NORWAY

A few facts We are pleased to welcome you as a cruise passenger to our country. Cruising in Norway will probably prove a different experience to you. In sheltered waters you will be able to enjoy the impressive scenery, from the rugged North Cape to the smiling south. In between you will find thousands of islands and skerries sheltering the sailing channel - the fjord country with its glassy calm water - towering mountains - thundering waterfalls - majestic glaciers. And scattered around, a few here, a few more there - on the islands, in the mountains and valleys, in the towns - the Norwegian himself, so excellently introduced world-wide by Henrik Ibsen in his play "Peer Gynt". Although the Norwegian does not like to identify himself with this famous character, our great dramatist may have had a point there -. Situated between 57°N and 71°N latitude Norway is an extremely narrow and elongated country. In Hellemofjorden, just south of Narvik it is only 3.9 miles from the bead of the fjord to the Swedish border. From North Cape to the southernmost point, the Nace (Lindesnes) it is approximately 1100 miles as the crow flies, or the same as from Lindesnes to Rome or Moscow. Half of this length is situated north of the Arctic Circle, this area being known as the Land of the Midnight Sun, where nights take such shamelessly long summer holidays! The midnight sun, incidentally, is visible at North Cape from May 15th until August 1st. The length of the coast line from the Swedish border in the south to the Russian border in the north is 1650 miles, while the shore line including the many indentations is approximately 17,000 miles, which indicates its extreme irregularity. The longest of the indentations are called fjords. In reality, they are continuations of the inland valleys, formed in earlier periods by running water and scouring ice. Our largest one, the Sognefjord, cuts its way 127 miles into the country and is up to 4.000 feet deep, surrounded by mountains which protrude more than 4.000 feet in the air. Framing the coast are no less than 150,000 skerries and islands, of which 2,000 are inhabited. The mountain area - a world of its own - covers more than 70 % of Norway's surface. Most of it is above the tree line, which in Northern Norway comes down to approximately 500 feet, in South-Eastern Norway to 3,000 feet and in Western Norway around 1,500 feet. Except for a couple of short, hectic summer months, when the cattle can make use of these areas, their inhabitants are wild animals, like reindeer and ptarmigan. An amazing experience, travelling in these regions, is to witness the enormous amount of water, rivers, lakes, feeding the many beautiful waterfalls, which can be seen particularly in the fjord country. Today the energy of all this water has to a large extent been utilized for hydro-electric development. So, when visitors to Norway ask how people in this country can make a living, part of the answer is that our hydro-electric installments supply cheap power to our manufacturing industries. The latter play an increasingly important part in our economy, today employing approximately 30% of the population. No wonder we refer to our waterfalls as "the white coals". Although the range of commodities is very much widening, most of our income from exports come from the four traditional industries: the electrometallurgical (main product: aluminum), the electro-chemical (fertilizers), the forest and the fishing industries. In the recent years the oil industry has become very important for the Norwegian economy. The number of people engaged in forestry and agriculture without secondary occupations is constantly decreasing. Tourism on the other hand plays an increasingly significant part, and is rapidly expanding. See also Norway from Space [Image 110 KB] Last, but not least, in this respect, mention should be made of our merchant fleet, which is one of the biggest in the world. It is also one of the world's most modern, with an average age of the ships of less than 5 years. A large percentage is tankers. The fleet, although manned by only about 45.000 men, accounts for a substantial part of the national income, not to mention the importance to our balance of payments. Nowadays the Norwegians like to call themselves the "freightmen of the world". Our seafaring tradition is long, and although we did not have exactly the same name a thousand years ago, it is no secret that our inclination to seafaring was remarkable, and so it has been throughout our history. Formerly we were known as the tall, blond robbers of the North. (Today still some of us are blond, and some of us are brunettes, and no doubt you will find a tall brunette and a short blond). Obviously, many of us are still seafaring men, like our notorious Viking ancestors, who operated from about the year 800 to ca. 1000, when the rush of young men, keen on enlisting for "service" abroad was so great that the modern Norwegian is often said to be the descendant of someone who missed the boat! The fact that only about 4% of the land is cultivated, and that Norway, except for Iceland, is the least densely populated country in the world, leaves quite a playground for the 4 million Norwegians. Consequently 'breathing space', literally speaking, is no problem, pollution being something many Norwegians only read or hear about. On the whole, the modern Norwegian finds his community well organized. It is small and therefore comparatively manageable. But the fact that we are so few, living on such a large piece of land, makes our country a very costly one to run, and explains why we can "boast" the heaviest income taxes in the world. However, when paying our taxes (with a smile, of course, just ask any Norwegian!) we should not forget what we get in return. The fact is that our country has been one of world's pioneers in the field of social legislation. Several generations have already benefited from the services of our so-called welfare state, (run, by the way, along parliamentary lines, on a British pattern, since 1884. Our Constitution dates from 1814 and is that of a constitutional monarchy. Strictly speaking, the King has no political power. Nevertheless, our extremely democratic and popular royal family, not least thanks to their personal qualities, play an important part as symbols of national unity.) Among the result of our social legislation we may mention national insurance - covering free medical attendance - old-age care, assistance to disabled persons, etc. Conditions for workers are maybe second to none in the world. Our housing conditions must also be said to be very good. About 60% of the population live in one-family houses. Of course this percentage is considerably lower in the cities and the "pressure areas". 70% of the houses are financed through the State Housing Bank, which is subsidized and grants loans at a low rate of interest, and also without interest at all. Housing financed through the State Bank is limited as to size and cost. Education is free up to and including university level. 9 years compulsory school, + 3 years secondary school qualifies for matriculation at our four universities and equivalent institutions. Of foreign languages English is taught from the 4th school year, German or French from the 8th school year. Our own language belongs to the Nordic branch of the Germanic languages, and is so closely related to Danish and Swedish that we have no real difficulty in understanding each other. Our 20,000 Lapps, living in the northern part of the country and of whom only 7% are still nomads depending on their reindeer herds, have a language (and culture) of their own, entirely different from Norwegian. As regards religion 96% of the population belong to the State Church of Norway, which is Evangelical Lutheran. Another significant item on our "welfare bill" is the development of our communications. Although the road standard has improved considerably in recent years, you will find our roads to be of a varying quality. However, we must bear in mind that Norway has more roads to build and maintain per capita than most other nations, and besides, the climate of the country and its topography makes road construction, let alone maintenance, extremely expensive. An essential aspect of our road system is the many big ferry boats needed for the crossing of channels and fjords. Our railroad system which reaches from the southern tip of Norway to north of the Arctic Circle is affected by exactly the same problems as the road system. Linking all the island communities with the main land requires a large number of local steamers, which all have to be subsidized by the state. In the last decade our domestic airline system has developed fast, reducing the travel time from the northernmost parts to Oslo, our capital, from 4 days to a matter of hours. Well, those were a few hints about ourselves. Probably we have not been able to answer so many of your questions. Nevertheless, one thing is certain, although Norwegians may disagree in many respects, we have this in common: We like to live in this country (which considering its geographical situation is the warmest country in the world, thanks to the Gulf Stream) - we are proud of it, and we want to welcome everyone paying us a visit. We hope that this cruise will make as lasting an impression on the first-timer as it has already made on the numerous repeaters.

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