Norway is in the north-west corner of the European continent and makes up the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula. To the east of Norway's borders lie Sweden, Finland and Russia. Norway stretches over a latitude of 13 degrees; from about 58 degrees north to slightly obove 71 degrees north. From the southernmost point on the mainland, Lindesnes, to the northernmost point, Nordkyn, the distance between north and south is 1752 km. The coastline measures 2600 km, but if we follow the shoreline into every fjord and bay, this distance can be multipled by ten. The kingdom of Norway also includes the Spitsbergen archipelago, in the Arctic Sea, Jan Mayen island in the Atlantic as well as Peter I's Island and Bouvet Island both in the Antartic Ocean. Norway has a population of 4,1 million poeple living in an area of 323 882 square km.. If we include the aditional territory listed above , it is 386 948 square km..
When the great arctic ice-cap receded 8000 years ago, people moved into the coastal areas which were the first to become ice-free. More than seven thousand years later, in 872 AD, Norway was united into one kingdom when Harald Hårfagre defeated his last rivals. Around 1250, under king Håkon Håkonsen, the kingdom of Norway included Iceland, Greenland, The Faeroe Islands and Orkneys. The Black Death killed half of Norways's population in 1349 after which the nation fell into decline coming under Danish domination, which lasted for 400 years. After the Napoleonic Wars Denmark, having supported Napeleon, again became a sovereign state. During the Second World War Norway was occupied by the Germans and several towns were bombed and destroyed. These were rebuilt after the war.
The Gulf Stream makes the climate in Norway much milder than thatof countries elsewhere at the same latitude. In Lofoten, for instance, the mean January temperature is 24 degrees higher than in other places around the world at the same latitude. The inland valleys of southern Norway and Finnmarksvidda in Northern Norway have an inland climate with cold winters and mild summers, where as the coastal areas have relatively cool summers and mild winters.
The Norwegian Constitution was the work of a constitutional assembly gathered at Eidsvoll in 1814. It was finally approved by this same assembly on the 17th May of that year. Certain amendments have been passed since then, but the main principle is still that the people of Norway constitute a sovereign and democratic nation. Norway is a constitutional monarchy; King Harald V exercises his power through the elected goverment. The Storting consist of 157 members elected for a period of 4 years during which new elections cannot be called.
Norway is a thinly populated country and with an uneven population distribution among the different parts of the country. Of the 4,1 million inhabitants, 1,9 million live in towns or villages and approximately 2,2 million in rural areas. Culturally speaking, Norway is a homogeneous country except for the nothern part where there are Sami and Finnish communities. The official language, Norwegian, is closely related to the two other Scandinavian languages, Swedish and Danish. Nearly 90 per cent of the Norwegian population belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran state church.
The sea, the forest and the waterfalls make up the basic on witch Norwegian industrial life is built. Fish was Norway's first big export product. In the Middle Ages dried fish (klippfisk) from northern Norway was shipped abroad from Hanseatic town of Bergen in large quantities. In the 16th century the export of timber to England and the Netherlands was the backbone of the country's economy. This export also created a national merchant marine in Norway which later was to become the world's largest. Norway is blessed with a lot of precipitations an waterfalls abounded. These have been harnessed to give the country cheap electricity. This has attracted power intensive industries: Norway is one of the world's largest producers of aluminium and ferroalloys. When the shipping industry lost some of it's lustre in teh 60s, the sea gave Norway another gift, oil. Industry based on teh oil and gas resources found on the Norwegiasn continental shelf is today the mainstay of the Norwegian economy. Other important exports are computer technology, furniture, fertilizer and cement.