Kingdom of Norway

!Norway’s Profile! "Physical Geography:

Official Name: Kingdom of Norway # Kongeriket Norge, Norwegian Bokmål # Kongeriket Noreg, Norwegian Nynorsk # Norgga Gonagasriika, Sami

Region: Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden.

Land area: 323,802 𝑘𝑚!(≈124,711 𝑚𝑖!)

Neighbors: Sweden, Finland, Russia

Physical features & Climate: Before the last ice age ended about 10,000 years ago, Norway was covered by a thick ice sheet. When that ice finally retreated (or melted) its movement across the land formed islands, lakes, rivers and mountains. It also etched-out deep valleys, that then filled with seawater forming Norway’s fjords. Norway is one of Europe's most mountainous countries, and dominated north to south by the many ranges of the Scandinavian Mountains.

It's a rugged land of elevated plateaus, deep-forested valleys and a few remaining ice age glaciers, including Folgefonna, Hardangerjokulen, and Jostedalsbreen - the largest glacier on the continental Europe landmass. Its toothy-edged western coastline is a jagged expanse of (over 50,000) islands and dozens of long, deeply indented fjords; the most significant of which include Baknafjord, Geirangerfjord, Hardangerfjord, Moldefjord, Sognefjord, Trondheimfjord, and Vestfjord.

In the far northeast above the Arctic Circle, frozen arctic tundra dominates the landscape, from Vardo, south and west. This tundra receives little precipitation and has a very short growing season, so it is generally a treeless plain of low shrubs and hearty grasses. A south central plateau slopes into the Trondelag, a hilly and mountainous farming area with strips of fertile land on the edges of the Trondheim Fjord. Additional lowlands are found

in the southeast, and along parts of the southern coastline. There are reportedly over 150,000 (counted) lakes, most quite small, with the largest being Lake Mjosa. Significant rivers include the Glama, the country's longest, and the Dramselva, Lagen (two of them) and the Tana in the far north.

"Cultural Geography:

Population: 5,147,792 (July 2014 est.)

Ethic composition: Norwegian 94.4% (includes Sami, about 60,000), other European 3.6%, other 2% (2007 estimate)

Languages: Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities Note: Sami is an official language in nine municipalities.

Capital City: Oslo # Major Cities and Towns: Sandvika, Ski, Elverum, Mo i Rana, Alta, Askim,

Lillestrøm, Drøbak, Leirvik, Stjørdalshalsen, Kragerø, Åkrehamn, Mosjeøn, Bryne, Sortland, Førde, Levanger, Leknes, Kopervik, Lillesand, Brumunddal, Hokksund, Stathelle, Orkanger, Odda, Verdasøra, Lyngdal, Jørpeland, Mysen, Kirkenes, Fauske, Sandnessjøen, Tananger, Langesund, Finnsnes, Ulsteinvik, Brønnøysund, Skundeneshavn, Sauda, Fosnavåg, Rjukan, Måløy, Åndalsnes, Stevern, Otta, Brevik, Honningsvåg, Brekstad, Fagernes, Kolvereid.

Average life quality: Money, while it cannot buy happiness, is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Norway, the average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is 32 093 USD a year, more than the OECD average of 23 938 USD a year. But there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20% of the population earn close to four times as much as the bottom 20%. In terms of employment, over 76% of people aged 15 to 64 in Norway have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 65%. Some 78% of men are in paid work, compared with 74% of women. People in Norway work 1 420 hours a year, less than the OECD average of 1 765 hours. Only 3% of employees work very long hours, much less than the OECD average of 9%, with 5% of men working very long hours compared with just 2% for women. Having a good education is an important requisite for finding a job. In Norway, 82% of adults aged 25-64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, higher than the OECD average of 75%. This is equally true of men and women. In terms of the quality of the education system, the average student scored 496 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), slightly lower than the OECD average of 497. On average in Norway, girls outperformed boys by 16 points, higher than the average OECD gap of 8 points. In terms of health, life expectancy at birth in Norway is 81 years, one year higher than the OECD average of 80 years. Life expectancy for men is 79 years, compared with 84 for women. The level of atmospheric PM10 – tiny air

pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 16.1 micrograms per cubic meter, considerably lower than the OECD average of 20.1 micrograms per cubic meter. Norway also does well in terms of water quality, as 96% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, compared with the OECD average of 84%. Concerning the public sphere, there is a strong sense of community and high levels of civic participation in Norway, where 93% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need, higher than the OECD average of 89%. Voter turnout, a measure of public trust in government and of citizens’ participation in the political process, was 78% during recent elections, higher than the OECD average of 72%. Social and economic status can affect voting rates; voter turnout for the top 20% of the population is an estimated 85% and for the bottom 20% it is an estimated 72%, a slightly broader gap than the OECD average gap of 11 percentage points. In general, Norwegians are more satisfied with their lives than the OECD average, with 81% of people saying they have more positive experiences in an average day (feelings of rest, pride in accomplishment, enjoyment, etc.) than negative ones (pain, worry, sadness, boredom, etc.). This figure is higher than the OECD average of 76%.

"Political Geography:

Date of foundation: 872 AD

Government Type: constitutional monarchy

Chief of state: King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS, son of the monarch (born 20 July 1973)

Head of government: Prime Minister Erna SOLBERG (since 16 October 2013)

Cabinet: State Council appointed by the monarch with the approval of parliament

Political parties and leaders: Center Party or Sp [Liv Signe NAVARSETE] Christian Democratic Party or KrF [Knut Arild HAREIDE] Conservative Party or H [Erna SOLBERG]

Labor Party or Ap [Jens STOLTENBERG] Liberal Party or V [Trine SKEI-GRANDE] Progress Party or FrP [Siv JENSEN] Socialist Left Party or SV [Audun LYSBAKKEN]

Manpower Available:

# Males (age 16-49): 888,761 # Females (age 16-49): 865,697 (2010 est.)

Norway’s allies: NATO (Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, The United Kingdom, The United States.)

Norway’s enemies:

"Economic Geography:

Total gross domestic product (GDP): 512.6 billion USD (2013)

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, titanium, pyrites, nickel, fish, timber, hydropower

Currency: (x-rates.com)

                           

Norwegian Krone 1.00 NOK inv. 1.00 NOK

US Dollar 0.132711 7.535185

Euro 0.116738 8.566159

British Pound 0.086266 11.592111

Indian Rupee 8.243218 0.121312

Australian Dollar 0.169259 5.908114

Canadian Dollar 0.166433 6.008424

Singapore Dollar 0.180512 5.539810

Swiss Franc 0.125056 7.996438

Malaysian Ringgit 0.484394 2.064435

Japanese Yen 15.810244 0.063250

Exports and Imports:  

# Exports: $154.2 billion (2013 est.) # Exports-commodities: petroleum and petroleum products, machinery

and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, fish # Exports-partners: UK 25.6%, Germany 12.6%, Netherlands 12%, France

6.7%, Sweden 6.3%, US 5% (2012)

# Imports: $90.14 billion (2013 est.) # Imports-commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals,

foodstuffs # Imports-partners: Sweden 13.6%, Germany 12.4%, China 9.3%,

Denmark 6.3%, UK 6.1%, US 5.4% (2012)