Norway

I

Introduction

Norway, country in northern Europe, in the region called Scandinavia. A long and mostly narrow country, Norway occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Norway’s extensive coastline is washed on three sides by seas. To the north is the Barents Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean; to the west is the Norwegian Sea; and to the south are the Skagerrak, a strait separating Norway from Denmark, and the North Sea. Norway shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and in the far northeast Norway shares a frontier with Russia and Finland. Oslo, in the southeast, is Norway’s capital and largest city.

Norway has several overseas possessions. In the Arctic Ocean are the Svalbard archipelago and Jan Mayen, a volcanic island northeast of Iceland. Norway’s possessions also include Bouvet Island, an uninhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean, and Peter I Island, off Antarctica. Norway also claims the portion of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land.

Norway is a land of rugged, pine-topped mountain ranges, valleys gouged out by glaciers, and narrow deep-sided inlets from the sea known as fjords. A line of offshore islands called the skerry guard shields the coastline and forms a protected inland waterway. Norway’s name, which means “northern way,” reflects the importance of this waterway in linking the many small fjord and valley communities that are otherwise separated by rugged terrain.

As one of the world’s northernmost countries, Norway is sometimes called the Land of the Midnight Sun. One-third of Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle, where there is almost continuous daylight from May through July. In midwinter the far north is dark almost all of the time. The beauty of the land inspired musical works by Norway’s most famous composer, Edvard Grieg, who attempted to capture the changing mood created by the alternately light and dark seasons.

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Today, as in the past, most of Norway’s people live along the shores of the fjords in the south. For many centuries, as fishers and traders, they lived off the sea. It was from Norway’s coast that the Vikings—skilled sailors who built a vast maritime trading network—ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, later becoming the first Europeans to reach Greenland and North America in the late 10th century. The lure of the sea has remained strong into modern times. Norway retains a vigorous fishing industry and its merchant marine fleet is one of the world’s largest. During the late 20th century, the discovery of vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas in Norway’s portion of the North Sea brought an important new source of prosperity to the country. Today, Norway is among the world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels.

The first unified Norwegian kingdom emerged in the 9th century ad. In 1397 Norway became a province of Denmark and was dominated by that country until 1814, when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. A surge of Norwegian nationalism in the 19th century led to the dissolution of the union with Sweden. Norway became an independent nation in 1905, with a constitutional monarch as head of state and a democratically elected government. Norway’s official name is the Kingdom of Norway (Norwegian Kongeriket Norge).

II

Land and Resources

Norway is roughly as large as the state of Montana with a total land area of 385,639 sq km (148,896 sq mi). The landscape is rugged and mountainous with few areas of lowlands. The average elevation of Norway is more than 460 m (1,500 ft) above sea level. Norway’s coastline is, in proportion to its area, longer than that of any other large nation in the world. These geographical facts have been especially significant in Norway’s historical development.

A

Natural Regions

Mountains cover three-fifths of Norway and extend for almost its entire length. Scraped and rounded by glaciers, the mountains slope gradually to the east and drop sharply to the sea in the west. Northern Norway is a vast region of fjords, mountains, and islands. In the northernmost part of this region the fjords open into the cold waters of the Arctic Ocean. From the fjord heads the land rises to the vast Finnmarksvidda, a bleak plateau.

In central Norway the low, flat valleys surrounding the city of Trondheim are among the country’s most important agricultural regions. At the center of this region is the broad Trondheimsfjord, a body of water sheltered from the sea by peninsulas and islands.

Mountains rise again in the south, where the country broadens, and are grouped into the Dovrefjell and Langfjell ranges. Within the Langfjell is Norway’s highest peak, the Galdhøpiggen, which rises to 2,469 m (8,100 ft). To the west of this peak is Europe’s largest glacier, the Jostedalsbreen, which is 97 km (60 mi) long and 24 km (15 mi) wide. Farther south the Langfjell separates the fertile valleys of eastern Norway and the rugged land of the western fjords. The gradual slopes in the east are intensively cultivated and heavily settled; more than half of Norway’s population lives in this region.

B

Rivers and Lakes

Norway has abundant rivers and lakes. The larger rivers of Norway are found in the east, where the country’s longest river, the Glåma (Glomma), has a course of 610 km (380 mi). With its tributaries, the Glåma drains about one-eighth of Norway’s area. In the west rivers are generally short and swift, with many rapids and falls. The longest river in northern Norway is the Tana. Flowing north into the Barents Sea, it forms part of the frontier with Finland, and it is renowned as the country’s most important salmon-fishing river. Norway has tens of thousands of glacial lakes. The largest is Lake Mjøsa in the southeast, with an area of 390 sq km (150 sq mi).

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