NORWAY (Norwegian, Norge), a
country in the N. of Europe, bounded
on the N. E. by Russian Lapland, and
E. by Sweden, and washed on all other
sides by the sea; by the Arctic Ocean
on the N., the Atlantic and the North
Sea on the N. W. and W., and the
Skager-rack on the S. It is about 1,080
miles in length, and its greatest breadth
is about 275 miles, but toward the N. narrows so much as to be in some places not more than 20 miles; area, 124,130 square miles; pop. (1910) 2,391,782; (1918, est.) 2,632,010.
Topography.—The coast consists
chiefly of bold precipitous cliffs, and is
remarkable both for the innumerable
islands by which it is lined, and the
bays or fiords which cut deeply into it
in all directions. The surface is very
mountainous, particularly in the W. and
N. Very commonly the mountain masses
assume the form of great plateaux or
table-lands, called fjelds or fields, as the
Dovre Fjeld, Hardanger Fjeld, etc. The
highest summits belong to the Sogne
Fjeld, a congeries of elevated masses, glaciers, and snow fields in the center of the S. division of the kingdom, where rise Galdhoepig (8,400 feet), the Glitretind (8,384), and Skagastölstind (7,879). The few important rivers that Norway can claim as exclusively her own have a S. direction, and discharge themselves into the Skager-rack; of these the chief are the Glommen (400 miles), and its affluent the Lougen. The most important river in the N. is the Tana, which forms part of the boundary between Russia and Norway, and falls into the Arctic Ocean. The prevailing rocks of Norway are gneiss and mica-slate, of which all the loftier mountains are composed. The most important metals are iron, copper, silver, and cobalt, all of which are worked to a limited extent.
Climate.—The climate of Norway is
on the whole severe. The harbors on the
W., however, are never blocked up with
ice; but in places more inland, though
much farther S., as at Christiania, this
regularly happens.
Industries.—The farms are generally
the property of those who cultivate them, and commonly include a large stretch of mountain pasture, often 40 or 50 miles from the main farm, to which the cattle are sent for several months in summer. The rearing of cattle is an extensive and profitable branch of rural economy. There were in Norway in 1917 246,634 farms. Live stock is an important industry. The chief sources of wealth are forests and fisheries. There are nearly 100,000 persons engaged in cod fisheries, and about 30,000 in other fisheries. The total value of fisheries in 1918 amounted to 85,292,024 kroner. There are valuable deposits of iron ore, but the lack of coal prevents smelting. Silver, copper ore, and nickel also exist. Power for manufacturing is furnished chiefly by water. In 1917 there were 6,886 manufacturing establishments, employing 161,772 persons. In 1916 the total value of imports was 1,353,664,900 kroner, and of the exports 988,333,000 kroner. The chief imports were carriages and machinery, unworked metals and bread stuffs. The chief exports were animal products, timber, and wooden goods.
Manufactures include cotton, woolen, flax, and silk tissues. Distilleries, brick works, saw and flour mills, are numerous; and there are foundries, machine works, lucifer-match works, tobacco factories, and sugar refineries. Norway is
one of the leading shipping nations and
during the war it became one of the chief
tarrying countries. A number of
vessels belonging to Norwegian citizens
were destroyed during the war by
submarines. In 1919 the merchant marine
consisted of 1,759 steamers with a
tonnage of 1,504,432. There were also
nearly 600 sailing vessels and nearly
1,200 motor vessels, a total of 3,500
vessels of all kinds.
Finance.—The revenue for 1918-1919
was 624,891,900 kroner, and the expenditures
624,891,900 kroner. The national
debt in 1917 was 455,504,598 kroner.