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Norway

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Last reviewed: 17 December 2007

Country information

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.

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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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