NORWAY
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 324,220 km2; land area: 307,860 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land boundaries: 2,544 km total; Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km,
USSR 196 km
Coastline: 21,925 km (3,419 km mainland; 2,413 km large islands;
16,093 km long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations)
Maritime claims:
Contiguous zone: 10 nm;
Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation;
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 4 nm
Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with USSR; territorial claim in
Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime
claims beween Greenland and Jan Mayen
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
Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
NEGL%; forest and woodland 27%; other 70%; includes irrigated NEGL%
Environment: air and water pollution; acid rain
Note: strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in
North Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world;
Norway and Turkey only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR
PEOPLE
Population: 4,273,442 (July 1991), growth rate 0.5% (1991)
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
Ethnic divisions: Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) and
racial-cultural minority of 20,000 Lapps
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran (state church) 87.8%, other
Protestant and Roman Catholic 3.8%, none 3.2%, unknown 5.2% (1980)
Language: Norwegian (official); small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking
minorities
Literacy: 99% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1976 est.)
Labor force: 2,167,000 (September 1990); services 34.7%, commerce
18%, mining and manufacturing 16.6%, banking and financial services 7.5%,
transportation and communications 7.2%, construction 7.2%,
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6.4% (1989)
Organized labor: 66% of labor force (1985)
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Kingdom of Norway
Type: constitutional monarchy
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
Independence: 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)
Constitution: 17 May 1814, modified in 1884
Dependent areas: Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
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
National holiday: Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, State Council (cabinet)
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Stortinget)
with an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting)
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Hoiesterett)
Leaders:
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 Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND
(since 3 November 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Labor, Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND;
Conservative, Kaci Kullmann FIVE;
Center Party, Anne Enger LAHNSTEIN;
Christian People's, Kjell Magne BONDEVIK;
Socialist Left, Eric SOLHEIM;
Norwegian Communist, Kare Andre NILSEN;
Progress, Carl I. HAGEN; Liberal, Arne FJORTOFT;
Finnmark List, leader NA
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Storting--last held on 11 September 1989 (next to be held
6 September 1993);
results--Labor 34.3%, Conservative 22.2%, Progress 13.0%, Socialist Left
10.1%, Christian People's 8.5%, Center Party 6.6%, Finnmark List 0.3%,
other 5%;
seats--(165 total) Labor 63, Conservative 37, Progress 22, Socialist
Left 17, Christian People's 14, Center Party 11, Finnmark List 1
Communists: 15,500 est.; 5,500 Norwegian Communist Party (NKP);
10,000 Workers Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (AKP-ML, pro-Chinese)
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Kjeld VIBE; Chancery at
2720 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 333-6000;
there are Norwegian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles,
Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Miami and New
Orleans;
US--Ambassador Loret Miller RUPPE; Embassy at Drammensveien 18,
0244 Oslo 2 (mailing address is APO New York 09085); telephone 47
(2) 44-85-50
Flag: 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
Overview: Norway is a prosperous capitalist nation with the
resources to finance extensive welfare measures. Since 1975 exploitation
of large crude oil and natural gas reserves has helped maintain high
growth; for the past five years growth has averaged 4.1%, the
fourth-highest among OECD countries. Growth slackened in 1987-88
partially because of the sharp drop in world oil prices, but picked
up again in 1989. The Brundtland government plans to push hard on
environmental issues, as well as cutting unemployment, improving
child care, upgrading major industries, and negotiating an
EC - European Free Trade Association (EFTA) agreement on an Economic
European Area.
GDP: $74.2 billion, per capita $17,400; real growth rate 3.1%
(1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.1% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (1990, excluding people in
job-training programs)
Budget: revenues $47.9 billion; expenditures $48.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1990)
Exports: $33.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--petroleum and petroleum products 25%, natural gas
11%, fish 7%, aluminum 6%, ships 3.5%, pulp and paper;
partners--EC 64.9%, Nordic countries 19.5%, developing countries
6.9%, US 6.2%, Japan 1.7% (1990)
Imports: $26.8 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation
equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships;
partners--EC 46.3%, Nordic countries 25.7%, developing countries
14.3%, US 8.1%, Japan 4.7% (1990)
External debt: $15 billion (December 1990)
Industrial production: growth rate 3.6% (1990)
Electricity: 26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced,
28,950 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp
and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing
Agriculture: accounts for 2.8% of GNP and 6.4% of labor force;
among world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value
of crops; over half of food needs imported; fish catch of 1.76 million
metric tons in 1989
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $4.4
billion
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: 4,223 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Norwegian State
Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double
track); 4 km other
Highways: 79,540 km total; 18,600 km concrete, bituminous, stone
block; 19,980 km bituminous treated; 40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and
earth
Inland waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; 1.5-2.4 m draft
vessels maximum
Merchant marine: 867 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 23,270,845
GRT/41,199,182 DWT; includes 11 passenger, 23 short-sea passenger,
121 cargo, 3 passenger-cargo, 24 refrigerated cargo, 14 container, 50
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 18 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 186
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 98 chemical tanker, 69
liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 35 combination ore/oil, 204 bulk, 9
combination bulk; note--the government has created a captive 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; the majority of
ships (777) under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS
Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft
Airports: 104 total, 103 usable; 64 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: high-quality domestic and international
telephone, telegraph, and telex services; 3,102,000 telephones;
stations--8 AM, 46 (1,400 relays) FM, 55 (2,100 relays) TV; 4 coaxial
submarine cables; communications satellite earth stations operating in
the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air
Force, Home Guard
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,124,201; 942,158 fit for
military service; 31,813 reach military age (20) annually
Defense expenditures: $3.3 billion, 3.3% of GDP (1990)
