:Norway Geography
Total area:
324,220 km2
Land area:
307,860 km2
Comparative area:
slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries:
2,515 km total; Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km, Russia 167 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:
Contiguous zone:
10 nm
Continental shelf:
to depth of exploitation
Exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
Territorial sea:
4 nm
Disputes:
territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Denmark has challenged
Norway's maritime claims between Greenland and Jan Mayen; maritime boundary
dispute with Russia over portion of Barents Sea
Climate:
temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior;
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
Natural resources:
crude oil, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish,
timber, hydropower
Land use:
arable land 3%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures NEGL%; forest and
woodland 27%; other 70%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment:
air and water pollution; acid rain; note - strategic location adjacent to
sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest
coastlines in world; Norway and Turkey only NATO members having a land
boundary with Russia
:Norway People
Population:
4,294,876 (July 1992), growth rate 0.5% (1992)
Birth rate:
14 births/1,000 population (1992)
Death rate:
10 deaths/1,000 population (1992)
Net migration rate:
2 migrants/1,000 population (1992)
Infant mortality rate:
7 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)
Life expectancy at birth:
74 years male, 81 years female (1992)
Total fertility rate:
1.8 children born/woman (1992)
Nationality:
noun - Norwegian(s); adjective - Norwegian
Ethnic divisions:
Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) and racial-cultural minority of 20,000
Lapps
Religions:
Evangelical Lutheran (state church) 87.8%, other Protestant and Roman
Catholic 3.8%, none 3.2%, unknown 5.2% (1980)
Languages:
Norwegian (official); small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities
Literacy:
99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1976 est.)
Labor force:
2,167,000 (September 1990); services 34.7%, commerce 18%, mining and
manufacturing 16.6%, banking and financial services 7.5%, transportation and
communications 7.2%, construction 7.2%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing
6.4% (1989)
Organized labor:
66% of labor force (1985)
:Norway Government
Long-form name:
Kingdom of Norway
Type:
constitutional monarchy
Capital:
Oslo
Administrative divisions:
19 provinces (fylker, singular - fylke); Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud,
Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag,
Oppland, Oslo, OCstfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag,
Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, Vestfold
Independence:
26 October 1905 (from Sweden)
Constitution:
17 May 1814, modified in 1884
Dependent areas:
Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
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
National holiday:
Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)
Executive branch:
monarch, prime minister, State Council (cabinet)
Legislative branch:
unicameral Parliament (Storting) with an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower
Chamber (Odelsting)
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (Hoiesterett)
Leaders:
Chief of State:
King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON
MAGNUS (born 20 July 1973)
Head of Government:
Prime Minister Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND (since 3 November 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Labor, Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND; Conservative, Kaci Kullmann FIVE; Center
Party, Anne Enger LAHNSTEIN; Christian People's, Kjell Magne BONDEVIK;
Socialist Left, Erick SOLHEIM; Norwegian Communist, Kare Andre NILSEN;
Progress, Carl I. HAGEN; Liberal, Odd Einar DORUM; Finnmark List, leader NA
Suffrage:
universal at age 18
Elections:
Storting:
last held on 11 September 1989 (next to be held 6 September 1993); results -
Labor 34.3%, Conservative 22.2%, Progress 13.0%, Socialist Left 10.1%,
Christian People's 8.5%, Center Party 6.6%, Finnmark List 0.3%, other 5%;
seats - (165 total) Labor 63, Conservative 37, Progress 22, Socialist Left
17, Christian People's 14, Center Party 11, Finnmark List 1
Communists:
15,500 est.; 5,500 Norwegian Communist Party (NKP); 10,000 Workers Communist
Party Marxist-Leninist (AKP-ML, pro-Chinese)
Member of:
AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD, ECE,
EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA, IEA, IFAD,
IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS,
MTCR, NACC, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, ZC
:Norway Government
Diplomatic representation:
Ambassador Kjeld VIBE; Chancery at 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC
20008; telephone (202) 333-6000; there are Norwegian Consulates General in
Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco, and
Consulates in Miami and New Orleans
US:
Ambassador Loret Miller RUPPE; Embassy at Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo 2
(mailing address is APO AE 09707); telephone [47] (2) 44-85-50; FAX [47] (2)
43-07-77
Flag:
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)
:Norway Economy
Overview:
Norway has a mixed economy involving a combination of free market activity
and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the
vital petroleum sector, through large-scale state enterprises and
extensively subsidizes agricultural, fishing, and other sectors. Norway also
maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public-sector
expenditures to slightly more than 50% of the GDP and results in one of the
highest average tax burdens in the world (54%). A small country with a high
dependence on international trade, Norway is basically an exporter of raw
materials and semiprocessed goods, with an abundance of small- and
medium-sized firms, and is ranked among the major shipping nations. The
country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower,
fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil sector to
keep its economy afloat. Although one of the government's main priorities is
to reduce this dependency, this situation is not likely to improve for years
to come. The government also hopes to reduce unemployment and strengthen and
diversify the economy through tax reform and an expansionary 1992 budget.
Forecasters predict that economic growth will rise slightly in 1992 because
of public-sector expansion and moderate improvements in private investment
and demand. Inflation will remain about 3%, while unemployment continues at
record levels of over 5% because of the weakness of the economy outside the
oil sector. Oslo, a member of the European Free Trade Area, is continuing to
deregulate and harmonize with EC regulations to prepare for the European
Economic Area (EEA) - which creates a EC/EFTA market with free movement of
capital, goods, services, and labor - which takes effect in 1993.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - $72.9 billion, per capita $17,100; real growth
rate 4.1% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.5% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
5.4% (1991, excluding people in job-training programs)
Budget:
revenues $47.9 billion; expenditures $52.7 billion, including capital
expenditures of $NA (1991)
Exports:
$34.2 billion (f.o.b., 1991)
commodities:
petroleum and petroleum products 36.5%, natural gas 7.5%, fish 7%, aluminum
6%, ships 6.2%, pulp and paper
partners:
EC 66.5%, Nordic countries 19.5%, developing countries 7.8%, US 4.6%, Japan
1.9% (1991)
Imports:
$25.1 billion (c.i.f., 1991)
commodities:
machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation equipment, chemicals,
foodstuffs, clothing, ships
partners:
EC 46.8%, Nordic countries 26.1%, developing countries 12.3%, US 7.8%, Japan
4.7% (1991)
External debt:
$10.2 billion (1991)
Industrial production:
growth rate 4.7% (1991)
Electricity:
26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced, 28,950 kWh per capita
(1991)