|RNature and climate:|N Forming the western and northwestern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, Norway have a highly indented coastline, with many fjords and tens of thousands of islands.
Norway have the northernmost European point, 71°11', as well as the northernmost point of the European mainland Nordkyn at 71°08'.
Norway is very mountainous with an average elevation of 500 m.a.s.l. with a highest peak, Snøhetta, reaching 2286 m.a.s.l. There are many glaciers.
The climate is typically maritime and regarding the northern locating exceptionally mild thanks to the warm Atlantic Golf stream.
Average temperature in January +1°C in the southern parts and -5°C in the northern and in the interior -10°C. Average temperature in July 16°C in the south, 10°C in the mountains and 14°C in the rest of the country.
|RPeople:|N Norwegians, a German group, closely related to the Swedes. Small, about 20000, ethnic and cultural group of Lapps, and a small group of Finns.
|REconomy:|N 7% of the labour force is occupied in agriculture, 47% in industry, finance and trade, 18% in services and 26% in government services.
Most important crops are grains, potatoes and fruits.
Stockraizing is extensive and Norway have one of the world's most important fishing industries. Still, much of the basic food must be imported.
About 25% of the land is forested and Norway have many papermills and sawmills.
Norway have vast resources of oil and natural gas and other minerals are copper, pyrites, nickel, iron, zinc and lead.
There are also enormous resources of hydro electric power. These resources formed the base for early industrialization.
In the 1960:s oil was found and extraction started and oil has since played a major part of economy.
Norway have one of the world's largest merchant marine fleets.
|RHistory:|N The oldest known settlements are from 8000 BC at Fosna west of Trondheim and from the Komsa mountain by Alta in the northernmost part of Norway and from Degernes east of Oslo.
About 5000 to 4000 BC hunters lived by the east coast.
The first farmers settled between 50 and 400 AD and from then on several rich trading centers grew.
By 800 AD, the start of the Viking era, Norway was divided in a large number of small realms that were gradually united.
From the Viking era there are more than 7000 known graves, most famous of them are the boats graves Oseberg, Gokstad, Tune and Borse for example. The biggest trading town was Skiringsal by the Oslo fjord.
The Norse vikings started to raid all over Western Europe and soon colonized Ireland in 840, Scotland and the Scottish Isles and Iceland by 874 and Greenland in 985.
In 872 Harald the Fairhaired united Norway, but when he died the country fell apart in small realms again.
During the 11th and 12th centuries there was almost constant war between the kings and the noblesse about the power. Not until 1184 the whole nation was united and from 1240 after the battle at Nidaros a time of prosperity followed.
In 1276 a written law was enforced, the first of Europe.
In 1319 the Swedish king was elected king of Norway as well. His son married a daughter of the Danish king and finally became king of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
When Sweden withdrew from this union Norway and Denmark remained and in 1450 a treaty was signed. According to this Norway and Denmark were united, but should be ruled, each by their own rules.
In the early 19th century Denmark was forced to fight on the French side in the Napoleon wars. In the peace treaty of Kiel in 1814 Denmark seeded Norway to Sweden. Norway became a separate country with complete domestic self-rule, but with the same head of state as Sweden.
The Norwegian constitution was the most democratic one in Europe in the 19th century. However there was a great tension between Norway and Sweden and finally, in 1905, the Norwegian parliament declared Norway an independent country and elected a Danish prince as king.
During World War I Norway kept neutral.
In the 1920:s Norway incorporated Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Since Norwegian fishermen settled on the east coast of Greenland Norway claimed sovereignty over parts of Greenland, but the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 1933 confirmed Danish sovereignty over Greenland.
Norway declared neutrality by the outbreak of World War II but on April 9 1940 Norway was invaded by Germany. The king, government and parliament fled to London. The big Norwegian merchant fleet was a good help to the allies during the war. During the war the resistance grew against the government of the collaborationist Vidkun Quisling.
After the German surrender May 7 1945 the king and the government returned in triumph.
After the war Norway was a founding member of the UN and the first secretary-general of UN was the Norwegian Trygve Lie.
Now Norway also joined the NATO alliance and in 1959 became a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, EFTA.
Twice since the war Norway have rejected to become an EG-member. First in 1972 when Denmark and Great Britain joined the Union and later in 1995 when Sweden and Finland joined it.
Ever since the war Norway has continued the Scandinavian type of social policy, increasing the social security systems and the taxes.
