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Location of Norway within Europe

Norway (Bokmål: Norge, Nynorsk: Noreg), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula with a population of 5.5 million as of 2024. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency, and not a part of the Kingdom; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.

Norway has a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi). The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast. Norway has an extensive coastline facing the Skagerrak strait, the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Barents Sea.

Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway. Jonas Gahr Støre has been Prime Minister of Norway since 2021. As a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the parliament, the cabinet, and the supreme court, as determined by the 1814 constitution. Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Free Trade Association, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty, and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD; and a part of the Schengen Area. The Norwegian dialects share mutual intelligibility with Danish and Swedish. (Full article...)

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Opera O symbol
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Opera is a web browser and internet suite developed by the Opera Software company. Opera handles common Internet-related tasks such as displaying web sites, sending and receiving e-mail messages, managing contacts, IRC online chatting, downloading files via BitTorrent, and reading web feeds. Opera is offered free of charge for personal computers and mobile phones, but for other devices it must be paid for. Features of Opera include tabbed browsing, page zooming, mouse gestures, and an integrated download manager. Its security features include built-in phishing and malware protection, strong encryption when browsing secure web sites, and the ability to easily delete private data such as cookies and browsing history by simply clicking a button. Opera runs on a variety of personal computer operating systems, including Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris. Though evaluations of Opera have been largely positive, Opera has captured only a fraction of the worldwide personal computer browser market. Opera has a stronger market share on mobile devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, and personal digital assistants. Editions of Opera are available for devices using the Symbian and Windows Mobile operating systems, as well as Java ME-enabled devices. Approximately 40 million mobile phones have shipped with Opera pre-installed. (Full article...)

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Norwegian "nisser", Nordic analogy to Santa Claus
Norwegian "nisser", Nordic analogy to Santa Claus
The main Jul event for Norwegians is on Julaften on December 24th, the evening of the main feast, is served and gifts are exchanged. Almost all Norwegian breweries produce traditional beer, juleøl, and a special soda, julebrus. Jul dishes are also served on Julebord, where people from work gather in early December to feast and drink alcoholic beverages. The mother of the house bakes seven types of cookies, julekaker. In the tradition called Julebukk or Nyttårsbukk, children dress up in costumes, visit neighbours, singing Christmas carols and receiving candy, nuts and clementines.

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Norwegian "nisser", Nordic analogy to Santa Claus

  • Odd Nansen (6 December 1901 – 27 June 1973) was a Norwegian architect, author, and humanitarian, credited with his humanitarian efforts on behalf of Jews in the early years of World War II and for being a founder of UNICEF.
  • The pre-Christian Jul (pronounced: Yule) has survived as the Christmas holiday of Norway. The main event for Norwegians is on Julaften (Christmas Eve) on 24 December, the evening when the main feast is served and gifts are exchanged.

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Pencil drawing of Haakon Lie by Andreas Vartdal
Haakon Lie (born September 22, 1905) is a Norwegian politician who served as party secretary for the Norwegian Labour Party from 1945 to 1969. Coming from humble origins, he got involved in the labour movement at an early age, and quickly rose in the party system. After actively working for the resistance movement and the exiled government during World War II, he was elected to the second-highest position in the party after the war, and his years in office were the most successful in the party's history. Lie is widely considered – along with Einar Gerhardsen – to be the architect of the post-war success of the Labour Party, and of the Norwegian welfare state. At the same time, he has also been the subject of criticism for organising surveillance of Norwegian oppositionals, in particular communists. Lie has remained active in Norwegian public life, even after his 100th birthday. (Full article...)

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Samuel Johnson
Norway, too, has noble wild prospects; and Lapland is remarkable for prodigious noble wild prospects. But, Sir, let me tell you, the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!

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Overview of The Gathering 2005
Overview of The Gathering 2005
Credit: Quarryman

The Gathering (abbreviated as "TG" for short) is one of the largest computer parties in the world. It is held annually in Vikingskipet Olympic Arena in Hamar, Norway, and lasts for five consecutive days (starting on the Wednesday in Easter each year). (Full article...)

Main topics

Norway in winter

Counties:AgderInnlandetMøre og RomsdalNordlandOsloRogalandTroms og FinnmarkTrøndelagVestfold og TelemarkVestlandViken (county)


Culture: BunadConstitution DayCuisine • Farm culture • JulLiteratureMusicCinema

History: Ancient Norwegian property lawsNordic Stone AgeNordic Bronze AgeKomsaFosna-Hensbacka cultureFunnelbeaker cultureHamburg cultureNøstvet and Lihult culturesMaglemosian cultureViking AgeHarald I of NorwayOlav IV of NorwayHaakon I of NorwayOlaf I of NorwayOlaf II of NorwayBattle of StiklestadCanute the GreatMagnus I of NorwayHarald III of NorwayBattle of Stamford BridgeMagnus III of NorwaySigurd I of NorwayMagnus V of NorwaySverre of NorwayHaakon IV of NorwayMagnus VI of NorwayEric II of NorwayKalmar UnionDenmark–NorwayUnion between Sweden and NorwayDissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905Haakon VII of NorwayOlav V of NorwayHarald V of NorwayOccupation of Norway by Nazi GermanyNorwegian CampaignNorwegian resistance movementLegal purge in Norway after World War IIForeign relations of NorwayMilitary of NorwayNorway and the European Union

Language: ÅÆØBokmålDet Norske Akademi for Sprog og LitteraturDifferences between Norwegian Bokmål and Standard DanishHøgnorskNordic CouncilNordic Language ConventionNoregs MållagNorsk OrdbokNorth Germanic languagesNorwegian alphabetNorwegian dialectsNorwegian Language CouncilNorwegian language conflictNorwegian phonologyNynorskOld NorseRiksmålsforbundetRussenorsk

Politics: ConstitutionCounties (Fylker)ElectionsEuropean Union relationsForeign relationsGovernmentMonarchyMunicipalities (Kommuner)Political partiesPrime MinisterNorwegian nationalismRomantic nationalismSámi ParliamentStorting

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