Norway

At A glance

Capital City: Oslo

Land size: 304,282 sq km

Population: 5,553,840 (2022 est.)

Official language: Norwegian (Bokmal and Nynorsk)

Currency: Krone (kr / NOK)

UNESCO properties and sites:

• Bryggen
• Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site
• Rock Art of Alta
• Røros Mining Town and the Circumference
• Struve Geodetic Arc
• Urnes Stave Church
• Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago
• West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord

Source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/norway/


Norway’s majestic fjords and stunning landscapes will take your breath away. Discover the warmth of Norwegian hospitality as you meet locals, savor delicious local cuisine, and embrace the tranquility of nature. Immerse yourself in the rich Viking heritage, exploring ancient ruins and cultural sites that tell tales of the country's fascinating past.

Ride along winding trails, feeling the awe-inspiring grandeur of nature as you trot through peaceful valleys and soak in panoramic views. Venture into the wilderness of the Norwegian mountains, where snow-capped peaks, deep valleys, and pristine forests offer a true escape into nature.

 

Brief History

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. Although Norway remained neutral in World War I, it suffered heavy losses to its shipping. Norway proclaimed its neutrality at the outset of World War II but was nonetheless occupied for five years by Nazi Germany (1940-45).
In 1949, Norway abandoned neutrality and became a member of NATO. In referenda held in 1972 and 1994, Norway rejected joining the EU.


Source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/norway/

 

Cultural Insights

People rarely use the polite or formal form of address; the use of the informal pronoun for personal address is almost universal.

Individuals generally do not call attention to themselves through loud speech or flamboyant behavior.

Personal space is respected, and so individuals stand well apart from each other when conversing.

Punctuality is expected both in business and in social life.

People may be reserved among strangers but are warm and friendly once a relationship has been established.


Source: https://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Norway.html

 

Transportation

By Air
Oslo Airport is Norway's main hub, with scheduled flights to and from more than 100 international destinations. Oslo is also the main domestic hub from which it is easy to fly to your final destination in Norway.
There are also many international and domestic connections to Bergen, Kristiansand, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Tromsø, and Trondheim.
All major cities and towns have airports offering both international and domestic flights. Norwegian carrier Widerøe has connections to 41 airports in Norway.


By Rail
An extensive rail network links Norway to the rest of Scandinavia and Europe. There are regular train connections to Oslo from Copenhagen, Stockholm and Gothenburg.
Most train journeys from the continent are overnight, and you will find sleeping compartments on all of them.
Having arrived in Norway, it's easy to explore both Fjord Norway and the rest of the country right up to Northern Norway by train, on some of the world's most beautiful railway journeys.


Source: https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/getting-here/

 

Money

Credit cards are widely accepted, but are not so widely accepted as a means of payment in Norwegian supermarkets and petrol stations. You may be asked to provide ID if you cannot pay by chip and PIN.

There are limits to the amount of currency you can carry into or out of Norway. This is currently set at 25,000 Norwegian Krone. If you bring any more than this into the country, you must declare it to Customs on arrival. Exporting currency from Norway in excess of the set limit has to be approved in advance by Norwegian Customs and transferred through a bank. Forms for this and further information can be found at Tollvesenet. Failure to comply with these rules can lead to arrest, a substantial fine and temporary confiscation of the excess currency which may then be released only through a bank.


Source: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/norway

 

Health

If you need emergency medical assistance during your trip, dial 113 and ask for an ambulance. If you are referred to a medical facility for treatment you should contact your insurance/medical assistance company immediately.

Medical facilities are widely available and of high quality, but may be limited outside larger urban areas. The remote and sparse populations in northern Norway and the dependence on ferries to cross fjords of western Norway may affect transportation and ready access to medical facilities.


Source: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/norway
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Norway.html

 

Electricity

Norway operates on a 230V supply voltage and uses type C and F plugs.

The Type C electrical plug (or Europlug) is a two-wire plug that has two round pins. It fits into any socket that accepts 4.0 – 4.8 mm round contacts on 19 mm centres. They are being replaced by E, F, J, K or N sockets which work perfectly with Type C plugs.

The Type F electrical plug (also known as a Schuko plug) has two 4.8 mm round pins spaced 19 mm apart. It is similar to the Type E plug but has two earth clips on the side rather than a female earth contact. The CEE 7/7 plug was developed to work with sockets E and F and has grounding clips on both sides (to work with Type F sockets) and a female contact (to accept the grounding pin of the type E socket).


Source: https://www.iec.ch/world-plugs

 

Communication

Time zone in Norway: Central European Time (GMT+1)

International country code – 47

Although not a member of the European Union, the country’s telecoms sector is synchronized with relevant EC legislation. The broadband penetration rate is among the highest in Europe. In late 2019 the government proposed making broadband of at least 20Mb/s a universal service.


Source: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/norway/



Phrasebook

English	Norwegian
Hello!	Hallo
Goodbye	Ha det bra
Good morning	God morgen
Good evening	God kveld
Good night	God natt
Please	Vær så snill
Thank you	Takk
Yes	Ja
No	Nei

Source: https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/#visa-requirements-and-passports
http://www.nemolanguageapps.com/phrasebooks/norwegian

 

Entry Requirements

Visitors from the Schengen countries do not need to show a passport or visa when entering Norway. You may still be asked to identify yourself at some point during your trip, so it is highly recommended to carry a valid passport or national ID card with you.

Citizens of some countries outside the EU/EEA have to apply for a visitor's visa. You can easily check if this is required for you, and what rules apply to your country here: https://www.norway.no/

Due to Svalbard being outside the Schengen area, identity control is performed for all guests travelling to and from Svalbard. This also includes Norwegians. All guests, both Norwegian and foreign citizens, must bring their passport or national ID-card.

Please read more about entry to Svalbard at https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/entry-and-residence/


Source: https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/travel-tips-a-z/#visa-requirements-and-passports

 

Embassies and Consulates

U.S. Embassy in Oslo
Morgedalsvegen 36
Oslo
Phone: +47 21 30 85 40


Embassy of Canada in Oslo
Wergelandsveien 7 (4th floor)
Oslo
Phone: +47 22-99-53-00

Honorary Consul of Canada in Stavanger
Olav Kyrres gate 21
Stavanger
Phone: +47 51-82-29-00


Source: for USA https://www.usembassy.gov/
For Canada: https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/embassies-consulates

 

UNESCO Sites

Photo by Camille Loiseau

Bryggen
Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen, is a reminder of the town’s importance as part of the Hanseatic League’s trading empire from the 14th to the mid-16th century. Many fires, the last in 1955, have ravaged the characteristic wooden houses of Bryggen. Its rebuilding has traditionally followed old patterns and methods, thus leaving its main structure preserved, which is a relic of an ancient wooden urban structure once common in Northern Europe. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape.

Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site
Located in a dramatic landscape of mountains, waterfalls and river valleys, the site comprises hydroelectric power plants, transmission lines, factories, transport systems and towns. The complex was established by the Norsk-Hydro Company to manufacture artificial fertilizer from nitrogen in the air. It was built to meet the Western world’s growing demand for agricultural production in the early 20th century. The company towns of Rjukan and Notodden show workers’ accommodation and social institutions linked by rail and ferry to ports where the fertilizer was loaded. The Rjukan-Notodden site manifests an exceptional combination of industrial assets and themes associated to the natural landscape. It stands out as an example of a new global industry in the early 20th century.

Rock Art of Alta
This group of petroglyphs in the Alta Fjord, near the Arctic Circle, bears the traces of a settlement dating from c. 4200 to 500 B.C. The thousands of paintings and engravings add to our understanding of the environment and human activities on the fringes of the Far North in prehistoric times.

Røros Mining Town and the Circumference
Røros Mining Town and the Circumference is linked to the copper mines, established in the 17th century and exploited for 333 years until 1977. The site comprises the Town and its industrial-rural cultural landscapes; Femundshytta, a smelter with its associated area; and the Winter Transport Route. Completely rebuilt after its destruction by Swedish troops in 1679, Røros contains about 2000 wooden one- and two-storey houses and a smelting house. Many of these buildings have preserved their blackened wooden façades, giving the town a medieval appearance. Surrounded by a buffer zone, coincident with the area of privileges (the Circumference) granted to the mining enterprise by the Danish-Norwegian Crown (1646), the property illustrates the establishment and flourishing of a lasting culture based on copper mining in a remote region with a harsh climate.

Struve Geodetic Arc
The Struve Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through 10 countries and over 2,820 km. These are points of a survey, carried out between 1816 and 1855 by the astronomer Friedrich Georg Wilhelm Struve, which represented the first accurate measuring of a long segment of a meridian. This helped to establish the exact size and shape of the planet and marked an important step in the development of earth sciences and topographic mapping. It is an extraordinary example of scientific collaboration among scientists from different countries, and of collaboration between monarchs for a scientific cause. The original arc consisted of 258 main triangles with 265 main station points. The listed site includes 34 of the original station points, with different markings, i.e. a drilled hole in rock, iron cross, cairns, or built obelisks.

Urnes Stave Church
The wooden church of Urnes (the stavkirke) stands in the natural setting of Sogn og Fjordane. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and is an outstanding example of traditional Scandinavian wooden architecture. It brings together traces of Celtic art, Viking traditions and Romanesque spatial structures.

Vegaøyan – The Vega Archipelago
A cluster of dozens of islands centred on Vega, just south of the Arctic Circle, forms a cultural landscape of 107,294 ha, of which 6,881 ha is land. The islands bear testimony to a distinctive frugal way of life based on fishing and the harvesting of the down of eider ducks, in an inhospitable environment. There are fishing villages, quays, warehouses, eider houses (built for eider ducks to nest in), farming landscapes, lighthouses and beacons. There is evidence of human settlement from the Stone Age onwards. By the 9th century, the islands had become an important centre for the supply of down, which appears to have accounted for around a third of the islanders’ income. The Vega Archipelago reflects the way fishermen/farmers have, over the past 1,500 years, maintained a sustainable living and the contribution of women to eiderdown harvesting.



Photo by Camille Loiseau

West Norwegian Fjords – Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
Situated in south-western Norway, north-east of Bergen, Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, set 120 km from one another, are part of the west Norwegian fjord landscape, which stretches from Stavanger in the south to Andalsnes, 500 km to the north-east. The two fjords, among the world’s longest and deepest, are considered as archetypical fjord landscapes and among the most scenically outstanding anywhere. Their exceptional natural beauty is derived from their narrow and steep-sided crystalline rock walls that rise up to 1,400 m from the Norwegian Sea and extend 500 m below sea level. The sheer walls of the fjords have numerous waterfalls while free-flowing rivers cross their deciduous and coniferous forests to glacial lakes, glaciers and rugged mountains. The landscape features a range of supporting natural phenomena, both terrestrial and marine, such as submarine moraines and marine mammals.


Source: https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/no