About Norway

Norway is a country of rugged beauty boasting breathtaking scenery featuring mountains, fjords and glaciers populated by 4.5 million people. Norway has a strong tradition of exploration dating from the Viking era and continued by modern explorers such as Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen and Heyerdahl. Despite its small population and remote location, it has produced a wealth of artistic talent including the painter Edvard Munch, composer Edvard Grieg, sculptor Gustav Vigeland and playwright Henrik Ibsen. Norway has also produced three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Bjornstjerne Bjornson, Sigrid Undset and Knud Hamsun. Largely due to its thriving off-shore oil industry, Norway is the wealthiest of the five Nordic nations. In 2002, Norway was ranked 1st overall in the UN Human Development Index.

The Kingdom of Norway is a constitutional monarchy and its current Head of State, His Majesty King Harald V, ascended the throne on January 17, 1991. The Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, made up of 165 (from the election in 2005 it will be 169) seats, and members are elected by proportional representation to four-year terms. The last election, which took place on September 10th, 2001, resulted in a change of government after six weeks of inter-party coalition negotiations. The coalition government, known as the "Cooperation Government" or "Samarbeidsregjeringen", is made up of the Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberal parties. The current Prime Minister is Kjell Magne Bondevik, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party and the second largest member of the Coalition government. Jan Petersen, the leader of the Conservative Party which is the largest Coalition member, is the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Although a referendum on EU accession was lost by a small margin in November 1994, an emphasis on Europe is maintained in Norway's foreign policy through numerous initiatives. Economically, it is closely tied to Europe through the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the European FTA and the European Economic Area (EEA). Norway also places a great deal of emphasis on transatlantic relations, particularly through NATO, but also through many other multilateral fora.

Norway has a tradition of active participation in international affairs and has chaired a number of international organizations such as the OSCE (until January, 2000), the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (1999) and the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) (July 1999-June 2000). Norway held a seat on the UN Security Council for 2001-2002. It continues to play a high profile role in various peace keeping missions to the Balkans. Norway is an active member of the Arctic Council, an inter-governmental forum that addresses the concerns of the Arctic governments and the peoples of the Arctic, and the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers, two organisations that channel official Nordic co-operation. Norway is also a key player in mediation processes in Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Colombia, Sudan and the Phillippines and a vital member of the Human Security Network.

Last updated: REN / January 2003

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Associations with Norwegian history and culture vary a lot. Some would mention the vikings or the sami, and others would point to internationally famous authors, composers, actors and painters such as Henrik Ibsen, Edvard Grieg, Liv Ullmann and Edvard Munch.

Today, Norway's largest cities are small compared to other European metropolises. Easy to get around in, many of them are symbolic of a long history of trade and shipping with other countries.

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Official Government Information from Norway