Country information

Area: 385,155 km² (mainland: 323,758 km², Svalbard Archipelago and Jan Mayen: 61,397 km²)
Population: 4,649,300 (April 2006). Population density (at 14 per sq km) is one of the lowest in Europe
Capital City: Oslo (pop 521,886)
Languages: bokmål (book Norwegian - influenced by Danish), nynorsk (new Norwegian). In some districts, Sami is also an official language.
Religion(s): 90% Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran)
National Day: May 17 (Constitution Day - 1814) (Independence from Sweden 26 October 1905)
National Anthem: 'Ja, vi elsker dette landet' ('Yes, we love this country')
Political System: Constitutional Monarchy
Government: Centre-left "red-green" majority coalition of Labour, Centre Party and Socialist Left.
Head of State: HM King Harald V (1991)
Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg (Labour)
Foreign Minister: Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour)
Major Political Parties: Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet (Ap) Jens Stoltenberg); Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet (Frp) Siv Jensen); Conservative Party (Høyre (H) Erna Solberg); Socialist Left (Sosialistisk Venstreparti (SV) Kristin Halvorsen; Centre Party (Senterpartiet (Sp) Aslaug Haga); Christian Democrats (Kristelig Folkeparti (KrF Dagfinn Hoybraten); Liberals (Venstre (V) Lars Sponheim);
Membership of international groupings/organisations: Arctic Council, Barents Euro-Arctic Council, Council for Baltic Sea States, Council of Europe, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, European Economic Area, European Free Trade Area, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Civil Aviation Authority, International Criminal Court, International Monetary Fund, International Maritime Organisation, Interpol, Intelsat, International Whaling Commission, NATO, OSCE, OECD, OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, Nordic Council of Ministers, Schengen, UN, Western European Union (associate), World Trade Organisation

DID YOU KNOW

• Its eastern most point is on the same longitude as Cairo;
• Although outside the EU, it has adopted more EU legislation into domestic law than any EU country except Denmark (EFTA Surveillance Authority – January 2005);
• The nearest railway station to Shetland is Bergen;
• It has 100% literacy;
• It has one of the longest coastlines in the world, helped by nearly 3.5 million islands, yet is only 3.5 miles wide at its narrowest point;
• It is home to the world’s northernmost brewery (Tromsø)- also home of the British Honorary Consul;
• Norway has 1000th of the world’s population and 10th of the world’s shipping (the 5th largest fleet in the world);
• 41% of all adults are members of a trade union;
• It has no external debt;
• The first UN General Secretary was a Norwegian (Trygve Lie);
• Manchester United and Liverpool fan clubs have more Norwegian members than any other nationality;
• It has the highest female employment rate in Europe (74% of all adult females);
• It has the world’s longest road tunnel (24.5km);
• Norway's only Oscar was won by the documentary of Thor Heyerdal's Balsa raft crossing of the Pacific Ocean
• 99% of electricity generated in Norway is produced hydro-electrically;
• Norway topped the 2004 UN survey of Human Development in the following areas: life expectancy, access to tertiary education and average income. They came bottom of the list that measured the openness of their trade with developing countries.
• Apart from Iceland, Norway is the most sparsely populated country in Europe;
• The Norwegian Pension Fund was worth around £150 bn in January 2007, equivalent to around £32,000 for every man, woman and child in Norway.

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