Facts about Norway
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Facts about Norway
- Norway is a monarchy. King Harald is the head of state. The title of monarch is passed on from generation to generation.
- 5.5 million people live in Norway (01.01.2024). Around 75 per cent of the population live along the coast. Half of the population live in Eastern Norway.
- There are two official national languages in Norway, Norwegian and Sami. There are two written Norwegian languages, Bokmål and Nynorsk.
- Norway covers 385,178 square kilometres. India is almost ten times as big.
- Norway has borders with Sweden, Finland and Russia.
- The capital city is Oslo. Oslo is the biggest city in Norway and has a population of around 700,000 (2024).
- The four biggest cities are Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger.
- Lindesnes is the southernmost point in Norway.
- Knivskjelodden at North Cape is the northernmost point in Norway.
- Svalbard is a group of islands that belongs to Norway.
- Norway is divided into 15 counties.
- Norway is divided into 356 municipalities.
Sources: www.ssb.no, www.fn.no, www.oslo.kommune.no
Landscape
Norway has large areas of mountains, and also has a lot of forests. Large forest and mountain areas are wilderness and uninhabited. There are glaciers where the snow and ice never melt in some mountain regions.
Norway’s extensive coastline is 25,148 kilometres long. That is longer than the distance from the North Pole to the South Pole! The nature along the coast varies from south to north. In many places, large and small bays and fjords cut deep into the landscape. There are also around 50,000 islands along the coast, but only a fraction of them are inhabited. Some islands are joined to the mainland by a bridge or tunnel, while ferry services operate to other islands.
Travelling around Norway is fairly easy. The public transport network is well developed. You can travel by car, bus, train, boat or plane.
Source: Statistics Norway
Explore the landscape in Norway
Climate
Norway has four seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.
Norway is located far to the north. The climate is nonetheless milder than you might think. We can thank the Gulf Stream for that. The Gulf Stream brings lots of warm water from the Southern Atlantic up along the coast of Norway. This means that the temperature in Norway is higher than its latitude might indicate.
The climate varies from region to region. There are also big differences between the coastal and inland climate. The winters are long, cold and dark in Northern Norway. The summers are short, but the Midnight Sun means they are light and pleasant. There is a lot of snow inland in Southern Norway, but there is little snow along the coast. Southern Norway and Eastern Norway generally have pleasant, warm summers. Spring comes early in Western Norway. It rains more in Western Norway than in Eastern Norway. There can be storms along the whole coast from Western Norway northwards in autumn.
In Norway, we think it’s hot if the thermometer hits 25 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature ever recorded in Norway was 35.6 degrees Celsius. It was recorded in Nesbyen in Eastern Norway on 20 June 1970. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Norway was minus 51.4 degrees Celsius. It was recorded in Karasjok in Northern Norway on 1 January 1886.
Talk together
- Describe a country you know well: What is the climate like? Where do people live? What impact does nature and the climate have on how people live?
- Discuss whether the climate has any impact on a country's labour market and social development.
- What is the climate and temperature like in the part of Norway where you live?
- What opportunities and limitations does the climate represent for life in Norway?
Grandmother: It's been raining for days now. How long do you think it’ll last?
Mother: It’s hard to tell. But the forecast on the radio said the weather would improve at the weekend.
Daughter: You’re always talking about the weather!
Mother: Norwegians love talking about the weather.
Why do Norwegians enjoy talking about the weather?
Select the right answer
How many official languages with national status do we have in Norway?
Select the right answer
What is the longest river in Norway called?
Select the right answer
What is the lowest temperature ever measured in Norway?
Select right or wrong
Read the statements. What is right? What is wrong?
Select right or wrong
Read the statements. What is right? What is wrong?
Select the right image
Which image depicts autumn?