Norway
Capital: Oslo · Northern Europe
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country comprising the western and northernmost parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe, the remote Arctic island Jan Mayen and the archipelago Svalbard.
Photo: Aqwis, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Floen lake in Oldedalen, Stryn, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway in 2011 August.
Photo: Ximonic , Simo Räsänen, CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Trawler on the Norwegian coast close to Bodø
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View of the southern region of the fjord with the Svitjordbreen.
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Did you know?
The unified kingdom of Norway was established in 872 as a merger of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for over a millennium. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was part of Denmark–Norway, and from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War, and in the Second World War until April 1940 when it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of the war.
Haakon VIII of the House of Glücksburg is the king of Norway. Jonas Gahr Støre has been prime minister of Norway since 2021.
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In summer, some polar bears do not make the transition from their winter residence on the Svalbard islands to the dense drift ice and pack ice of the high arctic where…
Photo: Andreas Weith, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
One of two red wooden foot bridges in the Fjord park in Drammen, february 2017. In the background is the Drammen motorway bridge.
Photo: Petter Ulleland, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Altar piece, Kvæfjord church, Nordland, Norway ca. 1520. Now stored in the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo.
Photo: Peulle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Etymology
Norway has two official names: Norge in Bokmål and Noreg in Nynorsk. The English name Norway comes from the Old English word Norþweg in the account provided by Ohthere of Hålogaland around 890, meaning "northern way" or "way leading to the north", which is how the Anglo-Saxons referred to the coastline of Atlantic Norway. The Anglo-Saxons of Britain also referred to Norway in 890 as Norðmanna land.
There is some disagreement about whether the native name of Norway originally had the same etymology as the English form.
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A number of harbor buildings at Nyholmen, Bodø
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CargoNet El 14 with a container train on the Dovre Line , near Dombås , Norway
Photo: Kabelleger / David Gubler ( http://www.bahnbilder.ch ), CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Geirangerfjorden from Flydalsjuvet, Norway
Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
History
The earliest traces of human occupation in Norway are found along the coast, where the huge ice shelf of the last ice age first melted between 11,000 and 8000 BC. The oldest finds are stone tools dating from 9500 to 6000 BC, discovered in Finnmark (Komsa culture) in the north and Rogaland (Fosna culture) in the southwest. Theories about the two cultures being separate were deemed obsolete in the 1970s.
Between 3000 and 2500 BC, new settlers (Corded Ware culture) arrived in eastern Norway. They were Indo-European farmers who grew grain and kept livestock, and gradually replaced the hunting-fishing population of the west coast.
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The village of Fjærland and the Fjærland Fjord in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway .
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An autumn view near Gullesfjordbotn in the island of Hinnøya, Kvæfjord, Troms, Norway in 2010 September.
Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Alkefjellet is a basalt rock formation at Hinlopen Strait on Spitsbergen, harboring approximately 60,000 breeding pairs of Brünnich's guillemot Uria lomvia in Summer.…
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Geography
Norway's core territory comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula; the remote island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard are also included. The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also claims a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land. Norwegian possessions in the North Atlantic, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland, remained Danish when Norway was passed to Sweden at the Treaty of Kiel.
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Altar piece, Kvæfjord church, Nordland, Norway ca. 1520. Now stored in the Museum of Cultural History, Oslo.
Photo: Peulle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Å i Lofoten, Nordland. Drying of cod fish heads. The head and the body of the cod fish are separated before drying. The heads are used for fertiliser.
Photo: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
CargoNet Di 12 " Euro 4000 " (road number 312 006) plowing through snow drifts at about 100 km/h. The train is an intermodal freight train from Bodø towards Trondheim.…
Photo: Kabelleger / David Gubler ( http://www.bahnbilder.ch )., CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Politics and government
Norway is considered to be one of the most developed democracies and states of justice in the world. According to International IDEA's Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices and Democracy Tracker, Norway performs in the high range on overall democratic measures, with particular strengths in elected government and gender equality. Since 2010, Norway has been classified as the world's most democratic country by the Democracy Index.
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A view towards west and northwest from the northeast coast of Kåfjorden (Gáivuotna) in Troms, Norway in 2012 March.
Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Buildings of the historic paper mills in Lower Eiker, defunct since the 1970s and now in use by local businesses.
Photo: Peulle, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
CargoNet Stadler "EuroDual" 159 003 with freight train 5790 Bodø - Alnabru dashes through the snow between Oteråga and Valnesfjord, Norway.
Photo: Kabelleger / David Gubler, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Economy
Norwegians enjoy the second-highest GDP per capita among European countries (after Luxembourg), and the sixth-highest PPP-adjusted GDP per capita in the world. Norway ranks as the second-wealthiest country in monetary value, with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation. According to the CIA World Factbook, Norway is a net external creditor of debt. Norway reclaimed first place in the world in the UNDP Human Development Index (HDI) in 2009. The standard of living in Norway is among the highest in the world.
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Demographics
Norway's population was 5,636,904 people in the second quarter of 2026. Norwegians are an ethnic North Germanic people. The total fertility rate (TFR) in 2024 was estimated at 1.44 children born per woman, below the replacement rate of 2.1, it remains considerably below the high of 4.69 children born per woman in 1877. In 2024 the median age of the Norwegian population was 40 years.
The Sámi people are indigenous to the Far North and have traditionally inhabited central and northern parts of Norway and Sweden, as well as areas in northern Finland and in Russia on the Kola Peninsula.
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Culture
The Norwegian farm culture continues to play a role in contemporary Norwegian culture. In the 19th century, it inspired a strong romantic nationalistic movement, which is still visible in the Norwegian language and media. Norwegian culture expanded with nationalist efforts to achieve an independent identity in the areas of literature, art and music. This continues today in the performing arts and as a result of government support for exhibitions, cultural projects and artwork.
Norwegian cinema has received international recognition.
Wikipedia: Norway – read more, CC BY-SA 4.0