Norway

• temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current;
• colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers;
• rainy year-round on west coast

• glaciated;
• mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys;
• small, scattered plains;
• coastline deeply indented by fjords;
• arctic tundra in north

• most Norwegians live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe;
• population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast;
• the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated

• 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 the most rugged and longest coastlines in the world

noun:

Norwegian(s)

adjective:

Norwegian

• Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities;
• note - Sami has three dialects:
  • Lule,
  • North Sami,
  • and South Sami
  ;
• Sami is an official language in nine municipalities in Norway's three northernmost counties:
  • Finnmark,
  • Nordland,
  • and Troms

major-language sample(s):

Verdens Faktabok, den essensielle kilden for grunnleggende informasjon. (Norwegian); The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

total:

40.6 years (2023 est.)

male:

39.9 years

female:

41.4 years

• most Norwegians live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe;
• population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast;
• the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.88 male(s)/female

total population:

1.02 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

total:

1.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)

male:

2.1 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

1.5 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

83 years (2023 est.)

male:

81.4 years

female:

84.7 years

total:

6.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

2.63 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

2.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

16.2% (2020 est.)

male:

17% (2020 est.)

female:

15.4% (2020 est.)

total population:

NA

male:

NA

female:

NA

• water pollution;
• acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks;
• air pollution from vehicle emissions

• temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current;
• colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers;
• rainy year-round on west coast

urban population:

84% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

1.32% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

particulate matter emissions:

6.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

41.02 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

4.81 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

2.187 million tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

572,119 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

26.2% (2015 est.)

municipal:

780 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

1.07 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

840 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Norway

conventional short form:

Norway

local long form:

Kongeriket Norge

local short form:

Norge

etymology:

derives from the Old Norse words "nordr" and "vegr" meaning "northern way" and refers to the long coastline of western Norway

name:

Oslo

geographic coordinates:

59 55 N, 10 45 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology:

• the medieval name was spelt "Aslo";
• the as component refered either to the Ekeberg ridge southeast of the town ("as" in modern Norwegian), or to the Aesir (Norse gods);
• lo refered to "meadow," so the most likely interpretations would have been either "the meadow beneath the ridge" or "the meadow of the gods";
• both explanations are considered equally plausible

• 7 June 1905 (union with Sweden declared dissolved);
• 26 October 1905 (Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union);
• notable earlier dates: ca. 872 (traditional unification of petty Norwegian kingdoms by HARALD Fairhair);
• 1397 (Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden);
• 1524 (Denmark-Norway);
• 17 May 1814 (Norwegian constitution adopted);
• 4 November 1814 (Sweden-Norway union confirmed)

history:

drafted spring 1814, adopted 16 May 1814, signed by Constituent Assembly 17 May 1814

amendments:

• proposals submitted by members of Parliament or by the government within the first three years of Parliament's four-year term;
• passage requires two-thirds majority vote of a two-thirds quorum in the next elected Parliament;
• amended over 400 times, last in 2020

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Norway

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

7 years

description:

unicameral Parliament or Storting (169 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 13 September 2021 (next to be held on 30 September 2025)

election results:

• percent of vote by party - Ap 26.3%, H 20.5%, SP 13.6%, FrP 11.7%, SV 7.6%, R 4.7%, V 4.6%, MDG 3.9%, KrF 3.8%, PF 0.2%, other 3.1%;
• seats by party - Ap 48, H 36, SP 28, FrP 21, SV 13, R 8, V 8, , KrF 3, MDG 3, PF 1;
• composition (as of October 2021) men 93, women 76, percent of women 45%

highest court(s):

Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (consists of the chief justice and 18 associate justices)

judge selection and term of office:

• justices appointed by the monarch (King in Council) upon the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board;
• justices can serve until mandatory retirement at age 70

subordinate courts:

• Courts of Appeal or Lagmennsrett;
• regional and district courts;
• Conciliation Boards;
• ordinary and special courts;
• note - in addition to professionally trained judges, elected lay judges sit on the bench with professional judges in the Courts of Appeal and district courts

• Center Party or Sp [Trygve Slagsvold VEDUM]
• Christian Democratic Party or KrF [Olaug Vervik BOLLESTAD]
• Conservative Party or H [Erna SOLBERG]
• Green Party or MDG [Arild HERMSTAD]
• Labor Party or Ap [Jonas Gahr STORE]
• Liberal Party or V [Guri MELBY]
• Patient Focus or PF [Irene OJALA]
• Progress Party or FrP [Sylvi LISTHAUG]
• Red Party or R [Bjonar MOXNES]
• Socialist Left Party or SV [Kristi BERGSTO]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Anniken Ramberg KRUTNES (since 17 September 2020)

chancery:

2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 333-6000

FAX:

[1] (202) 469-3990

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://www.norway.no/en/usa/

consulate(s) general:

Houston, New York, San Francisco

chief of mission:

Ambassador Marc NATHANSON (since 16 June 2022)

embassy:

Morgedalsvegen 36, 0378 Oslo

mailing address:

5460 Oslo Place, Washington DC 20521-5460

telephone:

[47] 21-30-85-40

FAX:

[47] 22-56-27-51

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://no.usembassy.gov/

• 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);
• the colors recall Norway's past political unions with Denmark (red and white) and Sweden (blue)

name:

"Ja, vi elsker dette landet" (Yes, We Love This Country)

lyrics/music:

lyrics/music: Bjornstjerne BJORNSON/Rikard NORDRAAK

note: adopted 1864; in addition to the national anthem, "Kongesangen" (Song of the King), which uses the tune of "God Save the King," serves as the royal anthem

total World Heritage Sites:

8 (7 cultural, 1 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• Bryggen (c);
• Urnes Stave Church (c);
• Røros Mining Town and the Circumference (c);
• Rock Art of Alta (c);
• Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago (c);
• Struve Geodetic Arc (c);
• West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord (n);
• Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site (c)

• high-income non-EU European economy;
• aging labor force;
• large state-owned energy company constrains budget and spending;
• largest oil sovereign wealth fund;
• major fishing, forestry, and extraction industries;
• large welfare system

Fitch rating:

AAA (1995)

Moody's rating:

Aaa (1997)

Standard & Poors rating: AAA (1975)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

total:

13% (2021 est.)

male:

13.5%

female:

12.5%

on food:

11.7% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

4.1% of household expenditures (2018 est.)

lowest 10%:

3.8%

highest 10%:

21.2% (2014)

production:

69,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

consumption:

1.13 million metric tons (2020 est.)

exports:

46,000 metric tons (2020 est.)

imports:

1.172 million metric tons (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

2 million metric tons (2019 est.)

total petroleum production:

2.026 million bbl/day (2021 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

215,900 bbl/day (2019 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate exports:

1,242,500 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil and lease condensate imports:

66,300 bbl/day (2018 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

8,122,200,000 barrels (2021 est.)

production:

112,052,523,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)

consumption:

3,980,351,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)

exports:

107,337,690,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)

imports:

32.196 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

proven reserves:

1,544,455,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

Norway has a sophisticated telecom market with high broadband and mobile penetration rates and a highly developed digital media sector. Although not a member of the European Union, the country’s telecoms sector is synchronized with relevant EC legislation; Norway enjoys near comprehensive LTE coverage with upgrades to 5G technologies in the future (2023)

domestic:

fixed-line is 7 per 100 and mobile-cellular nearly 110 per 100 (2021)

international:

• country code - 47;
• landing points for the Svalbard Undersea Cable System, Polar Circle Cable, Bodo-Rost Cable, NOR5KE Viking, Celtic Norse, Tempnet Offshore FOC Network, England Cable, Denmark-Norwary6, Havfrue/AEC-2, Skagerrak 4, and the Skagenfiber West & East submarine cables providing links to other Nordic countries, Europe and the US;
• satellite earth stations - Eutelsat, Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions);
• note - Norway shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden) (2019)

• state-owned public radio-TV broadcaster operates 3 nationwide TV stations, 3 nationwide radio stations, and 16 regional radio stations;
• roughly a dozen privately owned TV stations broadcast nationally and roughly another 25 local TV stations broadcasting;
• nearly 75% of households have access to multi-channel cable or satellite TV;
• 2 privately owned radio stations broadcast nationwide and another 240 stations operate locally;
• Norway is the first country in the world to phase out FM radio in favor of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), a process scheduled for completion in late 2017 (2019)

major seaport(s):

Bergen, Haugesund, Maaloy, Mongstad, Narvik, Sture

LNG terminal(s) (export):

Kamoy, Kollsnes, Melkoya Island, Tjeldbergodden

LNG terminal(s) (import):

Fredrikstad, Mosjoen

• the military's inventory includes a mix of modern, imported European, US, and domestically produced weapons systems and equipment;
• in recent years, the US has been the leading supplier of weapons systems to Norway (2023)