Norway - Tourism and Travel

The Kingdom of Norway is a country in Europe, along the western and northern coasts of Scandinavia. It extends from the North Sea to the Arctic Ocean.

It is 125,000 square miles (322,878 square kilometers) in area.

The coastline is heavily indented.

There are many fjords - steep sided, narrow inlets - and many islands along the coast

The terrain was shaped by glaciers that covered most of Norway during the last Ice Age.

The Lofoten Islands, an archipelago off the coast of Norway, in the Arctic Circle, was one of the first areas of Scandinavia to be exposed when the ice sheet melted.

The fjords of Norway originally were river valleys. Glaciers carved out their steep sides. After the Ice Age ended, the sea flooded them again.

Norway's interior is mountainous.

In the south, there are lakes and coniferous forests.

Despite Norway's high latitude, its climate is moderated by the North Atlantic Drift ocean current. Winters in the interior are colder and longer than winters on the coast.

Oslo is the capital of Norway.

4,812,00 people live in Norway.

Most of them live in the lowlands along the coasts of the North Sea and the Skagerrak Strait, which separates Norway from Sweden and Denmark.

93% of the people are Norwegian and 1% are Sami (Lapp).

Norwegian is the official language. Sami is also spoken.

89% of the people are Evangelical Lutheran and 1% are Catholic.

The Sami live a traditional lifestyle in northern Norway.

Norway is one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas in western Europe, having large reserves of these resources in the North Sea.

About half of Norway's export income comes form oil exports.

Petrochemicals and oil and gas platform engineering are major industries.

Fish farming and fishing are important. Norway is the leading exporter of farmed salmon in the world.

Fish processing, timber processing and mineral processing industries are also significant.

Tourism and merchant shipping are major sources of foreign income.

Norway has a parliamentary system of government. There is a monarchy, but parliament has legislative control.

The official currency is the Norwegian krone, which is equal to one hundred øre.