Geography

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

Geographic coordinates: 62 00 N, 10 00 E

Map references: Europe

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: 2,515 km
border countries: 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: 200 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 4 nm

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

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Norwegian Sea 0 m
highest point: Glittertinden 2,472 m

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

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: NA%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 27%
other: 70% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 970 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: NA

Environment—current issues: water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions

Environment—international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography—note: about two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world; Norway only NATO member having a land boundary with Russia

 

People

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Population: 4,419,955 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 20% (male 444,373; female 420,940)
15-64 years: 65% (male 1,454,733; female 1,407,395)
65 years and over: 15% (male 288,056; female 404,458) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.44% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 12.9 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 10.17 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 1.64 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 5.01 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 78.23 years
male: 75.42 years
female: 81.21 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Norwegian(s)
adjective: Norwegian

Ethnic groups: Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic), Lapps (Sami) 20,000

Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 87.8% (state church), other Protestant and Roman Catholic 3.8%, none 3.2%, unknown 5.2% (1980)

Languages: Norwegian (official)
note: small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking minorities

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% (1976 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%

 

Government

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Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Norway
conventional short form: Norway
local long form: Kongeriket Norge
local short form: Norge

Data code: NO

Government type: constitutional monarchy

National capital: Oslo

Administrative divisions: 19 provinces (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: 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)

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 (born 20 July 1973)
head of government: Prime Minister Kjell Magne BONDEVIK (since 15 October 1997)
cabinet: State Council appointed by the king with the approval of the Parliament
elections: none; the king is a hereditary monarch; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the king with the approval of the Parliament

Legislative branch: modified unicameral Parliament or Storting which, for certain purposes, divides itself into two chambers (165 seats; members are elected by popular vote by proportional representation to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 15 September 1997 (next to be held NA September 2001)
election results: percent of vote by party—Labor 35%, Center Party 7.9%, Conservatives 14.3%, Christian People's 13.7%, Socialist Left 6%, Progress 15.3%, Liberal Party 4.4%, other parties 1.6%; seats by party—Labor 65, Center Party 11, Conservatives 23, Christian People's 25, Socialist Left 9, Progress 25, Liberal Party 6, other parties 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; the 39-member Saami assembly has advisory functions on regional control of natural resources and decision-making capacity on matters relating to the preservation of the Saami culture

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Hoyesterett, justices appointed by the king

Political parties and leaders: Labor Party [Thorbjorn JAGLAND]; Conservative Party [Jan PETERSEN]; Center Party [Anne ENGER LAHNSTEIN]; Christian People's Party [Valgerd HAUGLAND]; Socialist Left [Kjellbjoerg LUNDE]; Norwegian Communist [Kare Andre NILSEN]; Progress Party [Carl I. HAGEN]; Liberal [Odd Einar DORUM]; Left Party; Red Electoral Alliance [Erling FOLKVORD]

International organization participation: AfDB,AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CCC,CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MONUA, MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UNPREDEP, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (associate), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Tom-Erik VRAALSON
chancery: 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 333-6000
FAX: [1] (202) 337-0870
consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador David HERMELIN
embassy: Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo
mailing address: PSC 69, Box 1000, APO AE 09707
telephone: [47] 22 44 85 50
FAX: [47] 22 44 33 63

Flag description: 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)

 

Economy

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Economy—overview: Norway is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism. The economy consists of 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 agriculture, fishing, and areas with sparse resources. Norway maintains an extensive welfare system that helps propel public sector expenditures to more than 50% of GDP and results in one of the highest average tax levels in the world. 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. Only Saudi Arabia exports more oil than Norway. Norway imports more than half its food needs. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994. Economic growth in 1998 should be about the same as in 1997. Inflation probably will move up toward 3% because of tightness in labor markets. Despite their high per capita income—outstripped among major nations only by the US—and their generous welfare benefits, Norwegians worry about that time in the 21st century when the oil and gas run out.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$120.5 billion (1997 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1997 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$27,400 (1997 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.9%
industry: 34.7%
services: 62.4% (1991)

Inflation rate—consumer price index: 2% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 2.13 million
by occupation: services 71%, industry 23%, agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6% (1993)

Unemployment rate: 2.6% (yearend 1997)

Budget:
revenues: $48.6 billion
expenditures: $53 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1994 est.)

Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing

Industrial production growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)

Electricity—capacity: 26.431 million kW (1995)

Electricity—production: 121.375 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity—consumption per capita: 26,547 kWh (1995)

Agriculture—products: oats, other grains; beef, milk; livestock output exceeds value of crops; among world's top 10 fishing nations; fish catch of 2.33 million metric tons in 1994

Exports:
total value: $49.3 billion (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: petroleum and petroleum products 43%, metals and products 11%, foodstuffs (mostly fish) 9%, chemicals and raw materials 25%, natural gas 6.0%, ships 5.4%
partners: EU 77.2% (UK 19.8%, Germany 12.7%, Netherlands 9.1%, France 7.8%, Sweden 9.8%), US 6.0% (1995)

Imports:
total value: $35.1 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities: machinery and equipment and manufactured consumer goods 54%, chemicals and other industrial inputs 39%, foodstuffs 6%
partners: EU 71.0% (Sweden 15.4%, Germany 13.8%, UK 9.7%, Denmark 7.5%, Netherlands 4.4%), US 6.6% (1995)

Debt—external: $NA

Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $1.014 billion (1993)

Currency: 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1—7.4875 (January 1998), 7.0734 (1997), 6.4498 (1996), 6.3352 (1995), 7.0576 (1994), 7.0941 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

 

Communications

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Telephones: 2.39 million (1994 est.); 470,000 mobile phones in use in 1994

Telephone system: high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services
domestic: NA domestic satellite earth stations
international: 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)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 46, FM 493 (350 private and 143 government), shortwave 0

Radios: 3.3 million (1993 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 54 (repeaters 2,100)

Televisions: 1.5 million (1993 est.)

 

Transportation

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Railways:
total: 4,023 km
standard gauge: 4,023 km 1.435-m gauge (2,422 km electrified; 96 km double track) (1996)

Highways:
total: 91,323 km
paved: 65,753 km (including 106 km of expressways)
unpaved: 25,570 km (1996 est.)

Waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; 2.4 m draft vessels maximum

Pipelines: refined products 53 km

Ports and harbors: Bergen, Drammen, Floro, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim

Merchant marine:
total: 762 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,042,709 GRT/33,839,476 DWT
ships by type: bulk 102, cargo 128, chemical tanker 91, combination bulk 9, combination ore/oil 38, container 18, liquefied gas tanker 91, multi-function large load carrier 1, oil tanker 145, passenger 13, passenger-cargo 1, refrigerated cargo 13, roll-on/roll-off cargo 52, short-sea passenger 23, vehicle carrier 37
note: the government has created an internal register, the Norwegian International Ship register (NIS), as a subset of the Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians (1997 est.)

Airports: 102 (1997 est.)

Airports—with paved runways:
total: 65
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 14
914 to 1,523 m: 11
under 914 m: 28 (1997 est.)

Airports—with unpaved runways:
total: 37
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 32 (1997 est.)

Heliports: 1 (1997 est.)

 

Military

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Military branches: Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy (includes Coast Artillery and Coast Guard), Royal Norwegian Air Force, Home Guard

Military manpower—military age: 20 years of age

Military manpower—availability:
males age 15-49: 1,107,727 (1998 est.)

Military manpower—fit for military service:
males: 921,368 (1998 est.)

Military manpower—reaching military age annually:
males: 27,406 (1998 est.)

Military expenditures—dollar figure: $3.7 billion (1995)

Military expenditures—percent of GDP: 2.9% (1995)

 

Transnational Issues

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Disputes—international: territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Svalbard is the focus of a maritime boundary dispute in the Barents Sea between Norway and Russia

Illicit drugs: minor transshipment point for drugs shipped via the CIS and Baltic states for the European market; increasing domestic consumption of cannabis and amphetamines

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