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NORWAY |
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Last Updated: Saturday 5 March 2005 National anthem |
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ETHNICITY. Ethnic Norwegians are people of Nordic descent, with blond hair and blue eyes. The Lapps are the only sizeable minority group in Norway and they live as reindeer herders in the north. Being of short stature with small faces and dark hair, the 25,000 Lapps are still of European origin and have intermarried with Norwegians, Swedes and Finns. There is also a considerable community of Russians living on Spitzbergen in Svalbard. Norway was the homeland of a generation of Scandinavian sea-plunderers who between the 8th and the 10th centuries terrorised the northern seas. The Vikings operated out of land with a long, rugged coastline which defended them from any counter-attack. After the adoption of Christianity by King Olav Tryggvason in 994,the population resumed its rich, sea-faring tradition and Viking raids, mostly on the coast of Britain amd France, gradually came to an end. At the time the Vikings had also sent expeditions to the northern shores of America. As the conversion of the kingdom took place over the next several decades to Christianity, Norway was taken in 1397 into a union with Denmark which lasted till 1814. 4.5 million, of which some 25,000 are Sami. The capital, Oslo, has more than 460,000 inhabitants, Bergen 210,000 and Trondheim 130,000. Most other towns are small. There is complete freedom of religion, but the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the national church with 86% of the population and is endowed by the State. Its clergy are nominated by the King. All other religions are tolerated. Of other Protestant and Roman Catholic faith 3%; other religions 1%; none and unknown 10%. The official languages are Bokmål (or Riksmål) and Nynorsk (or Landsmål, or New Norwegian). The Norwegian language, which is similar to Danish and Swedish, belongs to the Scandinavian family. It has several dialects, no one form of the language being acceptable to all Norwegians. There are also small Sami and Finnish speaking minorities. After the Treaty of 1814, the people of Norway resisted the cession of their country by Denmark to Sweden, declared their independence and adopted a new constitution (17 May, now a national holiday). As the foreign powers refused to recognise the election of Prince Christian Frederick of Denmark as king of Norway, a convention proclaimed the independence of Norway in a personal union with Sweden. Such "personal union" amounted to Sweden agreeing to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. The advent of rising nationalism in 1905 led Norway to declare the dissolution of the union (7 Jun), to which Sweden agreed (26 Oct) and, following a referendum, Prince Carl of Denmark was formally elected king (18 Nov) and assumed the name of King Haakon VII.The reigning king, the fourth since independence, is Harald V who rose to the throne on the 17th January, 1991. The heir apparent is Crown Prince Haakon Magnus, son of the monarch, born on the 20th July, 1973. The Storting is Norway's unicameral parliament having 165 seats. Members are elected by direct and proportional representation from 19 districts, each electing from 4 to 15 representatives to serve four-year terms.When the Storting is first assembled it divides itself by election into the Lagting (one-fourth of the Storting members) and the Odelsting. Each of the three Tings nominates its own speaker. Most isues are decided by the Storting, but issues of legislation must be considered and decided by the two other Tings separately. Only when they disagee has a bill to be considered by the plenary Storting, but then it may only be passed by a majority of two-thirds of the voters, in the same manner as is required for the passing of amendments to the constitution. After the September 2001 elections, Mr Kjell Magne Bondevik, a Lutheran priest, was appointed prime minister to head a centre-right coalition. Its 62 seats comprise the Christian People's Party (12.4% votes, 22 seats), the Conservative Party (21,2%, 38) and the Liberal Party (3.9%, 2). The opposition is led by the Labor Party (24.3%, 43) which suffered its worst result in 90 years, closely followed by the Socialist Left Party (12.5%, 23). Eight women have been included in the cabinet, or State Council, among 19 ministers in terms of a Norwegian tradition, since June 1938, to have at least a 40% representation of women in government. The 19 provinces, or fylker) are Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold, Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms, Vest-Agder, and Vestfold. Ja, vi elsker dette landet, (Yes, we love this country), first performed in 1864. Words by Bjørnstjerne Biørnson (1832-1910), music by Rikard Nordraak (1842-1866).Indeed, we love this country Indeed, we love this country which ascends, Rugged and weathered, far above the sea, With its thousands homes.
Love it, love it and think About our mothers and fathers The drama of ages gone by
Sending dreams to our land.
Oh Norseman, in house and hut, Give thanks to your great God! It was His will to protect the country Even when things looked dark. While ancestors fought And mothers cried, Our Lord silently opened the way So that we won our right.
Our Lord quietly opened the way So that we won: we won our right.
Indeed, we love this country which ascends, Rugged and weathered, far above the sea, With its thousands homes.
While it has been raised as our fathers struggled From distress to victory, Even we, when called upon, Will strike a blow for its peace.
Even we, when called upon,
WEBLOG. The Norway Post – English-language dailyAftenposten – has an English-language page
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