NORWAY - Country in northern Europe in Scandinavia bordering on the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. Shares common borders with Russia (former USSR), Finland and Sweden.
Name - Norge (say Norgeah), from ancient Norvegr, the way to the north.
Area - 324,826 sq. km. Also has sovereignty over Spitsbergen, Bear Island, Jan Mayen, Peter I Island, Bouvet Island and Queen Maud land, a sector of the South Pole continent.
Population - 4,091,142 per 1983
Capital - Oslo
Constitution - Signed 17 May 1814. Was in union with Sweden which ended in 1905. Constitutional kingdom.
Monarch - King Harald 5, Queen Sonja.
Government - Parlamentarism. Currently under Labour rule.
Monetary unit - Krone. Exchange rate about 6.50 for one US dollar.
Language - Norwegian, a Germanic language. Very similar to Swedish and Danish. Developed from ancient Norwegian of which variants are now spoken on Iceland and the Fareoes. Norway also has a Sami minority using their own language which is related to Finnish.
