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Last reviewed: 17 December 2007

Country information

Map of Norway

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.

ECONOMY

Basic Economic Facts

GDP: $312bn (£163bn / 1904bn NOK) (2005)
GDP per head: $60,900 (£31,700 / 372,000 NOK) (2005)
Annual Growth: 2.3% (2005)
Inflation: 2.5% (forecast 2006)
Major Industries: Oil and gas, fisheries, manufactured goods, machinery and transport
Major trading partners: Exports to UK (21.3%), Germany (13%), Netherlands (9.6%), France (8.2%), Sweden (7.4%). Over 70.9% of total exports of goods and services go to the EU/European Economic Area.
Sources: Statistics Norway, Innovation Norway, HM Revenue & Customs

The Norwegian economy is dominated by the oil and gas sector, which accounts for 25% of value creation in Norway. In 2005 production of crude oil totalled 3.26 million barrels per day, while gas production for the year totalled 84 billion mS. Exports of crude oil and petroleum products were worth £29 billion in 2005, making Norway the third largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia. Crude oil and natural gas accounted for 45.6% of all exports in 2005. Oil revenues are invested for the future in the Pension Fund (previously called the Petroleum Fund); this stood at around £150 billion in January 2007. According to current estimates, Norway has oil for the next 50 years and gas for at least 100 years.

A growing engineering industry specialised on ship equipment, offshore deliveries, telecommunications, hydropower equipment and other niche products and services are also becoming increasingly important. Other major exports are seafood (the world’s biggest exporter), timber products and aluminium.

Shipping freight services are Norway’s most important export within the service sector – and the second largest export industry after oil and gas, with exports (gross freight) of £6.6 billion. Norwegian shipping companies control around 10% of the world’s shipping fleet. Measured in tonnage, the Norwegian merchant fleet is the world's third largest.

The UK is Norway’s largest export market. Imports to the UK from Norway were worth £12.4 billion in 2005 (the UK’s 9th largest import market). Britain has also been a main target for Norwegian investments abroad. At the end of 2003, accumulated Norwegian direct investment in the UK amounted to £5.65 billion. Norway is the UK’s 18th largest market with £2.2 billion in sales of goods in 2005. The UK is Norway’s fourth largest supplier of goods and a major provider of services (worth an additional £1 billion). Accumulated UK direct investment in Norway was worth £2.55 billion, placing the UK in fifth place. British companies are amongst the largest foreign investors in the Oslo stock exchange, especially in shipping, banking and insurance.

The Norwegian Central Bank produces a quarterly inflation report (available in English) which provides a detailed reference on the current economic position, outlook and monetary policy.

HISTORY

Recent History

Norway gained full independence from Sweden in 1905. Norway remained neutral in WWI, with sympathy for the Western Allies, and in 1920 joined the new League of Nations. During the Second World War, Germany invaded Norway (on 9 April 1940) and occupied the country. In June of that year HMS Devonshire brought the Norwegian King and Government to London, where the Norwegian government-in-exile was based until May 1945 and military units integrated with allied forces. In 1942, Vidkun Quisling was installed by the Nazis as Minister President of Norway. He did not have the support of the Norwegian people. Popular resistance during the war was bolstered by the fact that King Haakon and the Government had resolutely refused to submit to German demands. Sabotage operations were legion, the most notable being the destruction of the heavy water plant at Rjukan in Telemark, foiling German attempts to produce an atomic bomb. Many leaders of the underground were executed and about 35,000 Norwegians were sent to concentration camps. Liberation came on 8 May 1945. On 7 June 1945, King Haakon returned to Oslo - on HMS Norfolk, escorted by HMS Devonshire - five years to the day since he had left in exile.

By 1948, GNP had returned to pre-war levels. Norway was a founder member of NATO in 1949, of the Nordic Council in 1952 and of EFTA in 1960. In 1957, after a reign of more than half a century, King Haakon VII died. His son, Crown Prince Olav (namesake of Norway's national saint), assumed the throne. He died in January 1991 to be succeeded by his only son, King Harald V. The Crown Prince, Prince Haakon, is next in line to the throne, followed by his daughter, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who was born in January 2004. Since the close of WWII, Norwegian politicians have worked to strike a balance between economic growth and efforts to achieve social equality. A phase of rapid expansion of the public sector lasting from 1945-71 has been followed by a long period of internationalisation and market adaptation. In 1969, oil and gas deposits were discovered under the North Sea. Until 1971, the State played a key role in planning the economy. The introduction of Norwegian National Insurance (1967) and the expansion of major areas of the educational and the health-care sectors were all initiated as part of the large-scale "public revolution". During this period, public expenditures increased from about one third to one half of the gross domestic product, an outlay that has subsequently been maintained. Since the 1970s, there has been increased focus on a market framework, leading to some decentralisation of public services to the local level or to independent State-owned institutions such as Telenor (Norwegian telecoms supplier).

Longer Historical Perspective

The first people settled in Norway at the end of the Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. As the glaciers of the last ice age retreated, reindeer trekked north, followed by hunters from the German plain. Along the arctic coast came asiatic tribes - the Sami and Finns.

From the end of the 700s until the mid-1000s, the Scandinavian people played a major part in European history. This period was known as the Viking Age, and sustained British contact began in 793 AD with the sacking of the monastery at Lindisfarne. At this time, there was little difference between people from Norway, Sweden and Denmark and there was lots of inter-marriage between chieftan clans of these countries. Only the Sami retained a distinct ethnicity and language.

From the year 800, the Vikings raided and colonised throughout Western Europe, but they also sailed to the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Middle East and America. Leif Erikson sailed from Greenland to Vinland (modern Newfoundland) some 500 years before Colombus. Vikings longships from Norway landed in the Hebrides, Shetlands, Orkneys, Scottish mainland, Lake District, Isle of Man, Ireland and Normandy, where they also settled and integrated with the indigenous population. Reminders of these settlements are still found in many areas.

King Harald Fairhair united Norway in a single kingdom around 900 AD. Christianity came to Norway during the next hundred years and was imposed as the official religion by King Olav II, who died a martyr's death in 1030 AD and was canonised as Saint Olav, Norway's national saint. The Viking era ended in 1066 at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in which King Harald Hardråde ('the Hard Ruler') was killed. (The weakening of the Saxon forces in this battle led to their defeat shortly afterwards in the Norman invasion.)

During the Middle Ages, Norway also included the Orkneys, Shetland, Faeroes, Iceland and Greenland. In 1266 the Hebrides and Isle of Man were sold to the Scottish crown by King Magnus "the Lawmender". After a period of internal feuding and the Black Death of 1349 (unwittingly introduced by an English ship) which wiped out two-thirds of Norway’s population, the monarchies of Norway and Denmark were united in 1380. The union lasted until 1814, and meant that Norway was ruled from Copenhagen. The Danes appropriated Norwegian assets and The Shetland and Orkney Islands were pledged to Scotland in 1469 as part of the dowry of Princess Margaret of Denmark on her marriage to King James III of Scotland.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, when Denmark sided with France, the King of Denmark was forced to cede Norway to the King of Sweden under the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 (although Iceland, the Faeroes and Greenland remained Danish). The King of Sweden also became King of Norway. However, Norway was able to establish internal self-rule, based on its own constitution, which was adopted on 17 May 1814. 17 May is celebrated in great style every year as Norway’s National Day. During the 1880s, rural poverty led to widespread emigration, especially to the US. A 1910 US Census recorded 800,000 first and second generation Norwegians.

Years of tension under Swedish rule came to a head in 1905 when Stockholm vetoed Norwegian plans to establish a separate consular service. Norway’s Parliament voted to end the Union. In the ensuing plebiscite, Norwegians voted for independence by 368,208 votes to 184. The Treaty of Karlstad dissolved the union with Sweden and on 26 October 1905 Sweden officially recognised Norway as an independent and separate state.

Britain's interests in Scandinavia in 1905 were primarily to avoid the region becoming another flashpoint for Great Power rivalry. We kept a low profile, urged moderation and sought to find common ground between both sides. Once it was clear that a peaceful separation was inevitable, Britain was one of the very first countries to recognise newly independent Norway (on 30 October) and sent the first diplomat on 3 November 1905. After dissolution, and a further national referendum, Prince Carl of Denmark agreed to become King of Norway, assuming the name King Haakon VII. His British wife, Maud (daughter of King Edward VII) became Queen.

BBC News Country Timeline: Norway

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Norway has held two referenda on EU membership. In 1972, 53.5% voted against and in 1994 52.2% said no. Current opinion polls show a lead of around 10% for those who wish to remain outside the EU. Given differences of opinion, the three coalition partners have a pact not to raise the question of EU membership before the next general election. Norway does, however, participate in the EU's Single Market through the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement. As an EEA Member, Norway implements EU Directives on trade and economic matters, and contributes financially to the EU’s structural and cohesion funds, but remains outside the Common Agriculture and Fisheries Policies. Norway also takes part in police, judicial, visa and frontier co-operation through the Schengen Convention and is active in the Council of Europe and Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The Berlin Plus arrangements enable non-EU members to participate in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) operations and Norway contributes 13 troops to the EU Bosnia mission under Berlin Plus. On 4 December 2004, the Storting voted to contribute Norwegian troops to an EU Battlegroup with Sweden and Finland, drawing on UK based headquarters support.

Together with fellow Nordics, Norway has been an energetic supporter of UN reform, (Prime Minister Stoltenberg co-chaired the High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence with Prime Minister Gordon Brown (in his previous role as the Chancellor of the Exchequer), and was a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2001-2002. Home of the Nobel Peace Prize, conflict prevention/resolution is high on the foreign policy agenda. Norway’s international profile was significantly boosted in 1993 as a result of its pivotal role brokering the Middle East Peace Agreement (the Oslo Accords). Norway’s discreet peace-facilitator role continues in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Haiti, Colombia and the Sudan. Alongside conflict prevention/resolution efforts, key policy priorities include sustainable development, human rights, and promoting 'international good citizenship'. Norway’s overseas aid budget was 0.97% of GNP in 2006, with half targeted at Africa. Environmental issues are important too: climate change is high on the agenda as is international engagement over nuclear clean-up on the Kola peninsula in north- west Russia.

Stoltenberg’s government has continued the main lines of Norwegian foreign policy, including active membership of NATO and adherence to the EEA agreement. It will not join the EU - although the Labour Party is in favour of membership, its two coalition partners are opposed. In addition the government’s priorities include strengthening the UN, contributing to peace support, disarmament, and increased development aid. Relations with its near neighbours in the "High North" (i.e. the Barents / Arctic Region) are a main strategic priority and in particular the need to tackle illegal fishing and co-operate with Russia and others over future oil and gas extraction. As a State Party to the 1920 Spitzbergen Treaty, and with strong interests in energy security and tackling climate change, the UK has an interest in co-operating with Norway to develop the region in a sustainable and equitable manner.

Over the last 50 years there has been a strong tradition of Norwegian peacekeeping and it is estimated that nearly 1% of Norwegian police are involved in international operations. At present Norway has around 700 troops in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Norway has also provided forces to international operations in Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina and, until July 2004, 140 members of the Telemark engineering battalion worked with British forces in Basra. Iraqi officers are also being trained at the NATO Joint Warfare Centre in Norway.

The government has withdrawn all military personnel from Iraq, and has also withdrawn from the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. From now on it will set a "high threshold" for the use of military force.

Norway's relations with the UK

Bilateral relations are close and strong, reflecting long-standing trading links, geographical proximity, ties between respective Royal families, connections forged during the Second World War, continuing shared security concerns, and many cultural affinities (e.g. theatre, shopping and, not least, football). Over 3,000 Norwegians study in the UK. Bilateral military contacts remain close with low flying practice and hundreds of UK service personnel involved in annual regular winter training/exercising in Norway; British troops make up about half of all allied training in Norway.

There are frequent Ministerial exchanges. In October 2006, the then Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister Stoltenberg met in London to open the 1200 km Langeled Gas pipeline between Nyhamna in Norway and Easington in East Yorkshire. HM The Queen paid a State Visit to Norway from 30 May to 1 June 2001 (in return for the 1994 State Visit to the UK by HM King Harald V). King Harald and Queen Sonja, accompanied by Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit paid a visit to the UK on 25-27 October 2005 to mark the Centenary of Norway's independence from Sweden.

The UK and Norway share a common interest in ensuring the good management and commercial development of their respective petroleum resources. In April 2005, the Norwegian and UK Energy Ministers signed a new Framework Treaty for regulating a wide range of potential cross boundary oil and gas projects, including pipelines. The agreement paves the way for fulfilling up to a fifth of the UK’s annual gas demand and would cover a fifth of Norway’s annual gas production. The Langeled pipeline, opened by the two Prime Ministers in October 2006 was the world’s longest underwater pipeline on opening and can supply up to 16% of the UK’s peak winter demand for natural gas.

There is also close co-operation on a new technology that has been hailed by some as a potentially significant tool in reducing climate change. Carbon capture and storage involves pumping carbon dioxide from power stations out to oil and gas fields, where it is used to enhance recovery rates. The fields are then closed and the carbon dioxide remains under the seabed. The British Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks, and his counterpart Odd Roger Enoksen, signed an agreement in November 2005 on co-operation in this area. Carbon capture and storage was also discussed when Prime Minister Gordon Brown (then Chancellor of the Exchequer) met Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg in June 2006.

Although bilateral relations are strong, there have been a small number of areas where there have been differences in policy. The most contentious recent bilateral issue between the UK (and EU) and Norway involves EU trade defence measures imposed on imports of Norwegian farmed salmon at the request of the UK (and to a lesser extent Ireland). This arouses strong feelings on both sides. The Scottish producers of farmed salmon are angry that their livelihoods are being endangered by Norwegian imports to the EU at low prices that they claim to be unfairly below the cost of production. The Norwegian producers dispute the EU Commission’s figures and claim the EU measures breach WTO rules. The views of other member states are influenced by a variety of producer, consumer and fish-processing interests. The case has been referred to the WTO.

The UK is a strong opponent of all forms of commercial whaling. Although both the UK and Norway are members of the International Whaling Commission, Norway has lodged an objection to the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling and continues to set its own quotas each year (1052 minke whales in 2006). Britain opposes in the IWC but accepts that the objection Norway lodged allows them to continue whaling legally. The discharge of the radioactive chemical TC-99 from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site was a contentious issue. The UK introduced in 2004 a new process to clean the discharge stream and remove the majority of the TC-99 from the waste, but the Norwegians remain concerned about the site.

Diplomatic Representation

UK Ambassador to Norway: H.E. Mr David Powell
Norwegian Ambassador to the UK: H.E. Mr Bjarne Lindstrøm

Cultural Relations with the UK

British Council: Norway

Significant Recent Visits

Inward to the UK

  • Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in London to meet the Foreign Secretary 8 June 2006.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Prime Minister Tony Blair officially opened the Langeled Pipeline in London, 16 October 2006.
  • State Secretary Liv Stubholt met Minister for Europe Geoff Hoon, 19 October 2006.
  • Crown Princess Mette-Marit switched on the lights on the traditional Trafalgar Square Christmas tree given by the city of Oslo to the city of Westminster, 7 December 2006.
  • Defence Minister Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen met Defence Minister Des Browne, 16 May 2007.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg met the Prime Minister, 5 September 2007.
  • State Secretary Elisabeth Walaas visited London for talks with Europe Minister Jim Murphy, DfID Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Gareth Thomas and Minister of State for Competitiveness Stephen Timms, 28 November 2007.
  • Minister for Environment and International Development Erik Solheim met Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander and Minister of State for Environment Phil Woolas, 4 December 2007.
  • Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg met the Prime Minister, 6 December 2007.
  • Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met the Foreign Secretary, 11 December 2007.

Outward to Norway

  • Malcolm Wicks, Energy Minister, 1-3 February 2006.
  • Paymaster General, Dawn Primarolo visited Oslo for talks on North Sea oil and gas taxation, 8-9 March 2006.
  • Scottish Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen visited Oslo for talks on renewable energy, 26-27 July 2006.
  • Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown visited Oslo for the final meeting of the UN High Level Panel on System Wide Coherence which he co-chaired with Prime Minister Stoltenberg, 31 August 2006.
  • Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in DfID visited Oslo for a conference on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, 17 October 2006.
  • Lord Truscott from the Department of Trade and Industry visited Oslo for discussions on energy, 14 February 2007.
  • Stephen Timms, Minister of State for Competitiveness, attended the opening of the Ormen Lange gas field, 6 October 2007.

In addition to the visits listed above, British and Norwegian Ministers, State Secretaries and officials from a wide range of Government Departments meet frequently to exchange views on diverse issues.

GEOGRAPHY

The Kingdom of Norway consists of the mainland on the Scandinavian peninsula, the Svalbard archipelago (in accordance with the 1920 Spitzbergen Treaty), and Jan Mayen island in the Arctic. About half the country lies inside the Arctic Circle. The Norwegian coastline, including fjords and bays, is 21,465 km (or 2,650 km excluding them), with an estimated 150,000 islands and islets. To the east, Norway shares borders with Sweden (1,619 km), Finland (721 km) and Russia (196 km).

Norway has three dependencies in the Antarctic: Queen Maud's Land (on the mainland), Peter I Island and Bouvet Island.

Population

4.649 million (April 2006). Population density (at 14 per sq km) is one of the lowest in Europe. There are only four towns with a population over 100,000 - Oslo, the capital, with just over half a million inhabitants, Bergen (233 291), Trondheim (151 408) and Stavanger (109 710). Only 10% of the population live in the northern half of the country where the only large town is Tromsø (60 524). There is an indigenous population group in Norway called the Sami. They are originally an Arctic people and can also be found in Sweden, Finland and Russia. In Norway there are no detailed statistics held on the size of the population but it is estimated to be between 40,000 and 45,000 Sami, largely concentrated in Finnmark, where there are some 25,000. The Sami Parliament is located in the town of Karasjok in Norway. It meets several times a year.

POLITICS

Recent Political Developments

The Labour Party dominated Norwegian politics from the 1930s to the early 1980s. The 1980s and 90s were characterised by the alternation of power between Labour Governments (led by Gro Harlem Brundtland, Thorbjørn Jagland or Jens Stoltenberg) and Conservative or centre-right coalitions (Kåre Willoch, Kjell Magne Bondevik). Oil revenues started to flow into Government coffers, but governments on both left and right were destabilised by arguments over public spending, and over the EU.

A minority centre-right coalition of Kjell Magne Bondevik governed Norway from 2001 to October 2005. Following the general election on 12 September 2005 a majority centre-left "red-green" coalition made up of the Labour Party, Centre Party and Socialist Left was formed on 17 October, led by Labour Party leader Jens Stoltenberg. The policies of the new Government are more left-wing than those of their predecessors, with an emphasis on expenditure on social welfare, the environment and local government at home, and on disarmament, development aid and peace brokering abroad. The Centre Right opposition Progress and Conservative Parties polled strongly in municipal elections held in September 2007, but the Labour Party remains the most popular individual Party. The elections were notable for a fall in support for the Socialist Left Party, who received 6% of the vote.

The Norwegian Cabinet comprises:
Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg, Labour Party
Finance Minister: Kristin Halvorsen, Socialist Left Party
Foreign Minister: Jonas Gahr Støre, Labour Party
Labour & Social Affairs Minister: Bjarne Håkon Hanssen, Labour Party
Health Minister: Sylvia Brustad, Labour Party
Equality and Consumer Affairs Minister: Karita Bekkemellem, Labour Party
Trade and Industry Minister: Dag Terje Andersen, Labour Party
Justice and Police Minister: Knut Storberget, Labour Party
Fisheries & Coastal Affairs Minister: Helga Pedersen, Labour Party
Defence Minister: Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen, Labour Party
Culture and Church Minister: Trond Giske, Labour Party
Modernization / Renewal Minister: Heidi Grande Røys, Socialist Left Party
Education & Knowledge Minister: Øystein Djupedal, Socialist Left Party
Environment and International Development Minister: Erik Solheim, Socialist Left Party
Development (Foreign Aid) Minister: Erik Solheim, Socialist Left Party
Local Government and Regional Affairs Minister: Åslaug Haga, Center Party
Petroleum and Energy Minister: Åslaug Haga, Center Party
Agriculture & Food Minister: Terje Riis-Johansen, Center Party
Transport & Communications Minister: Liv Signe Navarsete, Center Party

Seat distribution following the 12 September 2005 general election is as follows (2001 results in brackets):

  • Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet - Ap) 61 (43)
  • Conservative Party (Høyre - H) 23 (38)
  • Progress Party (Fremskrittspartiet - FrP) 38 (26)
  • Christian Democrats (Kristelig Folkeparti - KrF) 11 (22)
  • Socialist Left (Sosialistisk Venstreparti - SV) 15 (23)
  • Centre Party (Senterpartiet - Sp) 11 (10)
  • Liberals (Venstre - V) 10 (2)
  • Coastal Party (Kystpartiet - Kp) 0 (1)

General elections are fixed term every four years in Norway - the next will be in September 2009. There are 169 seats in the Norwegian parliament (the 'Storting').

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General Information

British-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce
c/o Postbooks 925 Sentrum
0104 Oslo
Tel: +47 22 41 85 50
Fax: +47 22 41 85 45
E-mail: mail@crestfielv.org

Anglo-Norse Society
c/o British Embassy (in Norway)
or
c/o Norwegian Embassy (in UK)

Scottish Norwegian Society
36 Randolph Road
Glasgow G11 7LG
Tel: 0141 334 2260
e-mail: grakar@bt.internet.com   

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