Norway

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Norway

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Kongeriket Norge/Kingdom of Norway Area 387,000 sq km/149,420 sq mi (including Svalbard and Jan Mayen) Capital Oslo Language Norwegian (official), Saami (Lapp), Finnish Religion Evangelical Lutheran (endowed by state) 88%; other Protestant and Roman Catholic 4% Time difference GMT +1 Major holidays 1 January, 1, 17 May, 25–26 December; variable: Ascension Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Holy Thursday, Whit Monday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Drammen Physical features mountainous with fertile valleys and deeply indented coast; forests cover 25%; extends north of Arctic Circle Territories dependencies in the Arctic (Svalbard and Jan Mayen) and in Antarctica (Bouvet and Peter I Island, and Queen Maud Land) Airports three international airports and about 50 other scheduled airports; total passengers carried: 12.8 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 4,023 km/2,500 mi; total passenger journeys: 49.4 million (2001) Roads total road network: 91,916 km/57,114 mi, of which 77.5% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 527 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state King Harald V from 1991 Head of government Jens Stoltenberg from 2005 Political system liberal democracy Political executive parliamentary Administrative divisions 19 counties and 439 municipalities Political parties Norwegian Labour Party (DNA), moderate left of centre; Conservative Party, progressive, right of centre; Christian People's Party (KrF), Christian, centre left; Centre Party (Sp), left of centre, rural-oriented; Progress Party (FrP), right wing, populist Death penalty abolished in 1979 Armed forces 25,800; plus 210,400 reservists (2006 est) Conscription 12 months, with 4–5 refresher training periods Defence spend (% GDP) 1.8 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 7.6 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 8.6 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency Norwegian krone GDP (US$) 283.9 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 2.4 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 275.2 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 40,420 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.3% (2006 est) Unemployment 3.9% (2006 est) Labour force 3.3% agriculture, 20.8% industry, 75.9% services (2005) Major trading partners UK, Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, UK, USA, EU25 Resources petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, iron pyrites, copper, lead, zinc, forests Industries mining, fishery, food processing, non-electrical machinery, metals and metal products, paper products, printing and publishing, shipbuilding, chemicals Exports petroleum and refined petroleum products, natural gas, fish products, non-ferrous metals, wood pulp and paper, basic chemicals. Principal market: UK 24.3% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, clothing, mineral fuels, iron and steel, office machines and computers, manufactured goods, raw materials, food products, beverages and tobacco. Principal source: Sweden 14.7% (2005) Arable land 2.7% (2006 est) Agricultural products wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, fruit; fishing industry, including fish farming


POPULATION

Population 4,642,500 (2006 est) Population growth rate 0.5% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 12 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 81 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 20%, 15–59 60%, 60+ 20% (2005 est) Ethnic groups majority of Nordic descent; Saami minority in far north (approximately 30,000) Life expectancy 78 (men); 83 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 4 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 11 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 35.6 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 4.3 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.1 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <100 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 100 (urban); 100 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 46.1 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 102.9 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 3,324 (2001 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 1,554 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 57.2 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 40 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

5th century First small kingdoms established by Goths. c. 900 Harald Fairhair created united Norwegian kingdom; it dissolved after his death. 8th–11th centuries Vikings from Norway raided and settled in many parts of Europe. c. 1016–28 Olav II (St Olav) reunited kingdom and introduced Christianity. 1217–63 Haakon VI established royal authority over nobles and church and made monarchy hereditary. 1263 Iceland submitted to authority of king of Norway. 1397 Union of Kalmar: Norway, Denmark, and Sweden united under single monarch. 15th century Norway, as weakest kingdom, increasingly treated as appendage of Denmark. 1523 Secession of Sweden further undermined Norway's status. 16th century Introduction of the sawmill precipitated development of timber industry and growth of export trade. 1661 Denmark restored formal equality of status to Norway as twin kingdom. 18th century Norwegian merchants profited from foreign wars which increased demand for naval supplies. 1814 Treaty of Kiel: Denmark ceded Norway (minus Iceland) to Sweden; Norway retained its own parliament but cabinet appointed by king of Sweden. 19th century Economic decline followed slump in timber trade due to Canadian competition; expansion of merchant navy and whaling industry. 1837 Democratic local government introduced. 1884 Achieved internal self-government when king of Sweden made Norwegian cabinet accountable to Norwegian parliament. 1895 Start of constitutional dispute over control of foreign policy: Norway's demand for separate consular service refused by Sweden. 1905 Union with Sweden dissolved; Norway achieved independence under King Haakon VII. 1907 Norway became first European country to grant women right to vote in parliamentary elections. early 20th century Development of industry based on hydroelectric power; long period of Liberal government committed to neutrality and moderate social reform. 1940–45 German occupation with Vidkun Quisling as puppet leader. 1945–65 Labour governments introduced economic planning and permanent price controls. 1949 Founding member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 1952 Joined Nordic Council. 1957 Olaf V succeeded father King Haakon VII. 1960 Joined European Free Trade Association (EFTA). 1972 Referendum rejected membership of European Community (EC). 1975 Export of North Sea oil began. 1981 Gro Harlem Brundtland (Labour) became Norway's first woman prime minister. 1986 Falling oil prices caused recession. 1991 Olaf V was succeeded by son Harald V. 1994 National referendum rejected membership of European Union (EU). 1997 Kjell Magne Bondevik of Christian People's Party (KrF) became prime minister. 1998 Economic downturn. 2000 Bondevik resigned as prime minister; succeeded by Jens Stoltenberg of Labour Party. 2001 New centre-right coalition government formed under Bondevik again following parliamentary elections. 2005 Election win for Labour Party; Stoltenberg regained premiership leading centre-left coalition.


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