Norway Fact File
Population: Just over 5,000,000
Area: 350,000 sq km (approx)
Currency: Norwegian Krone
Official Language: Norwegian
The Flag of Norway
Other Facts About Norway
- Norway is divided from the United Kingdom by the North Sea and from Denmark by the Skagerrak Strait. It also shares maritime borders with Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
- Many fjords (steep sided inlets) are located on Norway’s North Atlantic Ocean coastline.
- Norway’s official name is the Kingdom of Norway.
- The Vikings came from Norway, raiding the coastlines of Europe and settling in Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands and regions of Ireland and Britain.
- Norway was in a union with Denmark from the 14th century until 1814.
- During the 19th century, Norway and Sweden were in a union. This came to an end when Norway separated from Sweden in 1905.
- Norway was neutral in World War 1 and it attempted to stay neutral during World War 2 until it was attacked and occupied by Germany.
- Norway has 25000 km of coastline.
- Oil and fish are among Norway’s key exports.
- Nearly all of Norway’s electricity is generated from hydroelectric power plants.
- The main cities in Norway include: Oslo (the capital), Bergen, Trondheim and Drammen.
- The composer Edward Grieg was Norwegian.
- Norway is famous for its pickled herring, codfish, trout and cheeses.
- When it’s Christmas time, Norwegians enjoy lefse (a flatbread made from potatoes and topped with butter and sugar).
- Football is massively popular in Norway and many Norwegian players play in leagues all over the world. Many Norwegian international players, such as John Arne Riise, Henning Berg, John Carew, Steffen Iversen, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ronny Johnsen, have played for English Premier League teams.
- Cross-country skiing is also very popular, and Norway has twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games (in 1952 and 1994).
- Only one tenth of Norway’s houses were built before 1920.
- The unofficial national food of Norway is the Grandiosa frozen pizza. More than 20 million of them are eaten in Norway every year.