The Country
Norway is a long country located in Northern Europe – with borders to Sweden, Finland and Russia on the east side, and an extensive coastline facing the North Atlantic Ocean on the west side. Along with Denmark and Sweden, Norway is a part of the northern European region known as Scandinavia.
The Viking kingdoms of Norway were unified in 872 AD by Harald Fairhair. In the following period, Norwegians settled in many places, such as Iceland, the Faroe Islands and parts of Scotland and Ireland, where they founded Dublin. Starting from the 14th century, for many years Norway’s fate was tied to Denmark and Sweden. In 1905, Norway gained independence from Sweden through a referendum. During both World Wars the country was neutral but was nonetheless occupied by Nazi Germany for five years.
Norway is considered to be one of the most developed democracies and constitutional states in the world, and has one of the best welfare systems and one of the lowest crime rates.
The country is a parliamentary democracy. The Norwegian head of state since 1991 has been King Harald V: he has no political power, but performs ceremonial duties and is generally a beloved representative of the Norwegian people.
Norway is definitely a part of Europe, but is not a member of the EU. However, the country is fully integrated in the European community in everything from trade and economy, through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement, to education and research. Norway also participates in the Schengen agreement, making travelling to and from other Schengen countries easy.
Like Sweden and Denmark, Norway has grown to become a multicultural country. Today, 33 per cent of the population in Oslo are immigrants or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. In the country as a whole, a bit over 16 per cent are immigrants or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents.