Map of Norway | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021202220232024 | More stats

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Background: Two centuries of Viking raids into Europe tapered off following the adoption of Christianity by King Olav TRYGGVASON in 994; conversion of the Norwegian kingdom occurred over the next several decades. In 1397, Norway was absorbed into a union with Denmark that lasted more than four centuries. In 1814, Norwegians resisted the cession of their country to Sweden and adopted a new constitution. Sweden then invaded Norway but agreed to let Norway keep its constitution in return for accepting the union under a Swedish king. Rising nationalism throughout the 19th century led to a 1905 referendum granting Norway independence. Norway remained neutral in World War I and proclaimed its neutrality at the outset of World War II but was nonetheless occupied for five years by Nazi Germany (1940-45) and suffered heavy losses to its shipping fleet. In 1949, Norway abandoned neutrality and became a member of NATO. Discovery of oil and gas in adjacent waters in the late 1960s boosted Norway's economic fortunes. In referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU. Key domestic issues include immigration and integration of ethnic minorities, maintaining the country's extensive social safety net with an aging population, and preserving economic competitiveness.


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Location: Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden

Geographic coordinates: 62 00 N, 10 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 323,802 km²
Land: 304,282 km²
Water: 19,520 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than twice the size of Georgia; slightly larger than New Mexico

Land boundaries
Total: 2,566 km
Border countries: (3) Finland 709 km; Sweden 1,666 km; Russia 191 km

Coastline: 25,148 km (includes mainland 2,650 km, as well as long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 22,498 km; length of island coastlines 58,133 km)

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 10 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: 200 nm

Climate: temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder interior with increased precipitation and colder summers; rainy year-round on west coast

Terrain: glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra in north

Elevation
Highest point: Galdhopiggen 2,469 m
Lowest point: Norwegian Sea 0 m
Mean elevation: 460 m

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, titanium, pyrites, nickel, fish, timber, hydropower

Land use
Agricultural land: 2.7% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land arable land: 2.2% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent crops: 0% (2018 est.)
Agricultural land permanent pasture: 0.5% (2018 est.)
Forest: 27.8% (2018 est.)
Other: 69.5% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land: 337 km² (2016)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal
Municipal: 780 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Industrial: 1.07 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)
Agricultural: 840 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources: 393 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Natural hazards: rockslides, avalanches

Geography
Note: about two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off its much-indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of the most rugged and longest coastlines in the world


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Population
Distribution: most Norwegians live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated: 5,597,924 (2023 est.)
Growth rate: 0.6% (2023 est.)
Below poverty line: 12.7% (2018 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Norwegian(s)
Adjective: Norwegian

Ethnic groups: Norwegian 81.5% (includes about 60,000 Sami), other European 8.9%, other 9.6% (2021 est.)

Languages: Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; note - Sami has three dialects: Lule, North Sami, and South Sami; Sami is an official language in nine municipalities in Norway's three northernmost counties: Finnmark, Nordland, and Troms
Major-language samples:

Religions: Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran - official) 67.5%, Muslim 3.1%, Roman Catholic 3.1%, other Christian 3.8%, other 2.6%, unspecified 19.9% (2021 est.)

Demographic profile: Norway is a trendsetter country in gender equality, especially in workforce participation. Of particular value to families are the child and parental leave benefits. This supplement is a monthly allowance paid to families from a month after birth until the child reaches 18 to defray some of the costs of raising children. This is helpful to families with young children where the mother works limited hours. The parental leave benefit is available to qualified mothers in a child’s first year, enabling parents to share at-home childcare for up to 49 weeks at full salary (or 59 weeks with 80% of their salary). Afterward, parents can put their child in high-quality subsidized daycare or receive funding toward private child care or as compensation for one parent staying home to care for their child.

Age structure
0-14 years: 17.83% (male 510,835/female 487,126)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,842,794/female 1,739,688)
65 years and over: 18.18% (2023 est.) (male 474,878/female 542,603)

Dependency ratios
Total dependency ratio: 54
Youth dependency ratio: 26.1
Elderly dependency ratio: 27.9
Potential support ratio: 3.6 (2021 est.)
Note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Median age
Total: 40.6 years (2023 est.)
Male: 39.9 years
Female: 41.4 years

Population growth rate: 0.6% (2023 est.)

Birth rate: 10.4 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Death rate: 8.2 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Net migration rate: 3.8 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)

Population distribution: most Norwegians live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated

Urbanization
Urban population: 84% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization: 1.32% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Major urban areas
Population: 1.086 million OSLO (capital) (2023)

Environment
Current issues: water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle emissions
International agreements party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Multi-effect Protocol, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling
International agreements signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants
Particulate matter emissions: 6.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)
Carbon dioxide emissions: 41.02 megatons (2016 est.)
Methane emissions: 4.81 megatons (2020 est.)

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
Total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2023 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 29.8 years (2020 est.)
Note: data is calculated based on actual age at first births

Maternal mortality ratio: 2 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate
Total: 1.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Male: 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 1.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 83 years (2023 est.)
Male: 81.4 years
Female: 84.7 years

Total fertility rate: 1.57 children born/woman (2023 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate: NA

Drinking water source
Improved urban: 100% of population
Improved rural: 100% of population
Improved total: 100% of population
Unimproved urban: 0% of population
Unimproved rural: 0% of population
Unimproved total: 0% of population (2020 est.)

Current health expenditure: 11.4% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density: 5.04 physicians/1,000 population (2020)

Hospital bed density: 3.5 beds/1,000 population (2018)

Sanitation facility access
Improved urban:
Unimproved urban:

Hiv/Aids

Major infectious diseases

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 23.1% (2016)

Alcohol consumption
Per capita total: 6.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita beer: 2.63 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita wine: 2.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita spirits: 1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Per capita other alcohols: 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

Tobacco use
Total: 16.2% (2020 est.)
Male: 17% (2020 est.)
Female: 15.4% (2020 est.)

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: NA

Education expenditures: 5.9% of GDP (2020 est.)

Literacy
Total population: NA
Male: NA
Female: NA

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Total: 18 years
Male: 18 years
Female: 19 years (2020)

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 13% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 13.5%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 12.5%


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Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Norway
Conventional short form: Norway
Local long form: Kongeriket Norge
Local short form: Norge
Etymology: derives from the Old Norse words "nordr" and "vegr" meaning "northern way" and refers to the long coastline of western Norway

Government type: parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital
Name: Oslo
Geographic coordinates: 59 55 N, 10 45 E
Time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
Daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
Etymology: the medieval name was spelt "Aslo"; the as component refered either to the Ekeberg ridge southeast of the town ("as" in modern Norwegian), or to the Aesir (Norse gods); lo refered to "meadow," so the most likely interpretations would have been either "the meadow beneath the ridge" or "the meadow of the gods"; both explanations are considered equally plausible

Administrative divisions: 11 counties (fylker, singular - fylke); Agder, Innlandet, More og Romsdal, Nordland, Oslo, Rogaland, Troms og Finnmark, Trondelag, Vestfold og Telemark, Vestland, Viken

Dependent areas: (3) Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard (3)

Independence: 7 June 1905 (union with Sweden declared dissolved); 26 October 1905 (Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union); notable earlier dates: ca. 872 (traditional unification of petty Norwegian kingdoms by HARALD Fairhair); 1397 (Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden); 1524 (Denmark-Norway); 17 May 1814 (Norwegian constitution adopted); 4 November 1814 (Sweden-Norway union confirmed)

National holiday: Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)

Constitution
History: drafted spring 1814, adopted 16 May 1814, signed by Constituent Assembly 17 May 1814
Amendments: proposals submitted by members of Parliament or by the government within the first three years of Parliament's four-year term; passage requires two-thirds majority vote of a two-thirds quorum in the next elected Parliament; amended over 400 times, last in 2020

Legal system: mixed legal system of civil, common, and customary law; Supreme Court can advise on legislative acts

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Citizenship
Citizenship by birth: no
Citizenship by descent only: at least one parent must be a citizen of Norway
Dual citizenship recognized: no
Residency requirement for naturalization: 7 years

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS (son of the monarch, born 20 July 1973)
Head of government: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr STORE (since 14 October 2021)
Cabinet: Council of State appointed by the monarch, approved by Parliament
Elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following parliamentary elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch with the approval of the parliament

Legislative branch
Description: unicameral Parliament or Storting (169 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by list proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)
Elections: last held on 13 September 2021 (next to be held on 30 September 2025)
Election results: percent of vote by party - Ap 26.3%, H 20.5%, SP 13.6%, FrP 11.7%, SV 7.6%, R 4.7%, V 4.6%, MDG 3.9%, KrF 3.8%, PF 0.2%, other 3.1%; seats by party - Ap 48, H 36, SP 28, FrP 21, SV 13, R 8, V 8, , KrF 3, MDG 3, PF 1; composition (as of October 2021) men 93, women 76, percent of women 45%

Judicial branch
Highest courts: Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (consists of the chief justice and 18 associate justices)
Judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the monarch (King in Council) upon the recommendation of the Judicial Appointments Board; justices can serve until mandatory retirement at age 70
Subordinate courts: Courts of Appeal or Lagmennsrett; regional and district courts; Conciliation Boards; ordinary and special courts; note - in addition to professionally trained judges, elected lay judges sit on the bench with professional judges in the Courts of Appeal and district courts

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EFTA, EITI (implementing country), ESA, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Anniken Ramberg KRUTNES (since 17 September 2020)
In the us chancery: 2,720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 333-6,000
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 469-3,990
In the us email address and website:
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Marc NATHANSON (since 16 June 2022)
From the us embassy: Morgedalsvegen 36, 0378 Oslo
From the us mailing address: 5,460 Oslo Place, Washington DC 20,521-5,460
From the us telephone: [47] 21-30-85-40
From the us FAX: [47] 22-56-27-51
From the us email address and website:

Flag description: red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag); the colors recall Norway's past political unions with Denmark (red and white) and Sweden (blue)

National symbols: lion; national colors: red, white, blue

National anthem
Name: "Ja, vi elsker dette landet" (Yes, We Love This Country)
Lyrics/music: lyrics/music: Bjornstjerne BJORNSON/Rikard NORDRAAK
Note: adopted 1864; in addition to the national anthem, "Kongesangen" (Song of the King), which uses the tune of "God Save the King," serves as the royal anthem

National heritage
Total World Heritage Sites: 8 (7 cultural, 1 natural)
Selected World Heritage Site locales:


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Economy overview: high-income non-EU European economy; aging labor force; large state-owned energy company constrains budget and spending; largest oil sovereign wealth fund; major fishing, forestry, and extraction industries; large welfare system

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real gdp growth rate:

Real gdp per capita:
Note: data are in 2017 dollars

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use
Household consumption: 44.8% (2017 est.)
Government consumption: 24% (2017 est.)
Investment in fixed capital: 24.1% (2017 est.)
Investment in inventories: 4.8% (2017 est.)
Exports of goods and services: 35.5% (2017 est.)
Imports of goods and services: -33.2% (2017 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 2.3% (2017 est.)
Industry: 33.7% (2017 est.)
Services: 64% (2017 est.)

Agriculture products: milk, barley, wheat, potatoes, oats, pork, poultry, beef, eggs, rye

Industries: petroleum and gas, shipping, fishing, aquaculture, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles

Industrial production growth rate: 2.19% (2021 est.)

Labor force: 2.971 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate:

Youth unemployment
Rate ages 15 24 total: 13% (2021 est.)
Rate ages 15 24 male: 13.5%
Rate ages 15 24 female: 12.5%

Population below poverty line: 12.7% (2018 est.)

Gini index
Coefficient distribution of family income: 27.7 (2019 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10%: 3.8%
Highest 10%: 21.2% (2014)

Distribution of family income gini index

Budget
Revenues: $185.338 billion (2020 est.)
Expenditures: $210.522 billion (2020 est.)
Surplus  or deficit: 4.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Taxes and other revenues: 21.09% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Public debt:
Note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data exclude treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data exclude debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

Revenue
From forest resources: 0.05% of GDP (2018 est.)
From coal: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices:

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance:

Exports:
Partners: United Kingdom 21%, Germany 19%, Sweden 8%, Netherlands 7%, China 6% (2021)
Commodities: natural gas, crude petroleum, salmon, refined petroleum, aluminum (2021)

Imports:
Partners: Sweden 18%, Germany 12%, China 10%, Denmark 6%, United States 5% (2021)
Commodities: cars, refined petroleum, broadcasting equipment, computers, ships, nickel (2021)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

Debt external:
Note: Norway is a net external creditor

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates:


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Electricity
Access electrification-total population: 100% (2021)
Installed generating capacity: 38.36 million kW (2020 est.)
Consumption: 124.288 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Exports: 24.968 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Imports: 4.496 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Transmission/distribution losses: 8.909 billion kWh (2020 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources solar: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources wind: 6.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 92.1% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Generation sources biomass and waste: 0.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)

Coal
Production: 69,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Consumption: 1.13 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Exports: 46,000 metric tons (2020 est.)
Imports: 1.172 million metric tons (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 2 million metric tons (2019 est.)

Petroleum
Total petroleum production: 2.026 million bbl/day (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum consumption: 215,900 bbl/day (2019 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate exports: 1,242,500 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil and lease condensate imports: 66,300 bbl/day (2018 est.)
Crude oil estimated reserves: 8,122,200,000 barrels (2021 est.)

Crude oil

Refined petroleum
Products production: 371,600 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products exports: 432,800 bbl/day (2017 est.)
Products imports: 135,300 bbl/day (2017 est.)

Natural gas
Production: 112,052,523,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Consumption: 3,980,351,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Exports: 107,337,690,000 cubic meters (2020 est.)
Imports: 32.196 million cubic meters (2020 est.)
Proven reserves: 1,544,455,000,000 cubic meters (2021 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions: 36.731 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From coal and metallurgical coke: 3.182 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From petroleum and other liquids: 25.256 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
From consumed natural gas: 8.294 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

Energy consumption per capita: 333.833 million Btu/person (2019 est.)


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Telephones
Fixed lines total subscriptions: 140,033 (2022 est.)
Fixed lines subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 7 (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular total subscriptions: 5.8 million (2021 est.)
Mobile cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 110 (2021 est.)

Telephone system

Broadcast media: state-owned public radio-TV broadcaster operates 3 nationwide TV stations, 3 nationwide radio stations, and 16 regional radio stations; roughly a dozen privately owned TV stations broadcast nationally and roughly another 25 local TV stations broadcasting; nearly 75% of households have access to multi-channel cable or satellite TV; 2 privately owned radio stations broadcast nationwide and another 240 stations operate locally; Norway is the first country in the world to phase out FM radio in favor of Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), a process scheduled for completion in late 2017 (2019)

Internet
Country code: .no
Users total: 5.346 million (2021 est.)
Users percent of population: 99% (2021 est.)

Broadband fixed subscriptions
Total: 2,387,661 (2020 est.)
Subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 44 (2020 est.)


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Military expenditures:

Military and security forces: Norwegian Armed Forces (Forsvaret or "the Defense"): Norwegian Army (Haeren), Royal Norwegian Navy (Kongelige Norske Sjoeforsvaret; includes Coastal Rangers and Coast Guard (Kystvakt)), Royal Norwegian Air Force (Kongelige Norske Luftforsvaret), Norwegian Special Forces, Norwegian Cyber Defense Force, Home Guard (Heimevernet, HV) (2023)
Note: the national police have primary responsibility for internal security; the National Police Directorate, an entity under the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, oversees the police force

Military service age and obligation: 19-35 years of age for selective compulsory military service for men and women; 17 years of age for male volunteers; 18 years of age for women volunteers; 12-19 month service obligation; conscripts first serve 12 months between the ages of 19 and 28, and then up to 4-5 refresher training periods until age 35, 44, 55, or 60 depending on rank and function (2023)
Note 1: Norway conscripts about 8,000 individuals annually; it has had compulsory military service since 1907
Note 2: Norway was the first NATO country to allow women to serve in all combat arms branches of the military (1985); it also has an all-female special operations unit known as Jegertroppen (The Hunter Troop), which was established in 2014; as of 2023, women comprised about 20% of the military's full-time personnel
Note 3: beginning in 1995, the military began offering Icelandic citizens the opportunity to apply for admission to officer schools in Norway with an associated education and service contract under special reasons and based on recommendations from Icelandic authorities; as early as 1996, Norway and Iceland entered into a cooperation agreement on the voluntary participation of Icelandic personnel in Norwegian force contributions in foreign operations

Space program
Overview: has a broad and active space program coordinated with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU; jointly designs and builds satellites with foreign partners, including communications, remote sensing (RS), scientific, and navigational/positional; operates satellites; develops and launches sounding rockets; researches and produces a range of other space-related technologies, including satellite/space launch vehicle (SLV) and space station components, telescopes, and robotics; conducts solar and telecommunications research; participates in international space programs, such as the International Space Station; hosts training for Mars landing missions on the island of Svalbard; active member of the ESA and cooperates with a variety of foreign space agencies and industries, including those of Canada, ESA/EU member states, Japan, Russia, and the US; has an active and advanced space industry that cooperates with both the NOSA and foreign space programs and produces a variety of space-related products, from terminals for satellite communications and technologies for RS satellites to sensors for gamma radiation in deep space (2023)
Overview note: further details about the key activities, programs, and milestones of the country’s space program, as well as government spending estimates on the space sector, appear in space programs

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system
Number of registered air carriers: 8 (2020)
Inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 125

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: LN

Airports: 95 (2021)
With paved runways: 67
With paved runways civil airports: 25
With paved runways military airports: 1
With paved runways joint use (civil-military) airports: 6
With paved runways other airports: 35
With paved runways note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)
With unpaved runways: 28
With unpaved runways note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control

Heliports: 1 (2021)

Pipelines: 8,520 km gas, 1,304 km oil/condensate (2017)

Railways
Total: 3,848 km (2020) 2,482 km electrified

Roadways
Total: 94,902 km (2018) (includes 455 km of expressways)
Paved: (2013)
Unpaved: (2013)

Waterways: 1,577 km (2010)

Merchant marine
Total: 1,710 (2022)
By type: bulk carrier 105, container ship 1, general cargo 273, oil tanker 95, other 1,236

Ports and terminals
Major seaports: Bergen, Haugesund, Maaloy, Mongstad, Narvik, Sture
Lng terminals export: Kamoy, Kollsnes, Melkoya Island, Tjeldbergodden
Lng terminals import: Fredrikstad, Mosjoen


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Disputes international: Norway-Antarctica: Norway asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land and its continental shelf)

Refugees and internally displaced persons
Refugees country of origin: 15,901 (Syria), 10,883 (Eritrea) (mid-year 2022); 61,005 (Ukraine) (as of 4 December 2023)
Stateless persons: 3,901 (2022)

Illicit drugs