| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Norway
conventional short form: Norway
local long form: Kongeriket Norge
local short form: Norge |
| Capital: |
Oslo |
| Location: |
Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
62 00 N, 10 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 324,220 sq km
land: 307,860 sq km
water: 16,360 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly larger than New Mexico |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 2,551 km
border countries: Finland 736 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 196 km |
| Coastline: |
21,925 km (includes mainland 3,419 km, large islands 2,413 km, long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 16,093 km) |
| Maritime
Claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 10 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers; 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 |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Norwegian Sea 0 m
highest point: Galdhopiggen 2,469 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, titanium, pyrites, nickel, fish, timber, hydropower |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
constitutional monarchy |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
19 counties (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 |
7 June 1905 (Norway declared the union with Sweden dissolved); 26 October 1905 (Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union) |
| National
Holiday: |
Constitution Day, 17 May (1814) |
| 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 |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
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 Kjell Magne BONDEVIK (since 19 October 2001)
cabinet: State Council appointed by the monarch with the approval of parliament
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the parliament |
| Legislative
Branch: |
modified unicameral Parliament or Storting (165 seats; members are elected by popular vote by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 10 September 2001 (next to be held September 2005)
election results: percent of vote by party - Labor Party 24.3%, Conservative Party 21.2%, Progress Party 14.6%, Socialist Left Party 12.5%, Christian People's Party 12.4%, Center Party 5.6%, Liberal Party 3.9%, Coastal Party 1.7%, other 3.8%; seats by party - Labor Party 43, Conservative Party 38, Progress Party 26, Socialist Left Party 23, Christian People's Party 22, Center Party 10, Liberal Party 2, Coastal Party 1
note: for certain purposes, the parliament divides itself into two chambers and elects one-fourth of its membership to an upper house or Lagting |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (justices appointed by the monarch) |
| Political
parties and Leaders: |
Center Party [Aslaug Marie HAGA]; Christian People's Party [Dagfinn HOYBRATEN]; Coastal Party [Steinar BASTESEN]; Conservative Party [Erna SOLBERG]; Labor Party [Jens STOLTENBERG]; Liberal Party [Lars SPONHEIM]; Progress Party [Carl I. HAGEN]; Socialist Left Party [Kristin HALVORSEN] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
4,593,041 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 19.5% (male 459,418/female 437,734)
15-64 years: 65.7% (male 1,531,249/female 1,484,656)
65 years and over: 14.8% (male 286,343/female 393,641) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 38.17 years
male: 37.29 years
female: 39.07 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Norwegian(s)
adjective: Norwegian |
| Ethnic groups: |
Norwegian, Sami 20,000 |
| Religions: |
Evangelical Lutheran 86% (state church), other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3%, other 1%, none and unknown 10% (1997) |
| Languages: |
Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
3.343 million (2002) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
4,163,400 (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: modern in all respects; one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in Europe
domestic: Norway has a domestic satellite system; moreover, the prevalence of rural areas encourages the wide use of cellular mobile systems instead of fixed-wire systems
international: country code - 47; 2 buried coaxial cable systems; 4 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - NA Eutelsat, NA 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) (1999) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 5, FM at least 650, shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
360 (plus 2,729 repeaters) (1995) |
| Internet country
code: |
.no |
| Internet hosts: |
593,850 (2004) |
| Internet users: |
2.288 million (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 4,077 km
standard gauge: 4,077 km 1.435-m gauge (2,518 km electrified) (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 91,852 km
paved: 71,185 km (including 178 km of expressways)
unpaved: 20,667 km (2002) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
condensate 411 km; gas 6,199 km; oil 2,213 km; oil/gas/water 746 km; unknown (oil/water) 38 km (2004) |
| Ports and harbors: |
Bergen, Drammen, Floro, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim |
| Merchant marine: |
total: 740 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 18,820,495 GRT/27,449,456 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 51, cargo 168, chemical tanker 142, combination ore/oil 20, container 3, liquefied gas 81, passenger 5, passenger/cargo 113, petroleum tanker 79, refrigerated cargo 6, roll on/roll off 30, vehicle carrier 42
foreign-owned: 174 (Belgium 1, China 3, Cyprus 5, Denmark 28, Estonia 2, Finland 5, Germany 4, Hong Kong 52, Iceland 3, Italy 3, Japan 3, Lithuania 1, Monaco 1, Netherlands 4, Poland 2, Saudi Arabia 7, Singapore 10, Sweden 24, United States 16)
registered in other countries: 1,117 (2005) |
| Airports: |
101 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 65
2,438 to 3,047 m: 13
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 14
under 914 m: 26 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 36
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
1 (2004 est.) |
|
