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KINGDOM OF NORWAY
Official name: Kongeriket Norge (Kingdom of Norway)
Location: Western Europe
International organisations: The Council of Europe, The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, The
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation
in Europe, The United Nations, The World Trade Organisation
Borders: Finland, Russia, Sweden
Coastline: Norwegian Sea
Land area: 324,220 Km2
Population: 4,500,000
Ethnicity: Almost the entire population is of Norwegian stock. There is a small
Sami minority in the far north.
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Languages: Norwegian is the official language and is universally used. There are
small Sami and Finnish-speaking minorities in the north.
Religion: The Evangelical Lutheran Church is a state church, but freedom of
religion is guaranteed. Nearly 90% of the
population are nominal Protestant Christians, but Norway is a highly secularised
country. There is a small Catholic Christian minority.
Form of government: Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy.
Norway is divided into 19 provinces.
Capital: Oslo
Constitution: The
Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway came into effect on 17 May 1814.
It was substantially modified in 1884.
Head of state: King Harald V came to the throne on 17 January 1991.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the King. The
Prime Minister is the leader of the largest party in the legislature and
is accountable to it.
Legislature: Norway has a unicameral legislature, the
Great Council (Stortinget), which has
165 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional
representation from multi-member constituencies.
Electoral authority: The National Electoral
Committee administers national elections
Freedom House rating:
Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 1
Political history
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The mediaeval Norwegian kingdom was merged with Denmark and Sweden by the Union of
Kalmar in 1387, and Norway was under the Danish crown until the Napoleonic Wars. In
1814 Sweden claimed Norway as the price of its support for the Allies, and despite a
Norwegian declaration of independence the Congress of Vienna awarded Norway to Sweden.
When Sweden became a constitutional state in 1867, the Norwegians revived their
claims to independence. After many years of tension and conflict, Sweden agreed to
Norwegian separation in 1905. A prince of the Danish royal house became King
Haakon VII of Norway. The 1814 constitution was revived and Norway became a parliamentary democracy.
After the First World War the Norwegian Labour Party
became increasingly powerful, and is 1935 it came to power. Norway was occupied
by Germany in 1940 and the King and Cabinet went into exile in Britain. In 1945
Norway was liberated and Labour returned to power, holding office until 1965.
Since 1965 Labour has alternated in power with the conservative coalition of
the
Right Party, the
Christian People's Party, the
Centre Party and the
Liberal Party. Also on the right is the
populist Progress Party. The
Socialist Left Party is to the left of Labour. Both
Labour and the conservative parties favour entry to the European Union, but the
voters have twice rejected membership at referendums.
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