Country Facts - Norway

The People

Ethnic Composition

Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic), Sami.

Religious Composition

Evangelical Lutheran	86%
Unknown	10%
Protestant and Roman Catholic	3%
Other	1%

Nationality

Norwegian(s)

Languages Spoken

Standard Norwegian (Bokmal) and New Norwegian (Nynorsk) are the official languages. There is also a small Sami-speaking population which is split into nine different dialects, but the Sami also speak Norwegian.

Education and Literacy

Education is free through the university level and is compulsory from ages 7 to 16. Literacy is around 100 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 2.4 million (2000)

By occupation:

Services	74%
Industry	22%
Agriculture	4%

Geography

Land Mass Total

125,182 sq mi (324,220 sq km)

Land

118,865 sq mi (307,860 sq km)

Water

6,316 sq mi (16,360 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,580 mi (2,544 km)
Border countries: Finland 1,695 mi (729 km), Sweden 1,005 mi (1,619 km), Russia 121 mi (196 km)

Coastline

Total of 13,623 mi (21,925 km). Includes mainland 2,124 mi (3,419 km), large islands 1,499 mi (2,413 km), long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 9,999 mi (16,093 km)

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 10 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 4 nm

Climate/Weather

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: Norwegian Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Galdh øpiggen 8,100 ft (2,469 m)

Natural Resources

Petroleum, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower.

Land use

Arable land	3%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	97%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Rockslides, avalanches

Environment - current issues

Water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions.

Geography Note

Norway is comprised of 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 is the only NATO member having a land boundary with Russia.

Demographics

Population

4,525,116 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	20%	male 464,789	female 439,117
15-64 years:	65%	male 1,491,720	female 1,451,450
65 years and over:	15%	male 281,551	female 396,489

Growth Rate

0.47% (2002)

Life Expectancy

78.94 years (2002)
female: 82.07 years
male: 76.01 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$30,800 (2001)

Infant Mortality

3.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.07 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
Total population:	0.98 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

2.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring 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). The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil production and international oil prices; in 1999, oil and gas accounted for 35 percent of exports. Only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway. Oslo opted to stay out of the E.U. during a referendum in November 1994. Growth picked up in 2000 to 2.7 percent, compared with the meager 0.8 percent of 1999, but fell back to 1.3 percent in 2001. High oil prices helped the economy in 2002 in the face of the sluggish world economy. The government moved ahead with privatization in 2000, even proposing the sale of up to one-third of the 100 percent state-owned oil company Statoil. With one of the highest quality of life standards worldwide, Norwegians still worry about that time in the next two decades when the oil and gas will begin to run out. Accordingly, Norway has been saving its oil-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum Fund, which is invested abroad and now is valued at more than US$43 billion. However, the Norwegian economy is expected to remain in the doldrums in 2003 due to high electricity prices and a strong krone. Analysts predict that the economy should strengthen in 2004, with average GDP growth accelerating to around 2.5 percent for the year. Talk of joining the E.U. has resurfaced and will increase unless a way is found from the current malaise.

Unemployment

3.6% (2001)

Inflation Rate

3.1% (2001)

Industries

Petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing.

Exports

US$58 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$33.5 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$138.7 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

EU 76.8% (Netherlands 11.4%, Germany 10.3%, France 10.0%, Sweden 8.4%), US 7.6% (2000)

Top Import Partners

EU 62.5% (Sweden 14.7%, Germany 11.9%, UK 8.1%, Denmark 6.4%), US 8.2%, Japan 5.2% (2000)

Top Exports

Petroleum and petroleum products 55%, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, fish

Top Imports

Machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals, foodstuffs.

Debt - external

$0 (Norway is a net external creditor)

Economic aid

Donor: ODA, $1.4 billion (1998)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 5 or 6p.m. Thursdays stores stay open later in Oslo.	9a.m. to 1 or 3p.m.
Banks	Winter: 8:15a.m. to 3:30p.m. Summer: 8:15a.m. to 3p.m., until 5p.m. on Thursdays. (see above)	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 4:30p.m. (see above)	Closed

Most businesses, in particular banks and government offices, will close at 3p.m. in the summertime.

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Palm Sunday¹	April 13	April 4	March 20
Holy Thursday²	April 17	April 8	March 24
Good Friday	April 18	April 9	March 25
Easter³	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
May Day	May 1	May 1	May 1
Independence Day/Constitution Day	May 17	May 17	May 17
Ascension*¹	May 29	May 20	May 6
Whit Sunday (Pentecost)*²	June 8	May 30	May 15
Whit Monday	June 9	May 31	May 16
Christmas Eve	December 24	December 24	December 24
Christmas Day*³	December 25	December 25	December 25
Boxing Day	December 26	December 26	December 26
New Year's Eve	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	The sixth and last day of Lent, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, and celebrates the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday is based on the Gregorian calendar.
²	Observed the Thursday before Easter. This feast commemorates the institution of the Eucharist, and is one of the oldest rituals of Christian Holy Week. Maundy, or Holy Thursday also marks the beginning of passover.
³	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
*¹	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
*²	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
*³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Note: Most Norwegians observe the week of Palm Sunday through Easter, making it difficult to conduct business during this time.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press