Difference between revisions of "Norway"

<p> A kingdom of North Europe, comprising the western side of the Scandinavian peninsula, and separated from Sweden on the E. by the Kjölen Mountains; the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans beat upon its long and serrated western seaboard, forcing a way up the many narrow and sinuous fiords; Sogne Fiord, the longest, runs into the heart of the country 100 m.; off the northern coast lie the Loffodens, while the Skerries skirt the E. The country forms a strip of irregular and mountainous coast-land 1160 m. long, which narrows down at its least breadth to 25 m.; 70 per cent, of the surface is uncultivable, and 24 per cent, is forest; the lakes number 30,000, of which Lake Wenner (2136 sq. m.) is the largest; immense glaciers are found in the great mountain barrier, and innumerable rivers run short and rapid courses to the Atlantic and to the Skager-Rak in the S.; the Glommen, flowing into Christiania Fiord, is the largest (400 m.). The climate of the W. coast districts is tempered by the Gulf Stream; inland there is a great decrease in the rainfall, but much intenser cold is experienced. The wealth of the country lies in its forests and fisheries, mines and shipping; only 2 per cent, of the land-surface is under cultivation, and 2.8 per cent is utilised for grazing; the copper, iron, and silver mines are declining. Christiania (the capital) is the centre of the industrial area; the shipping almost equals that of the United States, and ranks third in the world. The Norwegians are intensely democratic (titles and nobility were abolished in 1821), and although under a king, who also includes Sweden in his dominions, they enjoy democratic home rule, no members of the Storthing (Parliament) being paid. [[Education]] is free and compulsory, and the bulk of the people are Lutherans. The monetary unit is the <i> Krone </i> (= 1/1½). Norway, originally inhabited by Lapps and Gothic tribes, was first unified by Harold Haarfager (A.D. 863-930), and subsequently welded into a Christian kingdom by his descendant St. Olaf. From 1536 it was held as a conquered province by Denmark up to 1814; in that year it was ceded to Sweden, and received national rights and a free constitution. </p>