Glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north
Temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers; rainy year-round on west coast
Population: 5,085,582 (July 2013 est.)
Languages: Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; Note: Sami is official in six municipalities
Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran – official) 85.7%, Pentecostal 1%, Roman Catholic 1%, other Christian 2.4%, Muslim 1.8%, other 8.1% (2004)
The Norwegian economy is a prosperous mixed economy, with a vibrant private sector, a large state sector, and an extensive social safety net. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector, through extensive regulation and large-scale state-majority-owned enterprises. The country is richly endowed with natural resources—petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals—and is highly dependent on the petroleum sector.
Norway has one of the highest standards of living in the world, enhanced by the discovery of petroleum and natural gas in the Norwegian section of the North Sea in the late 1960s. Norwegian houses are typically of stone or wood, with one or two stories. City-dwellers often join into a housing cooperative called a borettslag (BOOR-ehts-lahg), from which they rent apartments. Norway's state-supported healthcare system covers most medical expenses for its residents.
US Military Presence/Support
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1:07)