Norway
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| Kingdom of Norway | |||||
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| National information | |||||
| National motto: | Royal: Alt for Norge ("Everything for Norway") 1814 Eidsvoll oath: Enige og tro til Dovre faller ("United and faithful until the mountains of Dovre crumble") |
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| National anthem: | Ja, vi elsker dette landet | ||||
| About the people | |||||
| Official languages: | Norwegian, bokmål Norwegian, nynorsk | ||||
| Population: (# of people) | |||||
| - Total: | 4,695,134 (2006) (ranked 114) | ||||
| - Density: | 12 per km² | ||||
| Geography / Places | |||||
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| Capital city: | Oslo | ||||
| Largest city: | Oslo | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total: | 385,155 km² 148,746 sq mi (ranked 101) |
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| Politics / Government | |||||
| Established: | Constitution: May 17, 1814 | ||||
| Leaders: | Monarch: Harald V Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg |
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| Economy / Money | |||||
| Currency: (Name of money) |
Norwegian crown (Norsk krone) | ||||
| International information | |||||
| Time zone: | CET (UTC+1) CEST (UTC+2) |
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| Telephone dialing code: | +47 | ||||
| Internet domain: | .no .sj and .bv | ||||
Norway is a country in the north of Europe. It is a part of the Scandinavian peninsula and borders on the North Sea to the west. Norway has a long common border with Sweden to the east. In the far north of Norway there is also a common border with Finland and a smaller border with Russia.
The capital of Norway is Oslo. Oslo is also the largest city of Norway with a population of over 530,000. Norway's other major cities are Bergen with 230,000 people and Trondheim with 150,000; both have been the Norwegian capital in earlier years.
Norway is a constitutional kingdom, and its head of state is now King Harald V. The national day is May 17, which celebrates Norway's constitution of 1814. The parliament is called Stortinget and its members are elected by the people every 4 years.
About 4.6 million people live in Norway, and they speak the Norwegian language. There are two official written versions of Norwegian called bokmål and nynorsk. A native population of Norway, the Sami people, live mainly in the northern parts of the country; they also speak the Sami languages.
Among tourists to Norway, more come from Germany than from any other country. The Norwegian and German languages are related. Norway is a founding member of NATO. The largest newspapers in Norway are BT Bergens Tidende, VG Verdens Gang, Aftenposten and Dagbladet. Norway has no national newspaper. The 3 last newspapers are Oslo-based.
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[change] History
In the 9th century Norway was still a number of separate, small kingdoms. Harald Fairhair gathered the kingdoms into one, with the final battle of Hafrsfjord in 872.
In 1349 half of the Norwegian people died, getting sick from the Black Death. The last of the Norwegian kings died in 1387 and a period of unions with other countries started. Norway was the weaker part of the union with Denmark, which lasted until 1814 when Norway tried to get free. The Norwegian constitution was written in 1814 and signed on May 17th that year. However, Denmark, on the losing side of the Napoleon wars, lost Norway to Sweden, on the winning side. Norway could not escape the much greater military force of Sweden, and formally entered into union with Sweden in November 1814.
The union with Sweden lasted until June 7th, 1905 when Norway finally became a separate nation again.
In 1905 Prince Carl of Denmark was elected King of Norway and he became King Haakon VII, and his wife, Princess Maud, became Queen Maud. Their son, Prince Alexander of Denmark, became Crown Prince Olav and followed after his father as King Olav V in 1957. Olav and his wife, Crown Princess Märtha, had three children; Princess Ragnhild, Princess Astrid and Prince Harald (later Crown Prince Harald and in 1991 he followed his father as King Harald V).
King Harald is the first king born in Norway in over 600 years. He has two children; Princess Märtha Louise and Crown Prince Haakon Magnus.
In World War I Norway was neutral and served as a trading nation. Norway tried to stay neutral in World War II, but was occupied by German forces from 9 April 1940 to 8 May 1945.
[change] Economy
Norway is rich in natural resources such as oil, water power, fish, agriculture, forests, and minerals. These resources and industry have made Norway into one of the world's richest welfare states, taken the population in to consideration, but the country is also very dependent on the prices of oil and fish in international markets.
[change] Famous people born in Norway
See: Norwegian people
[change] See also
- Music of Norway
- Norway and the European Union
- Norwegian language
- Norwegian literature
- Black Metal
- Melodic Death Metal
- Cuisine
- National team
- Premier League
- Photography
- Road signs
- Cities
- Newspapers
- National parks
- Norwegian monarchs
[change] Other websites
- Norway.no – Official website
- VisitNorway.com – Official travel guide to Norway
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