Norway

Kingdom of NorwayKongeriket Norge

constitutional monarchyIndependence 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)

Norway as the 1993 edition of the CIA World Factbook published it: 79 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

LocationNorthern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden

Populationas each edition published it

4.3 million July 1993 est. · 4.25m in 1990

Population growth% a year

0.41% 1993 est. · 0.57% in 2025

Median ageyears

Not in this edition 37.7 yrs in 2003

Life expectancyyears at birth

77.16 years 1993 est. · 82.9 yrs in 2025

Fertility ratechildren per woman

1.86 children per woman 1993 est. · 1.8 in 1990

Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births

6.4 deaths per 1,000 live births 1993 est. · 7 in 1990

GDP per capitaeach edition's own dollars

$17,700 1992 · $91,100 in 2025

GDP real growth% a year

2.9% 1992 · 2.1% in 2025

Geography

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

14 fields

Land useshare of 324,220 km2

arable land 3%meadows and pastures 0%forest and woodland 27%other 70%permanent crops 0% in all · irrigated 950 km2 (1989)

Area

324,220km2

land area: 307,860 km2comparative 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 km)contiguous 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

Location

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

Map references

Arctic Region, Europe, Standard Time Zones of the World

International disputes

territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land);
dispute between Denmark and Norway over maritime boundary in Arctic Ocean between Greenland and Jan Mayen is before the Interntional Court of Justice;
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

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

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

Note

about two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline

People

14 fields

Population

4,297,436

(July 1993 est.)growth rate: 0.41% (1993 est.)

Per 1,000 population(1993 est.)

Birth

13.75Death

10.54Net migration

0.87

Religions(1980)

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

Labor force

2.004million

(1992)

by occupation: services 39.1%, commerce 17.6%, mining, oil, and manufacturing 16.0%, banking and financial services 7.6%, transportation and communications 7.8%, construction 6.1%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 5.5% (1989)

Literacy

15and over can read and write

age · (1976)total population: 99%male: NA%female: NA%

Infant mortality rate

6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population:: 77.16 years
male:: 73.79 years
female:: 80.73 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate

1.86 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Nationality

noun:: Norwegian(s)
adjective:: Norwegian

Ethnic divisions

Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic), Lapps 20,000

Languages

Norwegian (official) note: small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Government

Constitutional monarchy

21 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%

Names

conventional long form:: Kingdom of Norway
conventional short form:: Norway
local long form:: Kongeriket Norge
local short form:: Norge

Digraph

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)

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

National holiday

Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)

Political parties and leaders

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

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

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

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 (Hoyesterett)

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)

Member of

AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, 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, NAM (guest), NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM II, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNMOGIP, UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in US

chief of mission:: Ambassador Kjeld VIBE
chancery:: 2720 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20008
telephone:: (202) 333-6000
FAX:: (202) 337-0870
consulates general:: Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco
consulate:: Miami

US diplomatic representation

chief of mission:: (vacant)
embassy:: Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo 2
mailing address:: PSC 69, Box 1000, 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.

19 fields

GDP per capita, PPP

$17,700

(1992)

Real growth rate

2.9%

(1992)industrial production growth: growth rate 7.3% (1992)

Inflation, consumer prices

2.3%

(1992)

Unemployment rate

5.9%

(excluding people in job-training programs) (1992)

Budget

Revenues

$50.6 billionExpenditures

$57.0 billion

expenditures, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

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 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 a series of expansionary budgets. The budget deficit is expected to hit a record 8% of GDP because of welfare spending and bail-outs of the banking system. Unemployment continues at record levels of over 10% - including those in job programs - because of the weakness of the economy outside the oil sector.

Overall economic growth is expected to be around 2% in 1993 while inflation is likely to rise slightly to 4%. Oslo, a member of the European Free Trade Area, has applied for EC membership and continues to deregulate and harmonize with EC regulations to prepare for the European Economic Area (EEA) - which creates an EC/EFTA market with free movement of capital, goods, services, and labor - to take effect in late 1993 and its EC bid.

National product

GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $76.1 billion (1992)

Exports

$35.3 billion (f.o.b., 1992)

commodities:: petroleum and petroleum products 37.8%, metals and products 10.7%, natural gas 7.3%, fish 6.6%, chemicals 6.3%, ships 5.4%
partners:: EC 67%, Nordic countries 18.2%, developing countries 7.9%, US 5.1%, Japan 1.6% (1992)

Imports

$26.8 billion (c.i.f., 1992)

commodities:: machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships
partners:: EC 48.7%, Nordic countries 26.8%, developing countries 9.3%, US 8.6%, Japan 6.3% (1992)

External debt

$6.5 billion (1992 est.)

Electricity

26,900,000 kW capacity; 111,000 million kWh produced, 25,850 kWh per capita (1992)

Industries

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

Agriculture

accounts for 2.6% of GDP and 5.5% 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

Illicit drugs

increasingly used as transshipment point for Latin American cocaine to Europe and gateway for Asian heroin shipped via the CIS and Baltic states for the European market

Economic aid

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

Currency

1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 re

Exchange rates

Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1 - 6.8774 (January 1993), 6.2145 (1992), 6.4829 (1991), 6.2597 (1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Communications

8 fields

Merchant marine, 829 ships by type

passenger 13short-sea passenger 20cargo 106passenger-cargo 2refrigerated cargo 19container 15roll-on/roll-off 49vehicle carrier 23railcar carrier 1oil tanker 174chemical tanker 91liquefied gas 82combination ore/oil 25bulk 201combination 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 8829 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 22,312,412 GRT/38,532,109 DWT

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

total:: 103
usable:: 102
with permanent-surface runways:: 63
with runways over 3,659 m:: 0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:: 12
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:: 16

Telecommunications

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