Norway

Geography

Norway is a country on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The land has a total area of 385,203 km² (148,728 mi²) and a total coastline of 25,148 km (15,626.2 mi). This land area is approximately 95% of the area of California. Norway is thus one of the largest countries in Europe and the 62nd biggest in the world. With 14 inhabitants per km² it is one of the most sparsely populated countries on earth. An exceptionally high proportion of residents (83%) belong to the urban population. Around one in nine residents lives in Oslo alone.

Norway is comparatively low at an average elevation of 460 meters above sea level. The highest mountain peak (Galdhøpiggen) is at 2,469 meters. The country has 239,057 mostly uninhabited islands in the open sea. There are direct national borders with the 3 neighbouring countries Finland, Sweden and Russia. The distance between New York City and the Capital Oslo is about 5,920 km (3,679 mi).

The climate in Norway

With a north-south extension of over 1750 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 winter.

• Detailed climate data for Norway and 9 individual provinces
• Tsunamis

Languages

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

Religions

Branch	Distribution
Lutherans	82.1%
Roman Catholics	1.8%
other Christs	3.9%
Muslims	2.3%
other	9.9%

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Economy

GDP:	482.44 bn $
Exportations:	199.16 bn $
Importations:	139.55 bn $
Budget surplus:	22,262 M $
› Tourism receipts:	2.20 bn $
› Gross debt:	114.61 bn $
› Unemployment rate:	5.0 %
› Inflation rate:	3.48 %
› Corruption index:	85 (good)
› Energy consumption:	122.2 bn kWh

With an Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.957 Norway counts as one of the high developed economies by UN-definition. However, the IMF does not share this classification. Considering the purchasing power parity Norway is 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:	94,902 km
Railways:	4,200 km
Waterways:	1,577 km
Commercial harbors:	1,644
› Airports:	48