Norway

Norway 

Geography                 Economy                 Defense Forces
 

People                    Transportation          Government



Communications            History      	          Travel

GEOGRAPHY

Location

Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden

Area

Land Boundaries

Total 2,515 km, Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 167 km

Coastline

21,925 km (includes mainland 3,419 km, large islands 2,413 km, long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 16,093 km)

Maritime Claims

International Disputes

Territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); maritime boundary dispute with Russia over portion of Barents Sea

Climate

Temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior; rainy year-round on west coast

Terrain

Glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north
lowest point: Norwegian Sea 0 m
Natural Resources

Land Use

Irrigated Land

950 sq km (1989)

Environment

.htm>Note: About two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world; Norway and Turkey only NATO members having a land boundary with Russia

PEOPLE

Population

4,383,807 (July 1996 est.)
4,330,951 (July 1995 est.)

Age Structure

0-14 Years

19% (male 434,848; female 411,668) (July 1996 est.)
19% (male 444,570; female 390,344) (July 1995 est.)

15-64 Years

65% (male 1,446,746; female 1,396,150) (July 1996 est.)
65% (male 1,424,027; female 1,375,493) (July 1995 est.)

65 Years and Over

16% (male 288,789; female 405,606) (July 1996 est.)
16% (male 287,842; female 408,675) (July 1995 est.)

Population Growth Rate

0.48% (1996 est.)
0.37% (1995 est.)

Birth Rate

11.96 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
12.86 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death Rate

10.68 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
10.35 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net Migration Rate

3.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
1.15 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female
all ages: 0.98 male(s)/female (1996 est.)

Infant Mortality Rate

4.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
6.1 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life Expectancy at Birth

Total Fertility Rate

1.63 children born/woman (1996 est.)
1.76 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality

Ethnic Divisions

Religions

Languages

Norwegian (official)

Note: Small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Literacy

Age 15 and over that can read and write (1976 est.)

Labor Force

2.13 million

By occupation:

GOVERNMENT

Names

Digraph

NO

Type

Constitutional monarchy

Capital

Oslo

Administrative Divisions

19 provinces (fylker, singular - fylke); Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, Vestfold

Dependent Areas

Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard

Independence

26 October 1905 (from Sweden)

National Holiday

Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)

Constitution

17 May 1814, modified in 1884

Legal System

Mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive Branch

Legislative Branch

Modified unicameral Parliament (Storting) which, for certain purposes, divides itself into two chambers

Storting

Elections last held 13 September 1993 (next to be held September 1997); results - Labor 37.1%, Center Party 18.5%, Conservatives 15.6%, Christian People's 8.4%, Socialist Left 7.9%, Progress 6%, Left Party 3.6%, Red Electoral Alliance 1.2%; seats - (165 total) Labor 67, Center Party 32, Consevatives 18, Christian People's 13, Socialist Left 13, Progress 10, Left Party 1, Red Electoral Alliance 1, unawarded 10

Note: For certain purposes, the Storting divides itself into two chambers and elects one-fourth of its membership to an upper house or Lagting

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court (Hoyesterett), justices appointed by the king

Political Parties and Leaders

Labor Party, Thorbjorn JAGLAND; Conservative Party, Jan PETERSEN; Center Party, Anne ENGER LAHNSTEIN; Christian People's Party, Valgerd HAUGLAND; Socialist Left, Erik SOLHEIM; Norwegian Communist, Kare Andre NILSEN; Progress Party, Carl I. HAGEN; Liberal, Odd Einar DORUM; Left Party; Red Electoral Alliance, Erling FOLKVORD

Member of

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNITAR, UNPREDEP, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

National Anthem

Flag

Red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)

ECONOMY

Overview

Norway has a mixed economy involving a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises), and extensively subsidizes agriculture, fishing, and areas with sparse resources. Norway also maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public sector expenditures to more than 50% of GDP and results in one of the highest average tax burdens in the world (46%). A small country with a high dependence on international trade, Norway is basically an exporter of raw materials and semiprocessed goods, with an abundance of small- and medium-sized firms, and is ranked among the major shipping nations. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil sector. Norway imports more than half its food needs. Economic growth, only 1.6% in 1993, moved up to 5.5% in 1994 and remained strong in 1995. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994.

National Product

GDP - purchasing power parity - $106.2 billion (1995 est.), $95.7 billion (1994 est.)

National Product Real Growth Rate

4.5% (1995 est.)
5.5% (1994 est.)

National Product Per Capita

$24,500 (1995 est.)
$22,170 (1994 est.)

Inflation Rate (consumer Prices)

2.5% (1995 est.)
1.3% (1994 est.)

Unemployment Rate

8% (including people in job-training programs; November 1995), 8.4% 1994 est.)

Budget

Exports

$34.7 billion (f.o.b., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

Imports

$27.3 billion (c.i.f., 1994)

Commodities:

Partners:

External Debt

NA

Industrial Production

Growth rate 7.4% (1994)

Electricity

Industries

Agriculture

Accounts for 3% of GDP and about 6% of labor force; among world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value of crops; fish catch of 1.76 million metric tons in 1989

Illicit Drugs

Transshipment point for drugs shipped via the CIS and Baltic states for the European market

Economic Aid

Currency

1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere

Exchange Rates

Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1 - 6.4160 (January 1996), 6.3352 (1995), 7.0576 (1994), 7.0941 (1993), 6.2145 (1992), 6.4829 (1991), 6.2597 (1990)

Fiscal Year

Calendar year

TRANSPORTATION

Railroads

Highways

Inland Waterways

1,577 km along west coast; 2.4 m draft vessels maximum

Pipelines

Refined products 53 km

Ports

Bergen, Drammen, Flora, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim

Merchant Marine

Note: The government has created a captive register, the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS), as a subset of the Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians

Airports

Heliports:

1 (1995 est.)

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone System

2.39 million (1986 est.) telephones; high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services

Radio

Television

DEFENSE FORCES

Branches

Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air Force, Home Guard

Manpower Availability

Males age 15-49 1,125,302; males fit for military service 937,309; males reach military age (20) annually 28,328 (1996 est.)

Defense Expenditures

Exchange rate conversion - $3.7 billion, 2.9% of GDP (1995), $3.4 billion, 3.2% of GDP (1994)

History
World Atlas