Norway

Geography

With a total area of 385,203 km², the Kingdom of Norway occupies the northern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula - not including the Svalbard and Jan Mayen archipelagos. The country is very long at around 1,730 km, but quite narrow. The maximum width of 430 km is reached just north of Bergen. The country only has borders with Sweden in the south and Finland and Russia in the east.

The northern parts of the country are sparsely populated due to the climatic conditions. Overall, the population density is only 14.2 people per km², making Norway one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Less than 2% is a built-up area. The south, on the other hand, is much more densely populated below the 60th parallel. Around 1 million of the total 5.46 million inhabitants live in the greater Oslo area alone. Around 83.7% of all Norwegians are counted among the urban population.

The coasts on the Atlantic and North Sea consist of numerous fjords and 239,057 offshore islands, most of which are uninhabited. Excluding the islands, but including the fjords, the coastline is 25,148 km long. The Scandinavian Mountains run along the border with Sweden and have their highest peak on the Norwegian side at 2,469 meters at Galdhøpiggen. This mountain range is particularly important for the European climate, as it keeps Arctic air masses at bay.

Climate in Norway

With a north-south extension of over 1,750 km, Norway is crossed by several climate zones. In the province of Finnmark in the northeast, the average annual temperature is just 3°C. Winters in this subpolar zone are snowy, long and cold. The west coast, on the other hand, has a much milder climate, favored by the warm North Atlantic current. Here the average summer temperature is 17°C, but in autumn there is high precipitation. The interior south-east of the Scandinavian mountain range, on the other hand, is more continental in character and receives much less precipitation. Due to the lack of maritime influence, it is warmer here in summer, but colder in the winter.

• Detailed climate data for Norway and 10 individual provinces
• Tsunamis

Languages

Mother tongue	Distribution
Norwegian	96.6 %
English	0.5 %
Danish	0.4 %
Swedish	0.3 %
other	2.2 %

Religions

Religion	Distribution
Buddhists	0.4%
Lutherans	64.0%
Orthodoxes	0.5%
Roman Catholics	3.0%
other Christs	2.2%
Hinduists	0.2%
Muslims	3.2%
other	26.5%

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Economy

GDP:	593.35 bn $
Exportations:	321.09 bn $
Importations:	156.89 bn $
Budget surplus:	22,262 M $
› Tourism receipts:	2.31 bn $
› Debt rate:	39.60 %
› Unemployment rate:	3.50 %
› Inflation rate:	5.76 %
› Corruption index:	84 (good)
› Energy consumption:	124.3 bn kWh

With a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.966, Norway counts as one of the high developed economies by UN definition. The IMF also shares this classification.

With an average annual income of 94,540 USD Norway is one of the high-income countries. Even considering purchasing power parity, it is still among the 10 richest countries in the world.

Land use

5% Urban areas:	20,282 km²
3% Agricultural areas:	10,400 km²
33% Forest:	128,504 km²
5% Water areas:	20,080 km²
59% Others:	226,017 km²

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Transport

Roadways:	95,120 km
Railways:	3,848 km
Waterways:	1,577 km
Reg. vehicles:	3,416,216
› Airports: