Norway

constitutional monarchyIndependence 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)

Norway as the 1992 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 74 fields, one of 36 editions from 1990 to 2025.

field in that editiontext changed from the edition beforenot in that editionthe open editionEach field below ends in its editions, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down.

CapitalOslo

Area324,220 km2

Populationas each edition published it

4.29 million July 1992 · 4.25m in 1990

Population growth% a year

Not in this edition 0.41% in 1993

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 37.7 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

Not in this edition 77.16 yrs in 1993

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.8 children per woman 1992 · 1.8 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

7 deaths per 1,000 live births 1992 · 7 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

Not in this edition $17,700 in 1993

GDP real growth% a year

Not in this edition 2.9% in 1993

Geography

12 fields

Total area

324,220km2

Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico

Coastline

21,925km

includes mainland 3,419 km, large islands 2,413 km, long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 16,093 kmContiguous zone: 10 nmContinental shelf: to depth of exploitationExclusive economic zone: 200 nmTerritorial sea: 4 nm

Land boundaries

2,515km total

Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 167 km

Land area

307,860 km2

Disputes

territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land);
Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime claims between Greenland and Jan Mayen;
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

Natural resources

crude oil, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower

Land use

arable land 3%;
permanent crops 0%;
meadows and pastures NEGL%;
forest and woodland 27%;
other 70%;
includes irrigated NEGL%

Environment

air and water pollution;
acid rain;
note - 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

14 fields

Population

4,294,876

(July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)

Per 1,000 population(1992)

Birth

14Death

10Net migration

Religions(1980)

Evangelical Lutheran (state church) 87.8%other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3.8%none 3.2%unknown 5.2% (1980)

Literacy

99%

(male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1976 est.)

Infant mortality rate

7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Life expectancy at birth

74 years male, 81 years female (1992)

Total fertility rate

1.8 children born/woman (1992)

Nationality

noun - Norwegian(s); adjective - Norwegian

Ethnic divisions

Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) and racial-cultural minority of 20,000 Lapps

Languages

Norwegian (official); small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Labor force

2,167,000 (September 1990); services 34.7%, commerce 18%, mining and manufacturing 16.6%, banking and financial services 7.5%, transportation and communications 7.2%, construction 7.2%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6.4% (1989)

Organized labor

66% of labor force (1985)

Government

Constitutional monarchy

20 fields

Presidential electionpercent of vote

34.3%

Labor 34.3%Conservative 22.2%Progress 13.0%Socialist Left 10.1%Christian People's 8.5%Center Party 6.6%Finnmark List 0.3%other 5%

Long-form name

Kingdom of Norway

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, OCstfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, Vestfold

Independence

26 October 1905 (from Sweden)

Constitution

17 May 1814, modified in 1884

Dependent areas

Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard

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

National holiday

Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)

Executive branch

monarch, prime minister, State Council (cabinet)

Legislative branch

unicameral Parliament (Storting) with an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting)

Judicial branch

Supreme Court (Hoiesterett)

Leaders

Chief of State:: King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS (born 20 July 1973)
Head of Government:: Prime Minister Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND (since 3 November 1990)

Political parties and leaders

Labor, Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND;
Conservative, Kaci Kullmann FIVE;
Center Party, Anne Enger LAHNSTEIN;
Christian People's, Kjell Magne BONDEVIK;
Socialist Left, Erick SOLHEIM;
Norwegian Communist, Kare Andre NILSEN;
Progress, Carl I. HAGEN;
Liberal, Odd Einar DORUM;
Finnmark List, leader NA

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Elections

Storting:: last held on 11 September 1989 (next to be held 6 September 1993);
results - Labor 34.3%, Conservative 22.2%, Progress 13.0%, Socialist Left 10.1%, Christian People's 8.5%, Center Party 6.6%, Finnmark List 0.3%, other 5%;
seats - (165 total) Labor 63, Conservative 37, Progress 22, Socialist Left 17, Christian People's 14, Center Party 11, Finnmark List 1

Communists

15,500 est.;
5,500 Norwegian Communist Party (NKP);
10,000 Workers Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (AKP-ML, pro-Chinese)

Member of

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC

Diplomatic representation

Ambassador Kjeld VIBE;
Chancery at 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008;
telephone (202) 333-6000;
there are Norwegian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Miami and New Orleans

US:: Ambassador Loret Miller RUPPE;
Embassy at Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo 2 (mailing address is APO AE 09707);
telephone [47] (2) 44-85-50;
FAX [47] (2) 43-07-77

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

Norway has a mixed economy involving a combination of free market activity | and government intervention.

16 fields

Inflation, consumer prices

3.5%

(1991)

Unemployment rate

5.4%

(1991, excluding people in job-training programs)

External debt

$10.2billion

(1991)

Budget

Revenues

$47.9 billionExpenditures

$52.7 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (1991)

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 agricultural, fishing, and other sectors.

Norway also maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public-sector expenditures to slightly more than 50% of the GDP and results in one of the highest average tax burdens in the world (54%). 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 to keep its economy afloat. Although one of the government's main priorities is to reduce this dependency, this situation is not likely to improve for years to come.

The government also hopes to reduce unemployment and strengthen and diversify the economy through tax reform and an expansionary 1992 budget. Forecasters predict that economic growth will rise slightly in 1992 because of public-sector expansion and moderate improvements in private investment and demand.

Inflation will remain about 3%, while unemployment continues at record levels of over 5% because of the weakness of the economy outside the oil sector. Oslo, a member of the European Free Trade Area, is continuing to deregulate and harmonize with EC regulations to prepare for the European Economic Area (EEA) - which creates a EC/EFTA market with free movement of capital, goods, services, and labor - which takes effect in 1993.

GDP

purchasing power equivalent - $72.9 billion, per capita $17,100; real growth rate 4.1% (1991 est.)

Exports

$34.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)

commodities:: petroleum and petroleum products 36.5%, natural gas 7.5%, fish 7%, aluminum 6%, ships 6.2%, pulp and paper
partners:: EC 66.5%, Nordic countries 19.5%, developing countries 7.8%, US 4.6%, Japan 1.9% (1991)

Imports

$25.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991)

commodities:: machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships
partners:: EC 46.8%, Nordic countries 26.1%, developing countries 12.3%, US 7.8%, Japan 4.7% (1991)

Industrial production

growth rate 4.7% (1991)

Electricity

26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced, 28,950 kWh per capita (1991)

Industries

petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing

Agriculture

accounts for 2.8% of GDP and 6.4% of labor force;
among world's top 10 fishing nations;
livestock output exceeds value of crops;
over half of food needs imported;
fish catch of 1.76 million metric tons in 1989

Economic aid

donor - ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $4.4 billion

Currency

Norwegian krone (plural - kroner); 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 re

Exchange rates

Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1 - 6.1956 (January 1992), 6.4829 (1991), 6.2597 (1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988), 6.7375 (1987)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

9 fields

Merchant marine, 864 ships by type

passenger 12short-sea passenger 20cargo 118passenger-cargo 2refrigerated cargo 19container 16roll-on/roll-off 49vehicle carrier 22railcar carrier 1oil tanker 180chemical tanker 93liquefied gas 83combination ore/oil 28bulk 211combination bulk; 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; the majority of ships (777) under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS 10864 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 22,978,202 GRT/40,128,177 DWT

Airports, 103 total, 102 usable

permanent-surface runways

64runways | over 3,659 m

nonerunways 2,440-3,659 m

12runways 1,220-2,439 m

Networkskm

Highways

79,540Railroads

4,223Inland waterways

1,577

Highways: ; 38,580 km paved; 40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and earth · Railroads: ; Norwegian State Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double track); 4 km other · Inland waterways: ; 2.4 m draft vessels maximum

Railroads

4,223 km 1.435-meter standard gauge;
Norwegian State Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double track);
4 km other

Highways

79,540 km total;
38,580 km paved;
40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and earth

high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services;
2 buried coaxial cable systems;
3,102,000 telephones;
broadcast stations - 46 AM, 350 private and 143 government FM, 54 (2,100 repeaters) TV;
4 coaxial submarine cables;
3 communications satellite earth stations operating in the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems