Norway, formally the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo.
The history of Norway has been influenced to an extraordinary degree by the terrain and the climate of the region. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat inland of the great ice sheets, the earliest inhabitants migrated north into the territory which is now Norway. They traveled steadily northwards along the coastal areas, warmed by the Gulf Stream. They were hunter-gatherers whose diet included seafood and game, particularly reindeer as staple foods. Between 5,000 BC and 4,000 BC the earliest agricultural settlements appeared around the Oslofjord. Gradually, between 1500 BC and 500 BC, agricultural settlements spread to the entire south Norway, while the inhabitants of the regions north of Trøndelag continued to hunt and fish.
The Storting is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional representation in nineteen multi-seat constituencies. A member of Stortinget is known in Norwegian as a stortingsrepresentant, literally "Storting representative".
.no is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Norway. Norid, the domain name registry, is based in Trondheim, is owned by the state-owned Uninett and operates under supervision of the Norwegian Communications Authority. As of December 24, 2022 there were 843,749 registered .no domains. Organizations with a presence in Norway and registration at the Brønnøysund Register Centre are limited to 100 domains each. Individuals residing in Norway may register in the second-level domain priv.no and, as of June 17, 2014, directly under .no. Other second-level domains exist for organizations of certain types, such as municipalities and schools. The strict regulations have resulted in near-absence of cybersquatting and warehousing.
Fagernes Airport, Leirin is a general aviation airport in Fagernes, in the municipality of Nord-Aurdal, Innlandet county, Norway. It has been an airport for passenger flights, serving Fagernes and the surrounding valleys of Valdres, Hallingdal and Gudbrandsdal in Southern Norway, 190 kilometres (120 mi) from Oslo. Opened in 1987, it was owned and operated by state-owned Avinor. The airport is located 822 metres (2,697 ft) above sea level, and has a 2,049-metre (6,722 ft) runway. It did provide a regional service for the local population to Oslo, subsidized by the Ministry of Transport, as well as charter services during winter serving the nearby ski resorts. In 2014, the airport had 6,393 passengers. The driving time Fagernes–Oslo, around 2½ hours, has made flights to Oslo unattractive; most passengers used the Oslo route for transfers. It has also been used for other destinations. The road has also been improved compared to how it was in 1987.
The National Archives of Sweden is the official archive of the Swedish government and is responsible for the management of records from Sweden's public authorities. Although the archives functions primarily as the government archive, it also preserves some documents from private individuals and non-public organizations. The mission of the archives is to collect and preserve records for future generations.
The National Library of Norway was established in 1989. Its principal task is "to preserve the past for the future". The library is located both in Oslo and in Mo i Rana. The building in Oslo was restored and reopened in 2005.
Vy Gjøvikbanen AS is a Norwegian railway company that operates the passenger train service on the Gjøvik Line. A subsidiary of the state-owned Vy, it operates a fleet of nine Class 69g three-car electric multiple units. NSB Gjøvikbanen provides two different services: the Skøyen – Oslo S – Jaren service is part of the Oslo Commuter Rail; while Oslo S – Gjøvik is a regional service, with only limited stops on the route until Grua. Departures are each 40 minutes, with every third train running to Gjøvik.
The Asker Line is a 9.5-kilometre (5.9 mi) railway line between Asker and Lysaker in Norway. The line runs along the same corridor as the Drammen Line, offering increased capacity, speed and regularity on the rail network west of Oslo. The first part opened in 2005, and in 2011 an extension opened from Sandvika to Lysaker. Original plans called for an extension to Skøyen, but from 2020, new planning is under way for an extension all the way to Oslo Central Station. Most of the railway is in tunnel and is dimensioned for 160 km/h (99 mph) running. The entire railway is electrified at 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC. The first section cost 3.7 billion kr, while the second is budgeted at NOK 2.7 billion.
The Norwegian National Rail Administration was a government agency responsible for owning, maintaining, operating and developing the Norwegian railway network, including the track, stations, classification yards, traffic management and timetables. Safety oversight was the duty of the Norwegian Railway Inspectorate, while numerous operating companies run trains on the lines; the largest being the state owned passenger company Vy and the freight company CargoNet.
The Norwegian Police Service is the Norwegian national civilian police agency. The service dates to the 13th century when the first sheriffs were appointed, and the current structure established in 2003. It comprises a central National Police Directorate, seven specialty agencies and twelve police districts. The government agency is subordinate to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security and has 16,000 employees, of which 8,000 are police officers. In addition to police powers, the service is responsible for border control, certain civil duties, coordinating search and rescue operations, counterterrorism, highway patrolling, writ of execution, criminal investigation and prosecution. The directorate is led by National Police Commissioner Odd Reidar Humlegård.
Moss Airport, Rygge was a minor international airport serving Moss, Oslo and Eastern Norway. It is located in Rygge, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) outside Moss and 60 kilometres (37 mi) outside Oslo. It also served as a regional airport for Østfold county and owned and was operated by the private company Rygge Sivile Lufthavn AS.
The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. The mission of the OHS is to collect, preserve, and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people.
The Government agencies of Norway are state controlled organizations that act independently to carry out the policies of the Government of Norway. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct orders. A Minister is explicitly prohibited from interfering with the day-to-day operation in an agency or the outcome in individual cases. While no minister is allowed to give orders to agencies personally, they are subject to decisions made by the Government. Also, the Minister is normally the instance of appeals of agencies decisions.
Oslo University Hospital is a university hospital in Oslo, Norway. With over 24,000 employees it is the largest hospital organization in Europe. It is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Oslo and is one of the largest medical research institutions in Europe.
Norway's elongated shape, its numerous internal geographical barriers and the often widely dispersed and separated settlements are all factors that have strongly influenced the structure of the country's administrative subdivisions. This structure has varied over time and is subject to continuous review. In 2017, the government decided to abolish some of the counties and to merge them with other counties to form larger ones, reducing the number of counties from 19 to 11, which was implemented on 1 January 2020. Following protests, the new government decided to abolish three of the new counties in 2022, and re-establish seven of the old ones. Taking effect on 1 January 2024 there are fifteen counties in Norway.
Henrik Bull was a Norwegian architect and designer. Among his works are the Paulus Church at Grünerløkka in Oslo, the National Theater, the Historical Museum in Oslo, and the Government Building. He also designed coins for Norges Bank, and participated at the Kristiania Jubilée exhibition at Frogner during 1914. He directed the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry from 1912 to 1934.
The National Archives of Finland is a Finnish government agency under the Ministry of Education and Culture. It is responsible for archiving official documents of the Finnish state and municipalities. It consists of three locations in the capital Helsinki and seven former regional archives, which were incorporated into the National Archives in 2017 and have since been its branches.
The Oslo Accords are a pair of interim agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): the Oslo I Accord, signed in Washington, D.C., in 1993; and the Oslo II Accord, signed in Taba, Egypt, in 1995. They marked the start of the Oslo process, a peace process aimed at achieving a peace treaty based on Resolution 242 and Resolution 338 of the United Nations Security Council. The Oslo process began after secret negotiations in Oslo, Norway, resulting in both the recognition of Israel by the PLO and the recognition by Israel of the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people and as a partner in bilateral negotiations.
Oslo Metropolitan University is a state university in Oslo and Kjeller in Norway. It is the result of the merger of many former vocational colleges in the Greater Oslo Region. It has around 1,400 academic employees, around 20,000 students and around 800 administrative support staff.
