| Norway Practical Information |
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 Government
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Norway
conventional short form: Norway
local long form: Kongeriket Norge
local short form: Norge
Data code: NO
Government type: constitutional monarchy
Capital: Oslo
Dependent areas: Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
Independence: 7 June 1905 Norway declared the union with Sweden dissolved; 26 October 1905 Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union
Legal system: mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Tom Erik VRAALSEN
chancery: 2720 34th Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 333-6000
FAX: [1] (202) 337-0870
consulate(s) general: Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador David B. HERMELIN
embassy: Drammensveien 18, 0244 Oslo
mailing address: PSC 69, Box 1000, APO AE 09707
telephone: [47] (22) 44 85 50
FAX: [47] (22) 43 07 77
Economy
Economy - overview: The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of welfare capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises), and extensively subsidizes agriculture, fishing, and areas with sparse resources. The extensive welfare system helps propel public sector expenditures to more than 50% of GDP. A major shipping nation, with a high dependence on international trade, Norway is basically an exporter of raw materials and semiprocessed goods. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its oil production and international oil prices. Only Saudi Arabia exports more oil than Norway. Norway imports more than half its food needs. Oslo opted to stay out of the EU during a referendum in November 1994. Growth was a meager 0.8% in 1999 because of weak private consumption and anemic investment activity in the oil and other sectors. Growth should pick up in 2000, perhaps to 2.7%. Despite their high per capita income and generous welfare benefits, Norwegians worry about that time in the next two decades when the oil and gas begin to run out.
Population below poverty line: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (1999 est.)
Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing
Agriculture - products: barley, other grains, potatoes; beef, milk; fish
Currency: 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 oere
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 2,325,010 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1,676,763 (1997)
Telephone system: high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services
domestic: domestic satellite system
international: 2 buried coaxial cable systems; 4 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - NA Eutelsat, NA Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), and 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Norway shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 5, FM at least 650, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 4.03 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 209 (1997)
Televisions: 2.03 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 21 (1999)
Transportation
Railways:
total: 4,012 km
standard gauge: 4,012 km 1.435-m gauge (2,530 km electrified; 96 km double track) (1998)
Highways:
total: 90,741 km
paved: 67,602 km (including 128 km of expressways)
unpaved: 23,139 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; navigable by 2.4 m draft vessels maximum
Pipelines: refined petroleum products 53 km
Ports and harbors: Bergen, Drammen, Floro, Hammerfest, Harstad, Haugesund, Kristiansand, Larvik, Narvik, Oslo, Porsgrunn, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim
Merchant marine:
total: 788 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 21,460,260 GRT/34,178,125 DWT
ships by type: bulk 100, cargo 142, chemical tanker 111, combination bulk 9, combination ore/oil 35, container 18, liquified gas 86, multi-functional large load carrier 1, passenger 11, petroleum tanker 157, refrigerated cargo 11, roll-on/roll-off 48, short-sea passenger 22, vehicle carrier 37 (1999 est.)
note: the government has created an internal register, the Norwegian International Ship register (NIS), as a subset of the Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians (1998 est.)
Airports: 103 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 67
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 12
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 12
under 914 m: 29 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 36
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 31 (1999 est.)
Heliports: 1 (1999 est.) |
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