Norway is a Nordic country, which is situated on the western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering Sweden, Finland and Russia Norway is officially called the "Kingdom of Norway:. Norway has very large coastline. The country has a very longer shape. The kingdom of Norway comprises the Arctic island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayan. The Norwegian sovereignty on Svalbard is based on the Svalbard Treaty, but this does not apply to Jan Mayan. The kingdom of Norway controls Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and a claim for Peter I Island in the South Pacific Ocean, but these are not part of the Kingdom. Oslo is a capital as well as the largest city of Norway. Norwegian is an official language of Norway.

Before 12,000 years many people came from southern regions settled in Norway.
First Kingdom: - In the 9th century, Norway consisted of a number of petty kingdoms. Herald Fairhair became the first king of a United Norway, in 872.
8th to 11th centuries: - The period of 8th to 11th centuries, was the period of unification and expansion for Norway. During that time, Norwegians settled in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and parts of the British Islands and attempted to settle at L'Anse aux Meadows in Canada. Norwegians founded Irish cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford and captured the Anglo-Saxon city of Efurwic. The Norwegian Rollo founded Normandy by the west Frankish king Charles the Simple in 911. Rollo's grandson Williom conquered England in 1066.
13th century: - In 1349, the Black Plague was occurred in Norway. During this recession, the Norwegian royal line died out in 1387. Royal politics resulted in some personal unions between the Nordic countries, bringing the thrones of Norway, Denmark and Sweden under the rule of Queen Margaret he. Norway was still dependent until 1814. During the 19th century, all of the kingdom's royal, intellectual, and administrative power was centered in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1537, Protestantism was established in Norway and due to this Norway lost the flow of pilgrims and its contact with Europe. In the 17th century, due to the wars between Denmark Norway and Sweden, Norway lost its some territories.
Napoleonic Wars: - After Denmark Norway was attacked by England; it entered into an alliance with Napoleon and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars.
Independence: - The Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg King was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. Norway took this opportunity to declare her independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models and it elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on 17th May, 1814. During this period, the Norwegian romantic nationalism cultural movement was also started. The movement covered all branches of culture such as literature, painting and music.
First World War: - Norway was a natural country during First World War.
Second World War: - Norway was also attempted to claim neutrality during Second World War but German forces invaded it on 9th April 1940. The Allies also wanted to invade Norway in order to take advantage of her strategically important Atlantic coast but they were thwarted by the German operation. Norway fought against the German occupation and armed resistance in Norway went on for two months. The battle of Vinjesvingen became the last stronghold of Norwegian resistance in southern Norway in May, while the armed forces in the north surrendered in June. Norwegians built a strong resistance movement, which fought the German occupation forces. Notable was also the effort of the Norwegian Merchant Navy.
In 1944, the Germans evacuated the provinces of Finn mark and northern Troms, using a scorched earth tactic to create a vast area of No-man's land in response to the Red Army attacking their positions in eastern Finn mark. The Soviets attacked into eastern Finn mark to create a buffer zone after pushing the German forces out of the arctic Kola Peninsula The Russians returned the area to Norwegian control after the war. The German forces surrendered on 8th of May 1945.
Membership of UN, EU and EFTA: - Norway was one of the signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 and was a founding member of the United Nations. Norway has twice voted against joining the EU (European Union), but it associated with the EU via the European Economic Area Norway is a member of the much smaller European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Mixed Economy: - The Norwegian economy is a mixed economy of free market activity and government intervention. Here, key trades or the government controls industries, for example the government controls vital petroleum sector. The control mechanism over the petroleum resources is admixture of state ownership in major operators, while specific taxes on oil-profits for all operators are se to 78%, finally the government controls licensing of exploration and production.
Natural Resources: - According to natural resources, Norway is very rich country, it has many natural resources like petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests and minerals.
Oil and Gas: - Petroleum production such as oil and gas are the main source of income for the country. In 2004, from its total exports, oil and gas contributed more then 50% of total exports. In response to cancers about oil and gas reserve depletions, Norway has adopted measures to save are oil-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum fund.
Coal: - It is come to know by research that massive amount of coal beneath the oil-reserves on the continental shelf of Norway. A rough estimate has been given at 3 * 1012 tones of coal of unknown quality in these reserves. The coal is inaccessible today, but it there is hope that it can be accessed in the future.
Whaling: - Animal rights and anti-whaling groups have commented that given Norway's economic position it is contrary opinion that this is one of a very small number of countries actively engaged in and favoring the continuation of commercial whaling. But some argued that whaling makes negligible contribution in the economy. Many supporters tell that, though whaling makes negligible contribution in the economy. Many supporters tell that, though whaling's contribution is negligible in economy, small firms are dependent on it and that sustainable development depends on human harvesting of all non-endangered species.
EU: - Norway opted to stay out of the EU (European Union) in 1972 and again in November 1994. Norway along with Iceland and Liechtenstein, participates in the EU's single market via the EEFA agreement. The EEA (European Economic Area) Treaty, between the EU nations and the EFTA nations, is constituted as superior law in Norway, which makes Norway a full member of EU's free trade market.
GDP: - According to the 2005 estimate total GDP of Norway is about $194.7 billion, and its per capita GDP is about $42,400.
Currency: - Norwegian Krone is the country's currency.
1 Norwegian Krone = 0.164104 U.S. Dollars.
1 U.S. Dollar = 6.09369668 Norwegian Kroner.
1 Euro = 7.789 Norwegian Kroner.

Population: - According to the 2006 estimate, Norway's total population is about 46,41,500 and its population density is about 37 persons per sq km. The population increases by 0.4% per year.
Ethnic Groups: - Ethnically most Norwegians are Nordic / North Germanic while small minorities in the north are Sami or Finnish. The sami are considered an indigenous people and traditionally live in the Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Norway is home to small numbers of Americans, Britons, Chileans, Danes, Iranians, Pakistanis, Swedes and Vietnamese among other groups. From last few years, the main cause of the growth of population is immigration and 7.9% of the population is immigrants as per statistics of January 2005. The largest immigrant groups are Pakistanis, Swedes, Danes, Iraqis, Vietnamese and Somalis.
Religion: - The evangelic Church is the main religion of Norway, which followed by about 86% of Norway's inhabitants. The church is supported by the state and the king nominates the clergy. Law guarantees complete religious freedom. Other Christian denominations total about 4.5%, (the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, the Roman Catholic Church etc.). Among other religions, Island is the largest in Norway with about 1.5% and other religions comprise less then 1% each.

Despite Norway's ethnic homogeneity, two distinct forms of the Norwegian language are spoken in the country. The majority language, Bokmal is spoken by more than 80 percent of the population and taught to about 83% of all children in schools. Bokmal is a Norwegian form of the Danish language, which was used by the administrative and educated elite while Norway was under Danish rule.
Nynorsk is taught to about 17% of children in schools. Efforts to merge Bokmal and Nynorsk into a common tongue called Samnorsk (Norwegian) have made little progress to date. Sammi people sepaks Finno-Ugric Saami languages. Today Norwegian is an official language of Norway.