. Most of the farms, however, are small. To supplement their income from domestic
animals, vegetables, and fruits, a number of farmers pursue forestry as a secondary occupation;
most of the forests are part of farm acreages.
In western Norway, Karm Island comprises a notably rich agricultural area. The inland fjord
areas of Hardanger are more sheltered, with rich fruit districts specializing in apples and cherries.
Trndelag is Norways most typical agricultural region, with flat, fertile land around the wide
Trondheim Fjord (Trondheimsfjorden) and the city of Trondheim.
Although less than one-twentieth of Norways total area is agricultural land, productive forests
constitute more than one-third of the total area. Forestry forms the basis for the wood-processing
industry, which accounts for a small but important part of Norways total commodity exports,
and it is of major importance for the roughly half of all Norwegian farms that are so small that a
second major source of income must be found.
Along the coast, fishing plays the same role that forestry does elsewhere. At the same time, it
forms the basis of a large fish-processing industry and offers seasonal employment for many
farmers. Of all fishermen, only half fish as their sole occupation. Most vessels are owned by the
fishermen themselves, the necessary crew members being paid by shares of gross income in a
continuation of a centuries-old tradition of the sea. A critical problem is how to avoid depleting
the fish resources while maintaining the volume. Norways principal seafood products include
fresh fish, dried and salted fish, smoked fish, frozen fish fillets, and other processed forms such
as marinated and tinned fish. Fish offal is used as feed at mink farms. In the northwest the city of
lesund thrives on fishing.
By the mid-1990s fish farming had developed over a period of 25 years into the cornerstone of
the coastal economy. Norwegian fish farms are especially renowned for the production of
Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, and spotted wolffish. The total number of fishermen decreased by
about three-fourths from 1950 to the end of the 20th century, and the number of vessels
decreased by more than three-fifths over the same period. At the beginning of the 21st century,
there were some 10,000 registered fishing vessels in Norway, though only about one-tenth of
them were engaged year-round. Most of the remaining boats are small, but large vessels account
for much of the catch.
Once a world leader in Antarctic whaling, Norway has since 1968 hunted only smaller species of
toothed whales. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Norway complied with the International
Whaling Commissions total ban on commercial whaling. By the mid-1990s, however, the
Norwegian government gradually was allowing limited catches of some species, arguing that
they were not endangered any longer and that they posed a serious threat to fish populations. The
latter argument is also used in defense of sealing. However, both whaling and sealing have
declined sharply as a result of low profitability and international criticism.
Resources and power

With an area of more than 386,000 square miles (1,000,000 square km), Norways continental
shelf is about three times as large as the countrys land area. The rich resources found there were
largely responsible for a boundary dispute between Norway and Russia. Negotiations between
the two countries began in the mid-1970s and involved competing approaches to the line
separating their claims in the Barents Sea. In 2010 the two countries agreed to a boundary that
divided the contested area (67,600 square miles [175,000 square km]) into approximately equal
sections.
Oil and gas

By the mid-1990s Norway had become the worlds second largest oil exporter (behind Saudi
Arabia), and it remained among the worlds most important oil exporters in the early 21st
century. The first commercially important discovery of petroleum on Norways continental shelf
was made at the Ekofisk field in the North Sea late in 1969, just as foreign oil companies were
about to give up after four years of exploratory drilling. Intensified exploration increased
reserves faster than production. Nevertheless, by the mid-1990s about half of export earnings and
about one-tenth of government revenues came from offshore oil and gas. Export earnings from
oil and gas continued to climb into the middle of the first decade of the 21st century, when they
tapered off somewhat. By the first decade of the 21st century, oil and gas revenue accounted for
about one-fifth of overall government revenue. Oil production peaked in 2001 but remained
steady into the second decade of the 21st century, while that of natural gas has continued to
increase significantly since 1993.
More than one-fourth of the huge investment made in Norwegian offshore operations by the mid-
1990s went toward the development of the Troll field just west of Bergen, one of the largest
offshore gas fields ever found. Its development ranked as one of the worlds largest energy
projects. With a water displacement of one million tons and a height of nearly 1,550 feet (475
metres), the Troll A production platform was the tallest concrete structure ever moved when it
was towed into place in 1995. Gas deliveries from the Troll field made Norway a leading
supplier of natural gas to continental Europe.
Hydroelectricity
About half of Norways 65,000 largest lakes are situated at elevations of at least 1,650 feet (500
metres); about one-fifth of the country lies 2,950 feet (900 metres) or more above sea level; and
predominantly westerly winds create abundant precipitation. As a result, Norway has tremendous
hydroelectric potential. It is estimated that almost one-third of that potential is economically
exploitable, of which more than three-fifths had been developed by the end of the 20th century.
Hydropower stations meet virtually all of Norways electrical consumption needs. At the
beginning of the 21st century, Norways per capita production of hydroelectricity was the
worlds highest, and renewable energy constituted more than three-fifths of the countrys total
energy consumption. Deep in the Vestlandet fjords lie many of Norways largest smelting plants,
constructed there to exploit the great hydroelectric resources of the region.
Electrometallurgy
A significant portion of the countrys production of electricity is utilized by its
electrometallurgical industry, which is Europes largest producer of aluminum. Norway was also
an important producer of magnesium until the early 21st century, when the countrys inability to
compete effectively caused it to withdraw from the world market. In addition to being among the
worlds leading exporters of metals, Norway is a significant producer of iron-based alloys.
Europes largest deposit of ilmenite (titanium ore) is located in southwestern Norway. The
country is among the worlds principal producers of olivine and an important supplier of
nepheline syenite and dimension stone (particularly larvikite). Pyrites and small amounts of
copper and zinc also are mined, and coal is mined on Svalbard.
Manufacturing
Mining and manufacturing (excluding petroleum activities) account for between one-fifth and
one-fourth of Norways export earnings. Metals and engineering are the two main subgroups,
each accounting for more than one-tenth of nonpetroleum exports. The level of petroleum-related
investment is crucial for the engineering industry, which accounted for about one-third of the
manufacturing workforce at the beginning of the 21st century. With the decline of traditional
shipbuilding beginning in 1980, the importance of the production of equipment for the petroleum
industry increased. Supply ships and semisubmersible drilling platforms are exported worldwide,
and the Norwegian-designed Condeep production platforms (such as Troll A) are well suited to
the rough seas off Norways shores.

Overview of a steelworks in Mo i Rana, Norway.
Contunico ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz
The stlandet region plays a particularly prominent role in mining and manufacturing. Stavanger
is a leading industrial area in western Norway. lesund contains many engineering firms, and the
bulk of Norways furniture industry is gathered on its rocky coast.
Finance
The Bank of Norway has all the usual functions of a central bank, and it also advises the
government on the practical implementation of credit policy. Publicly financed banks give
favourable loans to housing, industry, agriculture, and other economic sectors but share the credit
market with savings banks, commercial banks, and insurance companies. In 1984 foreign banks
were allowed to establish branches in Norway. The countrys financial system includes an active
stock market. Norways currency is the krone.
As a result of the downturn in the Norwegian economy in the late 1980s, commercial banks
experienced a crisis in 1991. Many of the largest became primarily government-owned as new
capital was invested by the Government Bank Security Fund; the old shares were declared
worthless. Critics argued that the crisis was worsened by new rules requiring that the
depreciation of property be counted as a loss, even when the property was not sold. By the mid-
1990s, however, the government-rescued banks had returned to profitability, and they were again
privatized.
Trade
Foreign trade, in the form of commodities exported chiefly to western Europe or shipping
services throughout the world, accounts for more than two-fifths of Norways national income.
Norways booming petroleum industry has ensured a strong positive balance of payments for the
national economy, despite some declines in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The great
majority of Norways petroleum exports go to the nations of the European Union. Other
important exports are machinery and transport equipment, metals and metal products, and fish.
Norways principal trading partners are the United Kingdom (which receives the largest portion
of Norwegian exports), Germany, Sweden (which is the greatest contributor of imports to
Norway), and the Netherlands. Principal imports include machinery, motor vehicles, ships, iron
and steel, chemicals and chemical products, and food products, especially fruits and vegetables.

Services
The service sector grew by more than 60 percent over the last two decades of the 20th century.
Norway is a popular tourist destination, especially for Germans, Swedes, and Danes, and the
tourism industry employs more than 5 percent of the workforce. In addition, public-sector
employment is high in comparison with most other industrialized countries: about three-tenths of
all workers in Norway are employed in public-sector industries.
Labour and taxation

At the beginning of the 21st century, about three-fourths of actively employed Norwegians
worked in services, while more than one-tenth worked in industry (including manufacturing,
mining, and petroleum-related activities). Although the construction sector employed less than
one-tenth of the active workforce, its total exceeded that of agriculture and fishing, which
constituted a shrinking proportion.
Agriculture and fishing are highly organized and are subsidized by the state. In remote districts,
private industry may receive special incentives in the form of loans and grants or tax relief.
Direct taxes are high, with sharply progressive income taxes and wealth taxes on personal
property. The country also levies a value-added (or consumption) tax of about 25 percent
among the highest value-added taxes in Europeon all economic activity. Total tax revenues are
equivalent to about half of the countrys GNP, but much of this represents transfers of income
(i.e., it is returned to the private sector in the form of price subsidies, social insurance benefits,
and the like). All this has added to economic problems of inflation, but increases in productivity
have made possible a high rate of growth in real income. Unemployment generally has been
below that of much of western Europe.
The strongly centralized trade unions and employer associations respect one another as well as
government guidelines and thus help to control the rapidly expanding economy. The largest and
most influential labour union is the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
(Landsorganisasjonen i Norge; LO), which was established in 1899 and has more than 800,000
members. Other important labour unions are the Confederation of Vocational Unions
(Yrkesorganisasjonenes Sentralforbund; YS) and the Federation of Norwegian Professional
Associations (Akademikerne).
From 1945 to 1970 individual income per capita tripled in real terms. Tax rates that progressed
upward with income and the greatly increased social security benefits, allocated mainly
according to need, contributed to a leveling of incomes. The perennial shortage of labour,
especially of skilled workers, had a parallel effect.
Transportation and telecommunications

The elongated shape of Norway and its many mountains, large areas of sparse population, and
severe climate make special demands on transportation services. Only the Oslo region has
sufficient traffic density to make public transportation profitable. A large fleet of vessels links
the many fine ports along the sheltered coast. Norways largest and busiest ports include those in
Bergen, Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansund, and Trondheim. Norwegian shipowners run one of the
worlds largest merchant fleets, carrying about one-tenth of the worlds total tonnage. Of the
nearly 1,400 ships that make up the fleet, about two-thirds sail under the Norwegian flag.
Shipping accounts for more than half of Norways foreign-currency earnings.
In most of Norway, regular overland transportation services are so expensive that the
government must provide or subsidize both their establishment and their operation. Bus transport
plays a key role in public transportation, aided by many dozens of scheduled ferry routes. The
number of private automobiles in the country has increased rapidly, creating parking problems
and traffic jams in the major cities. About two-thirds of the public roads are hard-surfaced.
Demand is growing for additional roads and for the comprehensive reconstruction of the many
narrow, winding roads. The Lrdal-Aurland tunnel (15.2 miles [24.5 km]) became, when it
opened in 2000, the worlds longest road tunnel. Located along the route linking Oslo and
Bergen, it provides a reliable connection between the two cities, replacing mountain highways
that were impassable during the winter months.
The extensive railway system, more than half of which has been electrified, is operated by the
Norwegian State Railways (Norges Statsbaner), which sustains large annual operating deficits.
Vestlandet has never had north-south railway connections, only routes running east from
Stavanger and Bergen to Oslo and from ndalsnes to Dombs on the line linking Oslo and
Trondheim. The connection from Bod to Trondheim was completed in 1962. Farther north the
only railway is the extension of the Swedish railway system to Narvik, which is used mainly to
carry iron ore for export. Of the three other links with Swedish railways, one runs from
Trondheim and two from Oslo, the southernmost connecting Norway to the Continent via the
Swedish and Danish railways.
Norway is a partner in the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which pioneered commercial
flights across the Arctic. Several private airline companies add to the increasing domestic service
between Norways more than 50 airfields with scheduled civilian traffic. The major airports for
international flights are located near Oslo, Stavanger, and Bergen.
The telecommunications sector in Norway has been dominated by Telenor, which was
government-owned until its privatization in the late 1990s. Although fairly well developed, this
sector lags behind that of other Scandinavian countries. Nonetheless, Norways mobile telephone
market is among the most saturated in the world. During the 1990s Internet use grew rapidly, and
in the early 21st century more than nine-tenths of the population had Internet access.
Government and society
Constitutional framework
Norway is a constitutional hereditary monarchy. The government, comprising the prime minister
and the Statsrd (Council of State), is nominally chosen by the monarch with the approval of the
Storting (Stortinget), the countrys legislature. Until 2009 the Storting operated as a bicameral
body, though most matters were addressed in unicameral plenary sessions. Only when voting on
laws was the Storting divided into two houses. One-fourth of the members were chosen to
constitute the Lagting, or upper house, while the remaining members constituted the Odelsting,
or lower house. Bills had to be passed by both houses in succession. In 2009 the Lagting was
dissolved, and the Storting became permanently unicameral.
The constitution of Norway, drafted in 1814 when Norway left the 434-year union with
Denmark, was influenced by British political traditions, the Constitution of the United States,
and French Revolutionary ideas. Amendments can be made by a two-thirds majority in the
Storting. Unlike many parliamentary forms of legislature, the Storting cannot be dissolved during
its four-year term of office (amendments to overturn this restriction have been defeated
frequently since 1990). If a majority of the Storting votes against an action advocated by the
Statsrd, the minister responsible or the whole Statsrd resigns. In legislative matters the
monarch has a suspending right of veto, but, since the 91-year union with Sweden was dissolved
in 1905, this veto has never been exercised.
The Sami Act of 1987 sought to enable the Sami people to safeguard and develop their
language, culture, and way of life and created the Sameting, the Sami Parliament, the business
of which, according to the constitution, is any matter that in the view of the parliament
particularly affects the Sami people.
The Finnmark Act, adopted by the Storting in 2005, transferred some 95 percent of the fylke
(county) of Finnmark from state ownership to its residents through the establishment of the
Finnmark Estate. The act recognized in particular that the Sami people, through protracted
traditional use of the area, had acquired individual and collective ownership of the area and the
right to use its land and water.
Local government
The city of Oslo constitutes one of the countrys 19 fylker (counties). The other counties are
divided into rural and urban municipalities, with councils elected every fourth year (two years
after the Storting elections). For the country as a whole, the municipal elections tend to mirror
the party division of the Storting. The municipal councils elect a board of aldermen and a mayor.
Many municipalities also employ councillors for such governmental affairs as finance, schools,
social affairs, and housing. Norwegians pay direct taxes to both federal and municipal
governments.
The counties can levy taxes on the municipalities for purposes such as roads, secondary schools,
and other joint projects. The county councils comprise delegates from the municipalities, while
the county governors are appointed by the Statsrd.
Political process
Elections to the 169-member Storting are held every four years. All citizens at least 18 years of
age are eligible to participate, and seats are filled by proportional representation. Norways
political life functions through a multiparty system. Before national elections, political parties
nominate their candidates at membership meetings in each of Norways fylker. Each fylke elects
a number of representatives (the number determined by the area of the fylke and the size of its
population relative to that of the country as a whole) to the Storting, with party representation
allotted on the basis of the percentage of the vote received.
Storting (Norwegian parliament), Oslo.
TasfotoNL/Shutterstock.com
The Norwegian Labour Party (Det Norske Arbeiderparti; DNA), the ruling party from before
World War II until the mid-1960s, advocates a moderate form of socialism. In its many years of
governing Norway, however, it nationalized only a few large industrial companies. The
Conservative Party (Hyre), which traditionally has been the major alternative to the DNA,
accepts the welfare state and approves of the extensive transfers of income and of government
control of the economy. Between 1945 and 1961 the government was formed by the DNA,
which won clear majorities in the Storting. After 1961, however, no single party was able to
obtain a majority in the legislature, and Norway was governed by a succession of coalitions and
minority governments. Since the late 1980s the Progressive Party (Fremskrittspartiet), which
advocates limiting both immigration and the welfare state, has become a major force in
Norwegian politics. Other political parties that played important roles during that period include
the Christian Peoples (Democratic) Party, the Centre Party (called the Agrarian Party until
1958), the Socialist Left Party, and the Liberal (Venstre) Party.

In the early 21st century between one-third and two-fifths of the representatives to the Storting
were women; that proportion of women in a national legislature was among the highest in the
world. Gro Harlem Brundtland became Norways first woman prime minister in 1981 and served
three terms.
Justice
Before civil cases ordinarily can be taken to court, they first must be submitted to the local
conciliation boards (forliksrd), which settle many issues without recourse to more formal legal
action. Decisions of the conciliation boards can be appealed to the courts, and Norway also has a
formal system of courts of appeal. The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal decisions. The
rights of the citizens also are guarded by ombudsmen, who act on their behalf as an intermediary
in matters with public administrators.
Security
Military service of 6 to 12 months for the army and navy and 12 months for the air force, plus
refresher training, is compulsory for all fit Norwegian men between 19 and 44 years of age.
Nonetheless, Norways defense force is far too small to protect all of its territory against a major
aggressor. Its strategy was designed to defend key areas, especially in the north, until forces from
other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) could arrive. The Norwegian
units have great mobility, and, because of Norways important strategic location as NATOs
northern flank with a myriad of fjords to serve as naval bases for fleets in the North Atlantic,
Norway has sophisticated early-warning systems.
The NATO headquarters for northern Europe was located at Kolss, near Oslo, until the alliance
command structure was reorganized in 1994. A subcommand, the Joint Warfare Center, was then
established in Stavanger as a partial replacement. The stationing of foreign troops and the
deployment of nuclear weapons are prohibited by Norwegian law except in cases of war or the
immediate threat of war. In 1995 Norway lifted restrictions that had prevented NATO forces
from participating in training exercises in and off Finnmark.
The Norwegian air force includes fighter planes and antiaircraft rocket systems, and the
Norwegian navy comprises heavy coastal artillery and light vessels such as gunboats, torpedo
boats, submarines, and corvettes. In peacetime the total active military personnel number about
35,000, of which about two-thirds are conscripts. Some 200,000 additional first-line reserves can
be quickly mobilized in emergencies. After the Soviet threat faded away in the 1990s, Norways
military and defense spending was reduced substantially. Now the Norwegian military stresses
specialized units suited for UN and NATO assignments.
Health and welfare

Compulsory membership in a national health-insurance system guarantees all Norwegians free
medical care in hospitals, compensation for doctors fees, and free medicine, as well as an
allowance to compensate for lost wages. Membership fees securing cash benefits during illness
or pregnancy, covered by another insurance fund, are compulsory for salaried employees and
optional for the self-employed. Most Norwegian doctors work in hospitals, the majority of which
are owned by the state, counties, and municipalities. Extensive programs of preventive medicine
have conquered Norways ancient nemesis, tuberculosis. There is also a well-developed system
of maternal and child health care, as well as compulsory school health services and free family
counseling by professionals. A public dental service provides care for children under age 18.
A peoples pension was established in Norway in 1967 to ensure each citizen upon retirement
a standard of living reasonably close to the level that the individual had achieved during his or
her working life. The pension covers old age and cases of disability or loss of support. The
premiums are paid by the individual members, employers, municipalities, and the state. The
basic pension is adjusted every year, regardless of the plans income. Supplementary pensions
vary according to income and pension-earning time. The state pays a family allowance for all
children up to 18 years of age.
Norway ranks among the top 10 countries of the world in GNP per capita and has one of the
worlds highest standards of living. Since the 1950s Norwegians have spent a smaller share of
their income than formerly on food, beverages, and tobacco. Travel and leisure activities have
increased their share rapidly, however, as have such household goods as electrical appliances.
During the 1960s the number of automobiles per inhabitant increased dramatically, from 1 in 21
persons having a automobile to 1 in 3; it now is about 1 in 2. By law, Norwegians are guaranteed
25 vacation days every year. Working hours may not exceed 9 hours a day or 40 hours per week.
A five-day workweek had become the rule by the late 1960s.
Norway has pursued progressive social policies. In 1993 it became the second country to legally
recognize unions between homosexual partners. Indeed, in 2002 the conservative finance
minister officially registered his partnership and met little public opposition. In 2009 same-sex
marriage was legalized.
Housing
Until the 1970s Norway felt the housing shortage created by World War II. The shortage was
aggravated further by high costs in the densely populated urban areas. But housing standards
have improved tremendously, and most families live in houses built since the wara majority of
them financed by state loans on favourable terms. In densely populated areas, particularly in and
around Oslo, housing prices soared beginning in the early 1990s but then fell precipitously in
200708 as a result of the global economic downturn, only to recover later in the decade.
Education
School attendance is mandatory for 10 years, from age 6 to 16, with an optional 11th year.
Mandatory subjects include Norwegian, religion, mathematics, music, physical education,
science, and English. Optional courses in the arts and in other foreign languages, as well as
vocational training in such areas as office skills, agriculture, and seamanship, are available in the
upper grades. With three years of additional high school, students may take the examinations
leading to university study.
A small percentage of college and university students study abroad. Institutions of higher
education in Norway have been expanded to accommodate the doubling of the student
population that occurred between the early 1980s and the mid-1990s. Norways seven
universities include four traditional universitiesthe University of Oslo (established 1811), the
University of Bergen (1946), the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in
Trondheim (with roots in the Norwegian Institute of Technology, founded 1910), and the
University of Troms (1968)along with the University of Stavanger, the Norwegian University
of Life Sciences in s, and the University of Agder. There are also six university-level
specialized institutions (including the Norwegian School of Economics and Business
Administration in Bergen and the Norwegian Academy of Music) as well as about two dozen
university colleges that predominantly offer three-year programs of study.
Many students attend vocational schools, and a few thousand students attend folk high schools
(generally boarding schools offering a one-year course designed for 17-year-old students from
rural areas). The great majority of Norways schools are state-run and free; however, there are
also private, fee-charging schools at every level. All students are eligible for government loans.
Lifelong learning and continuing education programs for adults are also important components
of the Norwegian education system.
Science and research have limited means in a small country. Nevertheless, the Foundation for
Scientific and Industrial Research at the Norwegian Institute of Technology (SINTEF) was
created in 1950 as an independent organization at the Norwegian University of Science and
Technology to stimulate research and develop cooperation with other public and private research
institutions and with private industry. SINTEF is financed by the state and by payments for its
services. In the natural sciences, reflecting the countrys intimacy with an overpowering physical
environment, the individual efforts of Norwegians have won particular acclaim.
Jan ChristensenThe Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica
Cultural life
Located on the outskirts of Europe and with much of its inland population almost completely
isolated until the 20th century, Norway has been able to preserve much of its old folk culture,
including a large body of legends concerning haugfolket (pixies), underjordiske (subterraneans),
and vetter (supernatural beings). On the other hand, as seafarers and traders, the Norwegians
have always received fresh cultural stimuli from abroad. A number of Norwegians have made
important contributions in return, notably the playwright Henrik Ibsen (18281906) and the
composer Edvard Grieg (18431907). The Norwegian recipients of the Nobel Prize for
Literature are Bjrnstjerne Bjrnson (1903), Knut Hamsun (1920), and Sigrid Undset (1928).
Daily life and social customs
Although Norway is in most ways very modern, it has maintained many of its traditions.
Storytelling and folklore, in which trolls play a prominent role, are still common. On festive
occasions folk costumes are worn and folk singing is performedespecially on Grunnlovsdagen
(Constitution Day), commonly called Syttende Mai (May 17), the date of its celebration. Other
popular festivals include Sankhansaften (Midsummers Eve), Olsok (St. Olafs Day), and Jul
(Christmas), the last of which is marked by family feasts whose fare varies from region to region
but that are traditionally marked by the presence of seven kinds of cake.
The national costume, the bunad, is characterized by double-shuttle woven wool skirts or dresses
for women, accompanied by jackets with scarves. Colourful accessories (e.g., purses and shoes)
complete the outfit. The bunad for men generally consists of a three-piece suit that also is very
colourful and heavily embroidered. Traditionally, Norwegians had two bunader, one for special
occasions and one for everyday wear.
The countrys natural landscapeits Arctic environment and vast coastshas shaped Norways
customs and history, as outdoor activities are central to the life of most Norwegians. In
particular, the countrys cuisine reflects its environment. Fish dishes such as laks (salmon) and
torsk (cod) are popular. Lutefisk, cod soaked in lye, is common during the Christmas holidays.
Rmmegrt (sour-cream porridge), pinnekjtt (dried mutton ribs), reker (boiled shrimp),
meatcakes, lefse (griddlecakes), geitost (a sweet semihard cheese made from cows or goats
milk), and reindeer, moose, elk, and other wildlife also are popular traditional delicacies. The
strong liquor called aquavit (also spelled akevitt), made of fermented grain or potatoes, is also
widely used.
In northern Norway the Sami maintain a distinct culture. Long known as reindeer herders, they
maintain their own national dress. While many Sami have modernized and few continue to
practice traditional nomadic life, a variation of that lifestyle continues. Where once the whole
family followed the herd, now only the men do, with women and children remaining behind in
towns and villages. Sami Easter festivals include reindeer races and chanting (joik).
The arts
In Viking days storytellers (skalds) of skaldic poetry wove tales of giants, trolls, and warlike
gods. Drawing on this tradition, centuries of Norwegian authors have created a rich literary
history, in both spoken and written form. Yet it was not until the 19th century, following
Norways separation from Denmark, that Norwegian literature firmly established its identity.
Especially important were the poetry of Henrik Wergeland and the plays of Ibsen, whose
realistic dramas introduced a new, politically charged moral analysis to European theatre. The
works of novelists Hamsun and Undset remain influential, though modern Norwegians are more
likely to read contemporaries such as Bjrg Vik, Kim Smge, and Tor ge Bringsvrd, who
write fantasy, existential detective novels, and philosophical treatises, respectively.

Henrik Ibsen.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Although Norway comprises one of the worlds smaller language communities, the country is
among the leaders in books published per capita. Several thousand new titles appear annually, of
which some three-fifths are of Norwegian origin. Literature is subsidized through a variety of
means, including tax exemption, grants to writers, and government purchasing for libraries. In
all, there are about 5,000 public or school libraries.
Norwegian painters of the 20th century excelled in murals to such an extent that they are rivaled
only by the Mexican tradition in this sense. Other artists are world-renowned for their
multimedia assemblages, pictorial weaving, and nonfigurative art in sculpture as well as
painting. The works of Gustav Vigeland have been assembled in Oslos Vigeland sculpture park
(Frogner Park) in a spectacular display centred around a granite monolith nearly 60 feet (18
metres) high containing 121 struggling figures.

Sculptures by Gustav Vigeland in Frogner Park, Oslo.
Shawn McCullars
Medieval stave churches of upright logs and houses of horizontal logs notched at the corners
have inspired much Norwegian architecture. Private houses, almost all of wood, are made to fit
snugly into the terrain. For larger buildings, steel and glass are supplemented by concrete that
often is shaped and textured with considerable imagination.
Arts and crafts and industrial design flourish side by side, often inspired by archaeological finds
from the Viking Age, the culture of the northern Sami, and advanced schools of design. Norway
has markedly increased its exports of furniture, enamelware, textiles, tableware, and jewelry,
much of which incorporates design motifs reflecting these cultural heritages as well as avant-
garde styles. A distinctive Scandinavian decorative art form called rosemaling, widely practiced
in Norway, involves painting objects such as furniture with floral designs; special schools called
folkehgskoler offer classes in this and other crafts.
Norwegian composers Grieg and, to a lesser extent, Johan Svendsen and Geirr Tveitt have
earned acclaim. Contemporary composers such as se Hedstrm, Nils Henrik Asheim, and
Cecilie Ore frequently employ themes drawn from ancient folklore, developing work performed
by such ensembles as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and
the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Musical festivals in Oslo, Trondheim, Bergen, and other
cities honour genres ranging from jazz to heavy metal, hip-hop, and even Norways version of
country music.
Whereas its Scandinavian neighbours Denmark and Sweden have long-established filmmaking
traditions, the film industry in Norway did not achieve international success until the 1970s. The
production of Norwegian-made feature films is subsidized, but they usually number about 10
each year. Many of those films are derived from Norwegian literature, including an adaptation of
Undsets novel Kristin Lavransdatter (1995), directed by internationally renowned Norwegian
actress Liv Ullmann, and a film version of Jostein Gaarders best-selling novel Sofies Verden
(1991; Sofies World), directed by Egil Gustavsen. Based on an ancient legend, Nils Gaups
Ofelas (1987; Pathfinder)most of the dialogue of which is in the Sami languagewas
nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film in 1988. Films in Norway are
subject to censorship, primarily on grounds of violence and, to a lesser extent, erotic content.
Cultural institutions
Permanent theatres have been established in several cities, and the state traveling theatre, the
Riksteatret, organizes tours throughout the country, giving as many as 1,200 performances
annually. The Norwegian Opera, opened in 1959, receives state subsidies (as do most other
theatres).
In addition to its National Art Gallery, Oslo opened a special museum in 1963 to honour Edvard
Munch, credited as one of the founders of Expressionism and as Norways most famous painter.
The Sonja HenieNiels Onstad Art Centre, opened in 1968 near Oslo, contains modern art from
throughout the world. Oslo is host to many other museums, including the Ibsen Centre, which
honours the famed playwright, and the Resistance Museum, which documents Norways struggle
against Nazi occupation during World War II. Outside Oslo, the Troms Museums collection
records Sami heritage.
Sports and recreation

Norwegians have the special advantages of abundant space and traditionally close contact with
nature. Cross-country skiing and all forms of skating are national pastimes in the long winter
season. Figure skater Sonja Henie was one of Norways most famous athletes, capturing
Olympic gold medals in the 1928, 1932, and 1936 Winter Games and subsequently becoming a
major international film star. Norway has hosted the Winter Games twice: at Oslo in 1952 and at
Lillehammer in 1994. Norwegians have won more medals at the Winter Games than athletes
from any other country. Norwegian sporting prowess is not, however, limited to winter
competition. Norway also has an excellent record in track and field, notably in long-distance
running events.
But above all, skiing is central to the countrys identity. Norway introduced ski competitions in
the 18th century for its soldiers, and the first nonmilitary ski event occurred in 1843 at Troms.
The annual Holmenkollen Ski Festival is the worlds oldest (1892), attracting tens of thousands
of people.

Overview of skiing in Norway, including a discussion of kite skiing.
Contunico ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz
Second homes, mainly located along the sheltered coastline and in the mountains, are highly
popular with Norwegians; there is roughly 1 vacation home for every 10 inhabitants. Even from
downtown Oslo it is only a 20-minute drive to reach the deep forest, and on a pleasant Sunday in
the winter the hills surrounding the city abound with skiers.
Media and publishing

Norways constitution protects the freedom of the press. Press ethics are on a high level, and
editorial independence is universally recognized. Previously, most newspapers had affiliations
with political parties, but in the 1980s this relationship faded away.
Some 150 newspapers are published in Norway, about half of them dailyexcept for Sundays
and holidays, when only a limited number are issued. Although most newspapers are small,
average circulations generally have increased, and there are some mass-circulation newspapers
(e.g., Verdens Gang and Aftenposten) published in Oslo. Many Norwegian newspapers are
available on the Internet, which is used extensively throughout the country. A few weekly family
magazines and Motor, a monthly magazine focusing on cars and travel, also enjoy wide
circulation.
From 1933 the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Norsk Rikskringkasting; NRK) had an
official broadcasting monopoly similar to that of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It was
noncommercial and funded by an annual fee paid by every household with radio and television
receivers. But from the early 1980s private local radio stations were allowed, followed by cable
television channels and later satellite television. In 1992 a new nationwide television station went
on the air, financed by advertisements. TV2 soon became a commercial success, acquiring the
bulk of television advertising. In 1993 the first national private radio station commenced
broadcasts as the avenues for Norwegian cultural expression continued to multiply at the end of
the 20th century.
History
The earliest traces of human occupation in Norway are found along the coast, where the huge ice
shelf of the last ice age first melted between 11,000 and 8000 bce. The oldest finds are stone
tools dating from 9500 to 6000 bce, discovered in Finnmark in the north and Rogaland in the
southwest. Theories of a Komsa type of stone-tool culture north of the Arctic Circle and a
Fosna type from Trndelag to Oslo Fjord were rendered obsolete in the 1970s. More recent
finds along the entire coast revealed to archaeologists that the difference between the two can
simply be ascribed to different types of tools and not to different cultures. Coastal fauna provided
a means of livelihood for fishermen and hunters, who may have made their way along the
southern coast about 10,000 bce when the interior was still covered with ice. It is now thought
that these so-called Arctic peoples came from the south and followed the coast northward
considerably later. Some may have come along the ice-free coast of the Kola Peninsula, but the
evidence of this is still poor.
In the southern part of the country are dwelling sites dating from about 5000 bce. Finds from
these sites give a clearer idea of the life of the hunting and fishing peoples. The implements vary
in shape and mostly are made of different kinds of stone; those of later periods are more
skillfully made. Rock carvings have been found, usually near hunting and fishing grounds. They
represent game such as deer, reindeer, elk, bears, birds, seals, whales, and fish (especially salmon
and halibut), all of which were vital to the way of life of the coastal peoples. The carvings at Alta
in Finnmark, the largest in Scandinavia, were made at sea level continuously from 6200 to 2500
bce and mark the progression of the land as it rose from the sea after the last ice age.
Earliest peoples
Between 3000 and 2500 bce new immigrants settled in eastern Norway. They were farmers who
grew grain and kept cows and sheep. The hunting-fishing population of the west coast was also
gradually replaced by farmers, though hunting and fishing remained useful secondary means of
livelihood.
From about 1500 bce bronze was gradually introduced, but the use of stone implements
continued; Norway had few riches to barter for bronze goods, and the few finds consist mostly of
elaborate weapons and brooches that only chieftains could afford. Huge burial cairns built close
to the sea as far north as Harstad and also inland in the south are characteristic of this period. The
motifs of the rock carvings differ from those typical of the Stone Age. Representations of the
Sun, animals, trees, weapons, ships, and people are all strongly stylized, probably as fertility
symbols connected with the religious ideas of the period.
Little has been found dating from the early Iron Age (the last 500 years bce). The dead were
cremated, and their graves contain few burial goods. During the first four centuries ce the people
of Norway were in contact with Roman-occupied Gaul. About 70 Roman bronze cauldrons,
often used as burial urns, have been found. Contact with the civilized countries farther south
brought a knowledge of runes; the oldest known Norwegian runic inscription dates from the 3rd
century. At this time the amount of settled area in the country increased, a development that can
be traced by coordinated studies of topography, archaeology, and place-names. The oldest root
names, such as nes, vik, and b (cape, bay, and farm), are of great antiquity, dating
perhaps from the Bronze Age, whereas the earliest of the groups of compound names with the
suffixes vin (meadow) or heim (settlement), as in Bjorgvin (Bergen) or Saeheim (Seim),
usually date from the first centuries ce.
Settlements
The period of the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west (5th century ce) is characterized by
rich finds, including chieftains graves containing magnificent weapons and gold objects. Hill
forts were built on precipitous rocks for defense. Excavation has revealed stone foundations of
farmhouses 60 to 90 feet (18 to 27 metres) longone even 150 feet (46 metres) longthe roofs
of which were supported on wooden posts. These houses were family homesteads where several
generations lived together, with people and cattle under one roof. From this period and later
(600800), nascent communities can be traced. Defense works require cooperation and
leadership, so petty states of some kind with a defense and administrative organization must have
existed.
These states were based on either clans or tribes (e.g., the Horder of Hordaland in western
Norway). By the 9th century each of these small states had things, or tings (local or regional
assemblies), for negotiating and settling disputes. The thing meeting places, each eventually with
a horg (open-air sanctuary) or a hov (temple; literally hill), were usually situated on the oldest
and best farms, which belonged to the chieftains and wealthiest farmers. The regional things
united to form even larger units: assemblies of deputy yeomen from several regions. In this way,
the lagting (assemblies for negotiations and lawmaking) developed. The Gulating had its
meeting place by Sogne Fjord and may have been the centre of an aristocratic confederation
along the western fjords and islands called the Gulatingslag. The Frostating was the assembly for
the leaders in the Trondheim Fjord area; the earls (jarls) of Lade, near Trondheim, seem to have
enlarged the Frostatingslag by adding the coastland from Romsdals Fjord to the Lofoten Islands.
A lagting developed in the area of Lake Mjsa in the east and eventually established its meeting
place at Eidsvoll, becoming known as the Eidsivating. The area around Oslo Fjord, although at
times closely tied to Denmark, developed a lagtingwith its meeting place at Sarpsborgcalled
the Borgarting.
The Vikings
The name Viking at first (c. 800) meant a man from the Vik, the huge bay that lies between Cape
Lindesnes in Norway and the mouth of the Gta River in Sweden and that has been called
Skagerrak since 1500. The term Viking Age has come to denote those years from about 800 to
1050 when Scandinavians set out on innumerable plundering expeditions abroad. Surplus
population, superior ships and weapons, well-developed military organization, and a spirit of
adventure seem to have combined to cause this great movement. The Norwegians mostly sailed
westward, raiding and settling in Ireland, Scotland, England, France, the Shetland Islands, the
Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, the Isle of Man, the unpopulated Faroe (Faeroe) Islands, and
Iceland. People of Norwegian descent settled in Greenland and undertook expeditions to Vinland
(somewhere on the northeast coast of North America). Many Vikings returned home, and this
meeting with western Europe was decisive for the unification and Christianization of Norway.
Leif Eriksson sailing off the coast of Vinland.
Bettmann/Corbis
Charles JoysGudmund Sandvik

In the second half of the 9th century the Viking chief Harald I Fairhair, of the Oslo Fjord area,
managedin alliance with chiefs of the Frostatingslag and parts of the Gulatingslagto pacify
the western coast. The final battle took place in Hafrsfjord, near Stavanger, sometime between
872 and 900, whereafter Harald proclaimed himself king of the Norwegians. His son and
successor, Erik I Bloodax (so called because he murdered seven of his eight brothers), ruled
about 930935. He was replaced by his only surviving brother, Haakon I, who had been reared in
England. Haakon was Norways first missionary king, but his efforts failed; he died in battle in
960.
Christianization
The Viking chiefs established relations with Christian monarchies and the church, especially in
Normandy and England. Thus Olaf I Tryggvason, a descendant of Harald Fairhair, led a Viking
expedition to England in 991. He was baptized and returned to Norway in 995, claiming to be
king and recognized as such along the coast, where Christianity was already known. These areas
were Christianized by Olaf, by peaceful means if possible and by force if necessary; he also sent
missionaries to Iceland, where the new religion was adopted by the parliament (Althing) in 999
1000. In the same year, Olaf was killed in the Battle of Svolder. Fifteen years later another
descendant of Harald Fairhair, Olaf II Haraldssonwho had returned from Englandwas
acknowledged as king throughout Norway, including the inland areas. Olaf worked to increase
royal power and to complete the Christianization of the country. In so doing, he alienated the
former chieftains, who called on Canute of Denmark (now ruler of England) for help. Olaf was
killed in battle with the Danes and peasant leaders at Stiklestad in 1030.
Canutes rule in Norway soon proved unpopular with the chieftains, and, with support from the
bishops, the deceased king Olaf became St. Olaf, the patron saint of Norway. With the death of
Canute in 1035, Olafs young son, Magnus, was elected king. He was succeeded in 1047 by his
uncle Harald III Sigurdsson (Harald Hardraade), a former commander of the Vikings in the
imperial guard in Constantinople. Harald was killed during a vain attempt to conquer England in
1066.
Canute, line engraving by George Vertue
The Granger Collection, New York
The Olaf (Fairhair) kings firmly established the Norwegian monarchy with the help of English
bishops. In return, sees and abbeys received the larger part of the estates that the Fairhair dynasty
had confiscated from the Viking chieftains during the unification of Norway.
The 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries

At the end of the Viking Age all royal sons, legitimate or illegitimate, were considered to have
equal claims to the crown if they were accepted by a lagting. During the 11th and early 12th
centuries it was not unusual for Norway to have two or more joint kings ruling without conflict.
Thus, Harald IIIs son Olaf III reigned together with his brother Magnus II until the latter died in
1069. Olaf ruled from 1066 to 1093 without being involved in a war; by giving the dioceses
(Nidaros [Trondheim], Bergen, and Oslo) permanent areas, he inspired the first Norwegian
towns. Olafs son, Magnus III, ruled for 10 years, during which he undertook three expeditions
to Scotland to establish Norwegian sovereignty over the Orkneys and the Hebrides. He was
succeeded by his three sons, Olaf IV (110315), Eystein I (110322), and Sigurd I Magnusson
(110330), who ruled jointly and imposed tithes, founded the first Norwegian monasteries, built
cathedrals, established the bishopric at Stavanger, and incorporated the clergy of the Scottish
isles into the church of Norway.
Conflict of church and state

Following the rule of Magnus IIIs sons, the increasing power of the church and the monarch
contributed to a century of civil war. During the early 12th century the kings expanded their
direct rule over the various provinces, and the family aristocracy in Norway grew discontented.
With the accession of Harald IV (ruled 113036), interest groups within Norwegian society
began supporting pretenders to the throne, and the church was successful in exploiting civil
unrest to win independence.
Even though Norway first was Christianized from England, the Norwegian bishopstogether
with the other Nordic bishopsfell under the archbishop of Bremen (Germany) in the 11th
century. A Nordic archbishopric was established in 1104 in Lund (now in Sweden), probably to
remove any influence from the Holy Roman emperor on the Nordic churches. In 115253 the
English cardinal Nicholas Breakspear (later Pope Adrian IV) visited Norway, resulting in the
establishment of an archbishopric in Nidaros. The Holy See decided that the new archbishopric
should comprise the five bishoprics in Norway (Nidaros, Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo, and Hamar)
and the six bishoprics on the western islands (Sklholt and Hlar in Iceland, Greenland, the
Faroes, the Orkneys, and the Hebrides with the Isle of Man). In 1163 the church of Norway
supported the claims of a pretender, Magnus V Erlingsson, in return for his obedience to the
pope, guarantees for the reforms of 1152, and the issuance of a letter of privileges for the church.
Magnuss coronation was the first at which the archbishop presided. The first written law of
succession, dating from this coronation, established primogeniture in principle and the prior right
of legitimate royal sons to the crown. Instead of kings being elected by the things, a
representation dominated by the church was to serve as the electoral body. The law was never
applied, and Magnus was succeeded by Sverrir Sigurdsson, a priest from the Faroe Islands who
represented himself as a grandson of Harald IV, the first pretender king. After seven years of
fighting, Sverrir was acknowledged in 1184 as king of all Norway and set out to bring the church
under royal control. He refused to recognize the reforms and privileges made since 1152, and the
archbishop and most of the bishops went into exile; Sverrir was excommunicated. The exiles in
Denmark established a rebellious party and allied themselves with the secular enemies of the
king, who were opposed to the kings administrative reformsincluding the establishment of the
hird as a new aristocracy composed of court officials and the heads of estates. This opposition
party won control of the Oslo and inland areas and threatened Sverrirs rule until his death in
1202.
Civil war continued until 1217, when Sverrirs grandson Haakon IV became king, beginning the
Golden Age of Norway. Haakon modernized the administration by creating the chancellors
office and the royal council. He prohibited blood feuds, and a new law of succession was passed
(1260) by a national assembly that established the indivisibility of the kingdom, primogeniture,
the prior claim of the legitimate royal sons, and, most importantly, the hereditary right of the
kings eldest legitimate son to the crown. During Haakons reign relations in the northern area
were first regulated by a treaty with Russia (signed at Novgorod; a similar treaty signed there
went into effect in 1326). Greenland and Iceland agreed voluntarily to personal unions with the
Norwegian king in 1261 and 1262, marking the greatest extent of Norwegian expansion, which
included the Faroes and the Scottish isles. Haakon died during an unsuccessful expedition to the
Hebrides in 1263, and in 1266 his son and successor, Magnus VI, ceded the Hebrides and the Isle
of Man to Scotland in return for recognition of the Norwegian claim to the Orkney and Shetland
islands.
Magnus VI earned the epithet Lawmender for his work on Norways legislation. During his reign
(126380) a common national law code, with special chapters for the towns, replaced the earlier
provincial laws in 127476. Haakons law of succession was confirmed, and a hereditary
nobility was established. The king thus took over the legislative functions, and the thing became
courts presided over by royal judges (lagmenn). Such a systematic national code, prepared in the
kings chancery, was unique in 13th-century Europe. It remained in force from the 1270s until
the Norske Lov of 1687; the version of the code for Iceland (the Jnsbk, 1281) is still partly in
force. In a concordat of 1277 the church of Norway had to accept the new lawbooks. Some of the
privileges of the church were curtailed, but those that were confirmed left the church essentially
independent within its own sphere.
Magnus was succeeded by his young son Erik II (128099). Eriks regency was led by secular
magnates who controlled central power throughout his reign. The church tried to win privileges
that had been denied by Magnus, but the regency proved stronger. The magnates also tried to
limit the rights of the German merchants in Norway but were answered by a blockade from the
Hanse cities and forced to agree to the German demands. Erik was succeeded by his brother,
Haakon V (12991319), who was determined to renew the royal power. He built a series of
fortresses, including Akershus in Oslo, marking the shift of political power from the west coast
to the Oslo area. Haakon was unable to restore royal power to the extent he wished, however.
Union with Sweden

Haakons successor was Magnus VII Eriksson, the young son of his daughter, Ingebjrg, and
Duke Erik, son of Magnus I of Sweden. The child was also elected to the Swedish crown in
1319, creating a personal union between the two countries that lasted until 1355. The countries
were to be governed during the kings minority by the two national councils, with the kings
mother as a member of both regencies. The regency in Norway failed to prevent the increasing
power of the magnates: the king came of age in 1332 but later was forced to recognize his
younger son, Haakon, as king of Norway (1343) and to abdicate in his favour when he reached
his majority (1355). Magnuss elder son, Erik, was designated king of Sweden.
The Black Death struck Norway in 134950. It killed as much as two-thirds of a population of
about 400,000, and the country did not regain that level again until the mid-17th century. The
upper classes were particularly hard hit; only one of the bishops survived, and many noble
families were reduced to the peasantry by the death of their workers and the decrease of their
incomes. The circumstances of the remaining farmers and fishermen, however, improved
correspondingly.
Plague victims during the Black Death, 14th century.
Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine
The power of Haakon VI (135580) was also limited. The high civil servants and clergy who had
fallen victim to the Black Death were replaced by Danes and Swedes. The central government as
a whole lost control over the kingdom, and the local areas began to conduct their own affairs.
Haakon VI married Margaret, the daughter of Valdemar IV Atterdag of Denmark, and their son,
Olaf, was elected king of Denmark in 1375. Olaf also became king of Norway at his fathers
death (1380), but he died in 1387 at the age of 17, and his mother, who had served as regent in
both kingdoms for him, then became the ruler.
Greenland
The first Nordic settlers in Greenland reached the island in 985 under the leadership of Erik the
Red. Two colonies were established on the western coast, one near Godthb (modern Nuuk) and
one near Julianehb (almost at the southern tip of the island), where a few thousand Norsemen
engaged in cattle breeding, fishing, and sealing. The most important export was walrus tusks. A
bishopric and two cloisters were organized in Greenland. The Greenlanders lacked wood and
iron for shipbuilding and could not support communications with Europe; in 1261 they submitted
to the Norwegian king, to whom they agreed to pay taxes in return for his acceptance of
responsibility for the islands provision through a yearly voyage. A worsening of the climate
may have occurred early in the 14th century, resulting in a decline in agriculture and livestock
breeding. Plagues ravaged the populace; the Black Death alone is estimated to have halved the
population. When Norway, with Greenland and Iceland, became subject to the Danish king,
conditions worsened; the only ships that then sailed to Greenland belonged to pirates. About
1350 the Godthb settlement apparently was deserted and then occupied by Eskimo (Inuit), and
in 1379 the Julianehb area was attacked. The last certain notice of Norsemen in Greenland was
about 1410; sometime during the following 150 years they disappeared from the island. It was
not until the beginning of the 18th century that Greenland again came into the Danish sphere.
Erik the Red, woodcut from a book published in Iceland in 1688.
Courtesy of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
The Kalmar Union

With the accession of Margaret I of Denmark to power in 1387, the foundation was laid for
political union with Denmark. She adopted her grandnephew Erik of Pomerania (later Erik VII),
then six years old, as her heir, and in 1388 she was acclaimed queen of Sweden as well. The next
year Erik was proclaimed heir apparent in Norway, and in June 1397 he was crowned king of all
three Scandinavian nations in a ceremony at Kalmar, Sweden.
Kalmar Castle, Kalmar, Sweden.
Wikman
Under the Kalmar Union, Norway became an increasingly unimportant part of Scandinavia
politically, and it remained in a union with Denmark until 1814. Margaret and Erik left vacant
the highest Norwegian administrative position and governed Norway from Copenhagen. Most
appointments made in Norway were given to Danes and Germans. Whereas in Denmark and
Sweden national councils took over the government, in Norway the council was unable to assert
itself.

Christian I, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist; in Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark
Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg, Denmark
After the accession of Christian I of Oldenburg in 1450, Norwegian government was again
centred in Copenhagen. The lower estates were also essentially powerless against the Danes, and
isolated peasant uprisings had neither good leadership nor clear political goals. In 1448 Norway
had accepted the Swedish candidate for king, Karl Knutsson, but was forced to acknowledge
Christian I and to remain in the union with Denmark. In 1469 Christian pawned the Orkney and
Shetland islands to the Scottish king to provide a dowry for his daughter, and the islands were
never reclaimed.
The cause of this political impotence in Norway has been a subject of considerable debate.
According to one theory, the conscious policy of the kings since the 12th century of crushing the
local family aristocracy to strengthen royal power deprived the country of a counterpart to the
strong and often rebellious Danish and Swedish aristocracies. A second theory holds that
geography was responsible for the absence of a strong aristocracythat is, that the poorness of
the soil prevented economic expansion through the creation of large estates. This geographic
factor, together with the loss of population during the Black Death and subsequent epidemics,
may explain why Norways aristocracy was more affected by the plague than were the nobles in
the rest of Scandinavia. The huge loss in population deprived the aristocracy of much of its
labour force, which led to the abandonment of farms and the decline of many nobles into the
peasant class.
The 16th and 17th centuries
After 1523 the Norwegian council tried to obtain some independence for Norway within the
union. But, because the bishops dominated the council, they became the losers in the Norwegian
parallel to the 153436 civil war in Denmark. As a result, the council was abolished, and the
bishops lost all hope for help from Sweden, which did not want to provoke Denmark and whose
king was himself leaning toward Lutheranism. Olaf Engelbrektsson, the last Norwegian
archbishop and head of the council, left Norway in early 1537 for the Netherlands, taking with
him the shrine of St. Olaf.
In Norwegian political history, the year 1536 is a nadirin Copenhagen, Norway was
proclaimed a Danish province forever. Norwegian topography and society, however, were very
different from those of Denmark, and the hereditary Norwegian crown was viewed as a distinct
monarchy. Thus, Norway was allowed to keep most of its ancient institutions and laws, and new
ones had to be given in a special Norwegian version (for example, the Norske Lov of 1687).
From 1550 Norways natural resources, including fish, timber, iron ore, and copper
commodities from outside the Baltic area and most useful to western Europewere increasingly
exploited. Consequently, a Norwegian bourgeoisie became a political factor. After 1560
Denmark had a constant fear of Swedish plans to occupy Norway. Therefore it was important
that the Norwegians not feel oppressed by rule from the political centre in Copenhagen. All this
may explain the special attention the Danish government gave to Norway.
Most representative of this attitude was Christian IV, who visited Norway often and founded
several towns (e.g., Kristiansand, with a plan to control the Skagerrak; Kongsberg, with its silver
mines; and Christiania, after a destructive fire in Oslo in 1624). He even went on an Arctic tour
to Vard in 1599, proclaiming the Arctic waters to be the kings streams. This was part of his
reaction to Swedish pretensions toward the Arctic Ocean.
Christian IV, detail of an oil painting by Pieter Isaacsz, 1612; in Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark
Courtesy of Det Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg, Denmark
A certain separatist policy has been attributed to Hannibal Sehested, the kings son-in-law and, in
the 1640s, governor of Norway. He created an army (by conscription of peasants) and a separate
financial administration, but he may have wanted a platform against the Danish nobility to work
for absolutism. There were no signs of secession in the Norwegian population. When Sehested
was deposed in 1651, the financial administration reverted to Copenhagen.
Hannibal Sehested, detail of an oil painting by Karel van Mander; in Frederiksborg Castle,
Denmark
Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg
For almost a generation after 1664, Ulrik Frederick Gyldenlve, the illegitimate son of Frederick
III, was governor of Norway. He courted the Norwegian peasants and at the same time gave
monopolies on trade and timber exports to restricted numbers of merchants. By applying such
principles the government in Copenhagen and the Danish public servants managed to rule the
now far-off Norway after the Swedish annexations of Skne, Halland, and Bohusln.
The 18th century

Economic and social conditions
The modern frontier of southern Norway, which had been established in 1660, was confirmed by
a treaty with Sweden in 1751. This treaty also established the frontier farther north (to Varanger)
and assigned the interior of Finnmark (Finnmarksvidda) to Norway. The frontier treaty of 1751
is remarkable in two ways. Among existing frontiers in Europe, it was the second oldest (the
oldest being the Pyrnes frontier, established in 1659). And a special supplement to the treaty,
called the Lapp codicil, guaranteed free crossing of the new frontier to the nomadic, reindeer-
keeping Sami (Lapps), based on the seasonal grazing needs of their herds. The modern frontier in
Varanger was established by a convention in 1826 between the king of Norway and Sweden and
the tsar of Russia.
Romanticists of the later 18th century idealized Norwegian rural society, with its free peasants in
a wild landscape. Certainly, their situation contrasted favourably with that of the Danish tenants;
the landowning farmers in eastern Norway, especially, earned sizable incomes from their timber
forests. In the east and in the region of Trndelag, therefore, the countryside was characterized
by a class of wealthy timber merchants and farmers and a large rural proletariat. Elsewhere in the
countryside social conditions were more nearly equal. The Norwegian population consisted
almost exclusively of peasants and fishermen; no city or urban agglomeration exceeded 15,000
inhabitants. The census of 1801 counted 883,000 inhabitants in Norway and 925,000 in
Denmark. The numbers reveal a remarkable population growth since the 17th century and
indicate an economic stability that in the 19th century provided the basis of Norways quest for
independence.
Thomas Malthus was the first demographer to see the exceptional possibilities for population
studies in the Scandinavian countries, where civic registers were kept by parsons. In 1799, the
year following his publication of An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus went to
Norway to confirm his theories about checks on population growth. He found a late marital age,
which he ascribed incorrectly to military service and a large servant class. In fact, early
marriages were hindered by poverty and lack of land. Moreover, Norwegian population statistics
of the 18th century indicate years of famine and epidemics, as do Swedish and Danish statistics.
Malthus was correct, however, in discerning that demographic evolution in nonindustrialized
countries could be studied better in Scandinavia than anywhere else in the world.

Thomas Robert Malthus, detail of an engraving after a portrait by J. Linnell, 1833.
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Company Ltd.
Return to Greenland
How and why the Norse community in Greenland perished at the end of the Middle Ages is an
unsolved and fascinating problem. In the beginning of the 18th century there still was hope of
finding Norse descendants among the Eskimo in Greenland. A Norwegian clergyman, Hans
Egede, having managed to persuade the authorities that such people should be converted to the
Lutheran faith, arrived in the Godthb Fjord (in the southwest) to begin a new European
settlement in Greenland but found only Eskimo. Later in the century another colony was founded
at Julianehb.
Two factors are visible in this activity. First, the Pietist movement, which had considerable
influence in Denmark, demanded religious conversion and stressed an obligation to bring the
gospel to the heathens. A Ministry of Missions, founded in 1714, supported Egede in Greenland
as it supported missionary activity among the Sami in northern Norway and the Indians at
Tranquebar on the Coromandel Coast of southern India. Second, missionary activity became
possible because of a close alliance with commercial interests. Egede himself founded a
company in Bergen for trade with Greenland. The trade later passed to the Royal Greenland
Trading Company of Copenhagen. The trade with Finnmark (now the northernmost part of
Norway) was reserved, in principle, for merchants of Copenhagen as well.
The Napoleonic Wars and the 19th century

Denmark-Norways attempt to remain neutral in the struggle between France and England and
their respective allies early in the 19th century came to an end after Englands preemptive naval
actions of 1807, in which the entire Danish fleet was taken. The continental blockade of England
that followed, which was against Danish interests, was a catastrophe for Norway. Fish and
timber exports were stopped, as well as grain imports from Denmark. The consequences were
isolation, economic crisis, and hunger. In 181013 England consented to some relaxation of its
counterblockade against Norway. As a whole, however, the years 180714 convinced leading
groups in Norway that they needed a political representation of their own.
The Treaty of Kiel

Swedish foreign policy was erratic during those years, but Denmark-Norway remained an ally of
Napoleon I until 1814. After Napoleons defeat at the Battle of Leipzig (1813), Sweden repeated
its 17th-century strategy by attacking Denmark from the south. With the Treaty of Kiel (January
14, 1814), Denmark gave up all its rights to Norway to the king of Sweden. It did not, however,
relinquish its rights to the old Norwegian dependencies of Iceland, the Faroes, and Greenland, as
England strongly opposed any buildup of Swedish power in the North Atlantic.
The Danes did not intend for this agreement to end the union with Norway. Officially loyal to the
Treaty of Kiel, the Danish government worked for the eventual return of Norway. This probably
is why the crown prince Christian Frederick (later Christian VIII of Denmark), governor of
Norway, colluded with the Danish king in organizing a rising against the Treaty of Kiel. In doing
so he needed support in Norway, and he thus came to rely on two political forces, each with
regionalist aims. The larger faction consisted of civil servants and peasants who were loyal to
Copenhagen but traditionally in opposition to its centralizing policy. The other was the small but
important group of timber merchants in eastern Norway who wanted independence from
Copenhagen for their trade with western Europe. Since 1809 they had conspired for a union
between Sweden and Norway.
Christian VIII, detail of an oil painting by L.-A.-F. Aumont, 1834; in Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark
Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg, Denmark
This was the main background of a constituent assembly called by Christian Frederick to meet at
Eidsvoll, 30 miles north of Christiania. It drew up the constitution of May 17, 1814 (which still
exists), and elected Christian to the throne of Norway.
Union with Sweden

Norwegian independence got no support from the Great Powers, and Sweden attacked Norway in
late July 1814. After a brief war of 14 days, Christian resigned. Jean Bernadotte (later known as
Charles XIV John; called Karl Johan in Sweden and Norway), the Swedish crown prince,
accepted the Norwegian constitution and thus could no longer argue on the basis of the Treaty of
Kiel. This was of the greatest political importance to the Norwegians. As a constitutional
monarchy, Norway entered the union with Sweden in November 1814. Only minor modifications
were made in its constitutionthe king and foreign policy would be common; the king would be
commander in chief of Norways armed forces, which could not be used outside Norway without
Norwegian consent; and a government in Christiania (with a section in Stockholm) and the
Storting (Norwegian parliament) would take care of national affairs.
For Norway the Treaty of Kiel meant secession from Denmark, the forming of its own separate
state with complete internal self-government, and a political centre in Christiania. The history of
Norway during the 19th century is marked by the struggle to assert its independence from
Sweden within the union and its attempts to develop a modern Norwegian culture. It was a time
when an unmistakably national cultural identity emerged, which continued to take shape in the
20th century, based on the foundations of the independent Norwegian state of the Middle Ages.
Individuals associated with the rise of a distinct Norwegian culture include the mathematicians
Niels Henrik Abel and Sophus Lie, the physical scientists Christopher Hansteen and Vilhelm
Bjerknes, the composer Edvard Grieg, the creator of modern realistic drama Henrik Ibsen, the
poets Henrik Arnold Wergeland and Bjrnstjerne Martinius Bjrnson, the historians Peter
Andreas Munch and Johan Ernst Sars, the explorer and statesman Fridtjof Nansen, and the
expressionist painter Edvard Munch.
Edvard Grieg.
IGDAM.Borchi/DeA Picture Library

Population, trade, and industry
Population
Norways population grew more rapidly during the 19th century than in any other period of its
history. The population rose from 883,000 in 1801 to 2,240,000 in 1900. Whereas the urban
population was only 8.8 percent in 1800, it had reached 28 percent by 1900. Economic growth,
although considerable during the century, could not keep pace with the burgeoning population,
and this was one of the principal causes of a massive emigration of Norwegians. After Ireland,
Norway had the highest relative emigration of all European countries in the 19th century. From
1840 to 1914 about 750,000 people left Norway; most were from rural areas and were drawn to
the farming opportunities of the American Midwest.
Economic conditions
Norway was also severely hit by the economic crisis that followed the Napoleonic Wars.
Norways exports consisted mainly of wooden goods to Great Britain and, to a certain extent, of
glass and iron products. After the war, when the British introduced preferential tariffs on articles
of wood from Canada, Norwegian forest owners, sawmills, and export firms were badly hit. Iron
and glass exports also met with marketing difficulties. Fishwhich, after timber, was the
countrys most important export commoditywas only lightly hit by the slump, and by the
1820s the herring fisheries on the west coast were undergoing a period of vigorous expansion.
From the 1850s agriculture developed rapidly. Modern methods were adopted, with an emphasis
on cattle breeding. Simultaneously, the building of railroads began ending the isolation of the
small communities and opening the way for the sale of agricultural products.
It was, however, the great expansion of merchant shipping (especially between 1850 and 1880)
that gave the most powerful boost to the countrys economy. Norways percentage of world
tonnage rose from 3.6 percent to 6.1 percent, and at the end of the century Norway possessed,
after the United Kingdom and the United States, the largest merchant navy in the world. The
economic resources that merchant shipping brought to the country laid the basis for
industrialization. From 1860 Norways industry expanded rapidly, especially in the timber and
wood-pulp trade and engineering. Socially and economically this expansion was a springboard
for shipowners, manufacturers, and businessmen, all of whom began to play a much greater role
in politics toward the end of the 19th century.
The age of bureaucracy (181484)

The economic development in the decades immediately after the Napoleonic Wars meant a
reduction in the power of the big business concerns and great estates. The decision to abolish the
nobility in 1821 was indicative of the greatly reduced social and economic circumstances of the
upper classes. At the same time, the position of the civil servants was strengthened, and from
then until the latter part of the 19th century they controlled the political power of the country.
Apart from the civil servants, there were only two other political factors of any importance in
Norway at this time: the farmers and the monarch.
Parliamentary authority
The Eidsvoll constitution of 1814 gave the Storting greater authority than parliamentary bodies
had in any other country except the United States. The king retained executive power and chose
his own ministers, but legislation, the imposition of taxes, and the budget were within the
authority of the Storting. The Storting had the power to initiate legislation, and the king had only
a suspension veto. When Charles XIV John (ruled 181844) demanded the right of absolute veto,
the Storting categorically refused, despite the kings attempt to intimidate them with shows of
military strength. Faced with this unanimous resistance, the king was forced to abandon his
struggle, and the Stortings dominant position became the firm defense against Swedish attempts
to further unite the two countries. As a national demonstration, Norway began in the 1820s to
celebrate May 17, the date of the Eidsvoll constitution, as a national day. The kings attempt to
outlaw the celebration resulted in violent demonstrations, and during the 1830s he conceded this
point also.
Charles XIV John, detail of an oil painting by Fredrik Westin, 1824; in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden.
Courtesy of the Svenska Portrattarkivet, Stockholm
Monetary problems
Norway had at the same time many major problems to resolve on the domestic front. The war,
which had been financed to a great extent by an increased issue of bank notes, had brought about
a reduction of the local currency to one-fifteenth of its prewar value. To ward off inflation, a
severe sterling tax was imposed, and in 1816 a new bank of Norway was established that held the
monopoly on issuing bank notes. In spite of strong precautionary measures, however, it was not
until the currency reform of 1842 that finances were stabilized. From an economic point of view,
the civil service was decidedly liberal, and the guild system and old trade regulations were
abolished during the 1840s and 50s. By 1842 it was decided to reduce tariffs, a decision that
gradually made Norway a free-trade country.
Political change
The influence that the vote gave to the farmers was not exploited at first, and they continued to
elect civil servants as their parliamentary representatives. About 1830, however, a demand was
raised for a decrease in expenditure, and, under the leadership of Ole Gabriel Ueland, a more
deliberate class policy began to be conducted in the Storting. In 1837 a statute regarding local
self-government was enacted that offered training for grassroots politicians. The farmers policy
led to sharp conflicts with influential groups of bureaucrats and finally became a struggle for
political power on the national level. Under pressure from a radical labour movement, which
arose after 1848 under the leadership of Marcus Thrane, and from the later mounting tension in
the relationship with Sweden, many farmers turned to the middle classes and the minor civil
servants. The intensely nationalistic attitude of this leftist coalition was expressed in its attempts
to strengthen national culture and language. The struggle for the introduction of the vernacular as
the official language, instead of the bureaucrats Danish-influenced tongue, became an important
item of the coalitions policy. The coalition was organized as the Venstre (Left) political party in
1884.

Marcus Mller Thrane.
Marxists Internet Archive (Marxists.org)
The union conflict (18591905)

Because the unions king usually resided in Sweden, he was represented in Norway by a
governor-general. This gave rise to the governor-general conflict, which was not resolved until
1873, when Sweden yielded to Norways main demands. The result was that in Norway the king
was regarded as Swedish, and his right to nominate the government in Norway was considered a
danger to the countrys autonomy. The conflict revolved around the question of the Stortings
confidence in the government. During the reign of Oscar II (ruled in Norway 18721905),
matters came to a head when a Conservative government refused to pass an amendment to the
constitution that the Storting had three times accepted. After a trial before the court of
impeachment (Riksrett), the government was forced to resign in 1884. The Storting, and not the
king, had thus acquired the decisive influence on the government, and Norway became the first
country in Scandinavia to be governed by parliamentary means.

Oscar II, detail from an oil painting by Emil Osterman, 1904; in Gripsholm Castle, Sweden
Courtesy of the Svenska Portrattarkivet, Stockholm
Although Norway had won full self-government on the domestic front, the union was still
represented externally by the Swedish-Norwegian king, and the countrys foreign policy was
conducted by the Swedish foreign minister. From the 1880s, therefore, there was an increasing
demand for an independent Norwegian foreign minister. In 1891 Venstre won a convincing
majority at the polls with this question, among other things, on its program. In spite of this, the
Venstre government headed by Johannes Steenwhich the king had appointed after the
electiondid not take up the question of the foreign minister but raised instead a more limited
demand for a Norwegian consular service. Even this was flatly refused by Sweden in 1892 and
again the following year. When the Storting attempted to carry out this reform independently, it
was forced under threat of military action to negotiate with Sweden on a revision of the whole
question of the union. Though Sweden soon showed its readiness to be more compliant, the
incompatibilities had become so marked that there was no real chance of a compromise.
The negotiations collapsed in 1898, and Norway at the same time demonstrated its independence
by abolishing the union emblem on its merchant flag despite the kings veto. New negotiations
were opened in an attempt to solve the more limited demand for an independent consular service,
but when these negotiations also failed Norway took the matter into its own hands; the Storting
passed a bill establishing Norways own consular service. When the king refused to sanction the
bill, the coalition government, under the leadership of Christian Michelsen, resigned. As, under
the circumstances, it was impossible for the king to form a new Norwegian government, the
Storting declared the Union with Sweden dissolved as a result of the King ceasing to function as
Norwegian King, on June 7, 1905. The Swedish parliament refused, however, to accept this
unilateral Norwegian decision. Under threat of military action and partial mobilization in both
countries, Norway entered into negotiations on the conditions for the dissolution of the union. A
settlement was reached in Karlstad, Sweden, in September 1905 that embodied concessions from
both sides. The Swedish-Norwegian union was thus legally dissolved, and shortly afterward
Prince Charles of Denmark was elected in a referendum as Norways king and came to the
throne under the name of Haakon VII.
Haakon VII
The 20th and 21st centuries

Economic and industrial growth
The period from 1905 to 1914 was characterized by rapid economic expansion in Norway. The
development of the merchant fleet, which had begun during the second half of the 19th century,
continued, and at the outbreak of World War I Norways merchant navy was the fourth largest in
the world.
From about the beginning of the 20th century Norways immense resources of waterpower
provided a base for great industrial expansion. The large number of waterfalls bought by
Norwegian and foreign companies gave rise to grave concern that the countrys natural resources
were falling into foreign hands or becoming monopolized by a small number of capitalists. By
1906 three-fourths of all developed waterpower in Norway was owned by foreign concerns.
Venstre and the growing Norwegian Labour Party (DNA) pressed for legislation to protect the
natural resources of the country. The bill on concessions (later known as the Concession Laws)
played a dominating role in Norwegian politics from 1905 to 1914. It led to a split in Venstre
but the majority of the party supported the bill, which was passed by the Storting in 1909 and
remained in force despite continued criticism.
The DNA had been founded in 1887, and universal suffrage was one of the principal points in
the party program. In the 1890s Venstre likewise adopted this policy, and in 1898 universal male
suffrage was introduced. By reforms in 1907 and 1913 the vote was extended to women. One
consequence of industrialization and the introduction of universal suffrage was the growing
influence of the DNA. A number of social reforms were enacted: a factory act, which included
protection for women and children; accident insurance for seafaring men; health insurance; a 10-
hour working day (in 1915); and a 48-hour workweek (1919). A 40-hour workweek was
introduced in 1977.
World War I and the interwar years

World War I
With the outbreak of war in 1914, Norway, like Sweden and Denmark, issued a declaration of
neutrality. Norway was badly hurt by the war at sea, about half of Norwegian merchant shipping
being lost. Because the Allied powers could almost totally control Norways foreign trade, they
forced it to break off exports of fish to Germany and, at the same time, forbade exports of iron
pyrites and copper, which were important commodities for the German war industry. Because of
the many casualties caused by German submarine warfare, public feeling in Norway became
strongly anti-German. The government, however, under the leadership of the Venstre politician
Gunnar Knudsen, insisted on maintaining the appearance of neutrality. The war brought a
distinct boom to Norways economy in shipping, mining, and fish exports, although the
prosperity was unevenly distributed. Within the DNA, the left wing formed the majority in 1918,
and in 1919 the DNA, unlike the other social democratic parties in western and central Europe,
joined the Comintern (Third International). The DNA, however, was unwilling to submit to the
centralization that Moscow demanded, and in 1923 it withdrew.
The Great Depression

In the years up to 1935 the various governmentsformed alternately by the Conservatives,
Venstre (the Liberals), and the Agrarian (Farmers) Partypursued, by and large, a liberal
economic policy. After the inflation caused by World War I and the postwar years, the main aim
during the 1920s was to guide the currency (the krone) back to its former value. Norway
received only an insignificant share in improved world market conditions, and by 1927 the
unemployment figures were as high as one-fifth of the workforce. The Great Depression in the
early 1930s increased unemployment still further, and by 1933 at least one-third of the
workforce, including many civil servants, was unemployed.
The government, led by the Agrarian Party (193133) and Venstre (193335), tried to combat
the crisis with extensive reductions in governmental expenditure but refused to consider an
expansionist financial policy or the emergency relief measures that the DNA demanded. The
DNA thus enjoyed great success in the elections of 1933, although it failed to gain a majority in
the Storting. When the DNA formed the government in 1935, with Johan Nygaardsvold as prime
minister, it needed the support of at least one other party. By a compromise with the Agrarian
Party, the DNA received support for a social program that included old-age pension reform,
revision of the factory act, statutory holidays, and unemployment insurance financed by
increased taxation. State investments were also greatly increased. Although the situation
improved, unemployment in Norway was still as high as one-fifth of the organized labour force
in 1938.
Despite economic difficulties, the high rate of unemployment, and the many labour conflicts, the
interwar years were a period of vigorous expansion, and the countrys industrial production was
increased by 75 percent during the years 191338.
Foreign policy
During the 1920s Norway acquired the islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen, and Norwegian
hunters and fishermen occupied an area on the east coast of Greenland. Denmarks demand for
sovereignty of the area led to a conflict that was settled in the Permanent Court of International
Justice in The Hague in 1933 in Denmarks favour. In 1939 the government proclaimed that
Queen Maud Land in Antarctica was under Norwegian sovereignty. Because the League of
Nations in 1936 had proved ineffective at keeping the peace, Norways foreign minister,
Halvdan Koht, attempted to coordinate the policy of the smaller states within the framework of
the league in an effort to preserve peace. Norway continued to pursue a strictly neutral policy
and declined Germanys invitation to join in a nonaggression pact in 1939.
World War II
With the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Norway again declared itself neutral. On April 9, 1940,
German troops invaded the country and quickly occupied Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Narvik.
The Norwegian government rejected the German ultimatum regarding immediate capitulation.
The Norwegian Army, which received help from an Allied expeditionary force, was unable to
resist the superior German troops, however. After three weeks the war was abandoned in
southern Norway. The Norwegian and Allied forces succeeded in recapturing Narvik but
withdrew again on June 7, when the Allied troops were needed in France. The same day, King
Haakon VII, Crown Prince Olaf, and the government left for London, and on June 10 the
Norwegian troops in northern Norway capitulated. The government, through the Norwegian
Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship), directed the merchant fleet, which made an important
contribution to the Allied cause. Half of the fleet, however, was lost during the war.
In Norway, Vidkun Quisling, leader of the small Norwegian National Socialist party (Nasjonal
Samling, or National Union)which had never obtained a seat in the Stortingproclaimed a
national government on April 9. This aroused such strong resistance, however, that the
Germans thrust him aside on April 15, and an administrative council, consisting of high civil
servants, was organized for the occupied territories. Political power was wielded by the German
commissioner Josef Terboven. In September 1940 the administrative council was replaced by a
number of commissarial counselors, who in 1942 formed a Nazi government under the
leadership of Quisling. The Nazification attempt aroused strong resistance, however. Initially,
this took the form of passive resistance and general strikes, which the Germans countered with
martial law and death sentences. Once the resistance movement became more firmly organized,
its members undertook large-scale industrial sabotage, of which the most important was that
against the production of heavy water in Rjukan in southern Norway.
Vidkun Quisling.
Courtesy of the Norwegian News Agency, Oslo
At the end of the war the German troops in Norway capitulated without offering resistance. On
their retreat from Finland in late 1944 and early 1945, however, the Germans burned and ravaged
Finnmark and northern Troms. The Soviet troops who liberated eastern Finnmark in November
1944 withdrew during the summer of 1945.
The postwar period
The liberation was followed by trials of collaborators; 25 Norwegians, including Quisling
(whose name has become a byword for a collaborating traitor), were sentenced to death and
executed, and some 19,000 received prison sentences. By a strict policy that gave priority to the
reconstruction of productive capacity in preference to consumer goods, Norway quickly
succeeded in repairing the ravages left by the war. By 1949 the merchant fleet had attained its
prewar size, and the figures for both industrial production and housing were greater than in the
1930s. Until the 1980s Norway had full or nearly full employment and a swiftly rising standard
of living.
Political and social change

After the liberation in 1945 a coalition government was formed under the leadership of Einar
Gerhardsen. The general election in the autumn of 1945 gave the DNA a decisive majority, and a
purely Labour government was formed with Gerhardsen as prime minister. The DNA governed
almost continuously from 1945 to 1965. Haakon VII died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son,
Olaf V. The Labour governments continued the social policies initiated in the 1930s. From 1957
old-age pensions were made universal, and in 1967 a compulsory earnings-related national
supplementary pension plan came into effect. The old poor law was replaced by a law on
national welfare assistance in 1964. The election of 1965 resulted in a clear majority for the four
centre and right-wing parties, which formed a coalition government under the leadership of Per
Borten. In 1971 the coalition government split, and the DNA again came to power, headed by
Trygve Bratteli.

Olaf V, 1973
Knudsens Fotosenter
As a consequence of the referendum on the European Economic Community (EEC), the Labour
government resigned and was followed by a non-Socialist coalition government under the
leadership of Lars Korvald. The DNA returned to power in 1973 with Bratteli again as prime
minister. When he resigned as leader of the party and prime minister in 1976, he was succeeded
by Odvar Nordli. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Norways first woman prime minister, took over the
government and party leadership from Nordli in February 1981. Her government was defeated at
the polls in September of that year, and a Conservative, Kre Willoch, became prime minister.
Brundtland returned as prime minister in May 1986 but was again defeated three years later. The
Conservatives formed a three-party coalition government under Jan Peder Syse but resigned after
one year over the issue of Norways future relationship with the EEC. Brundtland again formed a
minority Labour government and continued to head it until her resignation in October 1996.

Gro Harlem Brundtland.
World Economic Forum (http://www.weforum.org)
A year later the Labour government fell and was replaced by a centre-coalition minority
government, with Kjell Magne Bondevik of the Christian Peoples Party as prime minister.
(King Olaf V died in 1991 and was succeeded by his son, who ascended the throne as Harald V.)
Bondevik remained in office until 2000, when his government was replaced by a minority
government led by Jens Stoltenberg of the Labour Party, whose brief tenure ended in 2001 with
the return of Bondevik at the head of another conservative coalition. In 2005 the so-called Red-
Green coalition led by Stoltenberg triumphed in the general election, and he again assumed the
position of prime minister, this time at the head of a majority government, which was returned to
power in elections in 2009.
On July 22, 2011, a pair of terror attacks stunned Norway. At 3:26 pm local time, a bomb
exploded in central Oslo, seriously damaging government buildings and killing at least seven
people. Hours later, a gunman disguised as a police officer opened fire on a Labour Party youth
camp on the island of Utya, roughly 25 miles (40 km) from Oslo. The gunman, armed with an
automatic weapon and a pistol, killed more than 65 people during an hour-long attack. Police
apprehended a suspect in the shooting and stated that the two attacks were linked. The next year
the entire country followed the trial of the accused killer on television and grieved with the
survivors and families of the victims of the attack. In the end the defendant was convicted and
received a 21-year sentence, the maximum allowable under Norwegian law, though that sentence
could be extended should it be determined that he remained a threat to society.
Flowers adorning a memorial outside Oslo Cathedral for victims of the July 22, 2011, attacks in
Since the 1970s a central issue in Norwegian politics has been the exploitation of the rich natural
gas and petroleum deposits in the Norwegian part of the North Sea. As the Norwegian petroleum
industry grew in importance, the country became increasingly affected by fluctuations in the
world petroleum market, but in the late 20th and early 21st centuries oil revenues played the
dominant role in fueling a prosperous Norwegian economy and providing Norwegians with one
of the worlds highest per capita incomes. The government, prudently preparing for a time when
petroleum profits might not be so lucrative, began reinvesting those profits in the Government
Pension Fund (originally the Government Petroleum Fund). Even as much of the rest of the
world struggled in the wake of the international financial crisis that began in 2008, Norway
continued to prosper, with its economy continuing to grow steadily and unemployment
remaining low at about 3 percent.
By 2013 the Government Pension Fund had swelled to some $750 billion, yet, despite the
continued economic prosperity under Stoltenberg, the Norwegian electorate seemed restive as it
rejected his government in parliamentary elections in September 2013. Although Labour
captured the largest number of seats for any single party (55), the centre-right bloc led by the
Conservative Party took 96 seats, and Conservative leader Erna Solberg became the first prime
minister from her party since 1990. She headed a minority coalition government with the
Progress Party, whose anti-immigration stance had mitigated against attracting a third party to
the coalition, preventing it from forming a majority government, .
Jens Stoltenberg, 2009.
Guri Dahl/Office of the Prime Minister of Norway
Although the Liberals and the Christian Democrats chose not to join the new government, they
agreed to support it in return for a promise that amnesty would be granted to some asylum-
seeking immigrant families and for guarantees that oil drilling would be banned during the next
four years in the vulnerable fishing areas in the Lofoten-Vesterlen island groups. The Solberg
government responded to the increasing influx of migrants seeking asylum (especially from the
Syrian Civil War) in 2015 with a combination of providing shelter and assistance, offering
monetary compensation for repatriation, and pursuing stricter immigration policies.
As declining world oil and gas prices began to hinder the growth of Norways economy
(Norwegian oil giant Statoil reported its first quarterly loss since 2001 in the third quarter of
2014), Norwegian politicians and businesspeople began planning for a future with diminished
petroleum output and revenues. Solberg tackled these economic challenges by cutting taxes,
investing in infrastructure, and borrowing from the Government Pension Fund Global. By the
time parliamentary elections rolled around in 2017, the economy had gradually rebounded, and
the Norwegian electorate rewarded Solberg by making her the first leader of a centre-right
government in Norway in more than three decades to win consecutive terms. In the September
polling, Labour (led by former foreign minister Jonas Gahr Stre) continued to hold the largest
number of seats in the Storting, but Conservatives and their coalition partners maintained their
narrow majority.
Postwar foreign policy

When the antagonisms between the great powers came to a head in 1948, Norway took part in
the negotiations set in motion by Sweden on a Nordic defense union. The negotiations produced
a tacit Cold War Nordic balance. For instance, in 1949 Norway, followed by Denmark, joined
the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but NATO was not allowed to
establish military bases or stockpile nuclear weapons on their territories; Sweden remained
neutral. The compensation for these self-imposed restrictions was a gradual improvement in
relations between the Soviet Union and the Nordic countries.
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s revived an old problem concerning the
boundary between Norway and Russia in the Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean. Once merely an
esoteric legal issue, the boundary took on great importance because of its strategic naval
relevance to Russia and because extensive deposits of petroleum and natural gas may lie beneath
the shallow waters.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, Norway began to play an
increasingly active role in world affairs, mediating between Israel and the Palestine Liberation
Organization and between the government of Sri Lanka and Tamil insurgents, as well as sending
troops to serve in Afghanistan as part of the NATO force that responded to the Taliban
governments support of al-Qaeda, the Islamic extremist group that was responsible for the
September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. Norway also contributed warplanes to the
NATO mission in Libya in 2011.
Russias annexation of Crimea during the Ukraine crisis of 2014, its continuing support for
separatist rebels in Ukraine, and its general flexing of its military muscle had the Norwegian
military approaching Cold War levels of alert in 2015. Whereas the Norwegian air force had
settled into a kind of equanimity on its border with Russia during the 1990s and early 2000s, its
interception of border forays by Russian aircraft increased by more than one-fourth from 2013 to
2014 and by sevenfold over the levels of a decade earlier.
Jrgen WeibullGudmund SandvikThe Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica
Since the 1960s the question of Norways relations with the EECand, from 1993, with its
successor, the European Union (EU)has split the countrys citizenry across traditional party
lines and even within families. A member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) from
its formal inception in 1960, Norway decided to follow the lead of fellow EFTA member Great
Britain from 1961 by entering into negotiations for membership in the EEC. These initiatives
were thwarted in 1963 and 1967 by the strong opposition of French president Charles de Gaulle.
Norwegian orientation toward the EEC was suspended until 1969, when the country again
followed Britains lead (along with Ireland and EFTA member Denmark) in applying for EEC
membership. All four were accepted, but in 1972 Norwegian voters defeated the referendum on
membership by more than 53 percent; the other three nations joined the organization in 1973.
For some 10 years thereafter Norway joined the remaining EFTA countries in signing a variety
of free-trade agreements with members of the EEC that, though they were bilateral, incorporated
the economic liberalism of the EEC. Negotiations begun in 1989 between the two organizations
culminated in 1991 in an agreement to form a free-trade zone called the European Economic
Area (EEA). Norway became a member of the EEA when it came into effect in 1994.
Meanwhile, the dissolution of the communist governments of the Soviet bloc countries of central
and eastern Europe and the breakup of the Soviet Union itself in 198991 changed the European
political scene as well as the plans inherent in the inauguration of the EEA. EFTA members
Austria, Finland, and Sweden suddenly felt politically free to apply for full membership in what
soon would become the EU. Norway followed suit, applying for membership in November 1992.
In a national referendum in November 1994, however, the Norwegian electorate again rejected
the treaty negotiated by the government, albeit by a slightly smaller margin than in 1972.
It may seem contradictory that Norway has continued to reject EU membership. Norway, as a
founding member of NATO, has been solidly integrated into Western security politics since
1949. The export of petroleum and natural gas from the North Sea has greatly strengthened
Norways economy and has more fully integrated it into the global economy. Nonetheless, the
movement toward European political, monetary, and military unity that found expression in the
Maastricht Treaty and establishment of the EU reminded too many Norwegians of the unions in
their past that had subjugated Norway for more than half a millennium. The proponents of EU
membership could not convince the opponents that Norway had obtained favourable concessions
in its negotiations with the EU regarding fisheries, agriculture, and the exploitation of petroleum
and natural gas. Moreover, the opponents were fearful that Norway would once more lose its
national independence. Thus, at the beginning of the 21st century Norway found itself in a much-
diminished EFTA (with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland) but, through its affiliation with
the EEA, strongly tied economically to the EU.

Norway

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Norway

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Norway, country of northern Europe that occupies the western half of the Scandinavian

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Indo-European peoples settled Norways coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Northern lights illuminating the sky near Kautokeino, Nor.

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Bob and Ira Spring

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Indo-European peoples settled Norways coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Northern lights illuminating the sky near Kautokeino, Nor.

Test Your Knowledge

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Bob and Ira Spring

Connect with Britannica

Harbour and castle in Oslo.

Digital Vision/Getty Images

Bergen, Nor., at twilight.

Digital Vision/Getty Images

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Resources and power

Oil and gas

Overview of a steelworks in Mo i Rana, Norway.

Contunico ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.

Labour and taxation

Transportation and telecommunications

Government and society

Storting (Norwegian parliament), Oslo.

Connect with Britannica

Health and welfare

Jan ChristensenThe Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Sculptures by Gustav Vigeland in Frogner Park, Oslo.

Connect with Britannica

Sports and recreation

Overview of skiing in Norway, including a discussion of kite skiing.

Contunico ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz

Media and publishing

Leif Eriksson sailing off the coast of Vinland.

Charles JoysGudmund Sandvik

Canute, line engraving by George Vertue

The Granger Collection, New York

The 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries

Conflict of church and state

Union with Sweden

Plague victims during the Black Death, 14th century.

Courtesy of the National Library of Medicine

Erik the Red, woodcut from a book published in Iceland in 1688.

The Kalmar Union

Kalmar Castle, Kalmar, Sweden.

Christian I, detail of a portrait by an unknown artist; in Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark

Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg, Denmark

Connect with Britannica

Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg

The 18th century

Connect with Britannica

The Napoleonic Wars and the 19th century

The Treaty of Kiel

Courtesy of the Nationalhistoriske Museum paa Frederiksborg, Denmark

Union with Sweden