Norway

An Introduction to Norway

Norway is located in Scandinavia west of Sweden and stretches from the North Sea near Denmark and Scotland into the Arctic Ocean where it borders northern Finland and the northwestern tip of Russia. The sparsely populated country offers breathtaking and varied scenery for the tourist’s eye. The amazing fjords of the southwest are perhaps Norway’s most dramatic scenic feature with long narrow inlets surrounded by tall mountains where the sea penetrates far inland. The North Cape’s midnight sun is another famous feature of Norway where in the town of Tromso the sun never rises in winter and never sets in midsummer.

The country was an old Viking Kingdom but today is known for its oil and seafood exports. In winter alpine skiing and snowboarding are very popular and summer is great for biking and hiking around the enormous mountain areas. Norway is primarily a land for those who love nature however the country also offers a rich cultural experience from its varied history. From the Vikings of the eighth and ninth centuries to later luminaries such as author Bjornstjerne Bjornson, composer Edvard Grieg and artist Edvard Munch.

Since the discovery of oil in the late 1960’s the nation is one of the worlds richest on a per capita basis. It has been independent since 1905 and remains outside the European Union. Norway’s four major cities offer distinct appeal with Bergen being a picturesque gateway to Fjordland. Oslo is the capital and the financial centre. Trondhelm is a centre of technical research as well as a destination of Christian pilgrimage and Stavanger is the centre of the Norwegian oil industry. This is a peaceful nation filled with wonder and beauty.