Interesting Facts About Norway - Fun Facts About Norway

Norway, a country situated in Northern Europe, is one of the members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States. In the country, His Majesty ‘The King’ acts as the ‘Head of State’, while the Prime Minister is the ‘Head of Government’. Tourism is one of the major industries of Norway and the natural beauty of the country forms its primary attraction. The fjord-serrated coastline and lofty mountains of the place, combined with the unblemished natural splendor of its inner parts, attract tourists to its lap year after year. In the following lines, we have provided a number of fun and interesting facts about Norway, to help you know the country better.

Image: By Hesse1309 (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Interesting Facts about Norway

The official name of Norway is 'Kingdom of Norway'.
Norway follows the system of Constitutional monarchy and Parliamentary democracy.
Norway is situated in Northern Europe.
Norway comprises of western and northern parts of the Scandinavian peninsula and the northern territories of Jan Mayen and the Svalbard archipelago, along with Bouvet Island, Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land in the southern hemisphere.
The official language of Norway is Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk). However, in some districts, Sámi is also an official language.
Norway has an official Protestant State Church, based on the Evangelical-Lutheran religion.
Norway is the sixth largest country of Europe, in terms of land mass. However, in terms of population, it ranks only 28^th.
Norway is one of the members of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.
The coastline of Norway, including fjords and bays, stretches over 20,000 kilometers.
As per historical accounts, the small kingdoms of Norway were united into a single state around 885 AD, by Harald the Fairhaired, a Viking King.
It is believed that the name Norway means “Path to the North”.
The highest mountain in Norway is Galdhopiggen (2,469 m). The largest lake in the country is Mjosa.
The Jostedalsbreen, in Norway, is the largest glacier in Northern Europe.
Pagan Gods, like Odin and Thor, were worshipped in Norway before it converted to Christianity, in 995.
Plague (Black Death) killed over a third of the population of Norway in the mid-14^th century.
Hundreds of thousands of Norwegians migrated to USA in the 19^th century.
The Christmas tree, which stands in Trafalgar Square in London, has been presented by ‘City of Oslo’ to the UK, for over fifty years.
The per capita income of Norway ranks among the highest in the world.
Norwegian Constitution was signed on 17^th May, 1814. The day is celebrated as a national holiday in the country.
As per Encyclopedia Britannica, Norwegians read more than any other population in the world.
Norway is counted amongst the wealthiest countries of the world.
Norway was rated the most peaceful country in the world, in a survey conducted by Global Peace Index in 2007.

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