Norway — a brief introduction
Norway in brief: land, sea, people, and climate.
What and where
The Kingdom of Norway (Kongeriket Norge) is an independent constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The country occupies the western and northern portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula — the elongated landmass in the north-western corner of the European continent. It stretches from the Arctic north to the more temperate south.
Human settlement
Human settlement in this part of the world began after the end of the latest ice age — some 11,500 years ago. The early settlers were nomadic or semi-nomadic hunter-fisher-gatherers. Farming came later.
Cultural history
Norway’s cultural history has been shaped by migrations coming in through the north-east — present-day Finland and Russia — as well as from mainland Europe to the south.
Today, most of the population traces its roots to the south, while the Sami and other historical minority groups hail from the north-east. Modern-day Norway is a multicultural society with influences from all corners of the world.
The oceans and the coastline
The oceans are closely linked to Norway’s history. The country’s southern, western, and northern coasts — like fortress walls — face the powerful North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.
Throughout history, Norway has been a seafaring nation and has fostered many Arctic, Antarctic, and world ocean explorers. Norway’s coastline, with all its intricate nooks and crannies, is often cited as the second longest in the world, surpassed only by that of Canada.
Up until the Industrial Revolution, the coastal waters served as the country’s main transportation route and were a vital connection to the outside world.
The landscape
Norway’s dramatic terrain was sculpted by the massive glaciers of the ice ages, leaving behind fjords, archipelagos, deep valleys, towering mountain peaks, plateaus, and occasional flatlands.
The climate
Norway’s climate varies considerably, ranging from Arctic conditions in the north to more temperate zones in the south, and from the chill of the mountains to the relatively milder temperatures along the coast.
The Gulf Stream — and its continuation, the North Atlantic Current — carries warm water from the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico across the Atlantic, making Norway’s coastal areas far more temperate than they would otherwise be.
Summers are short and intense, while winters are long, cold, and dark, with the ground often frozen solid and covered in deep snow for months on end.