The North Sea Commission (NSC) is an international organization founded in 1989. It facilitates partnerships between regions connected with the North Sea and promotes the North Sea Region as an economic entity within Europe. It is part of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions, a pan-European organization for subnational governments.
The presidency of the North Sea Commission is made up of one president and two vice presidents who are elected every two years. The work is organized in four thematic groups, based on the four priorities of the organization's strategy North Sea Region 2020: Managing Maritime Space, Increased accessibility and sustainable transport, Tackling climate change, and Attractive and sustainable communities.
(Acting) President: Andreas Lervik, Østfold (Norway)
Vice President: Elisabet Babic, Halland (Sweden)
Vice President: vacant
Vest-Agder was one of 18 counties (fylker) in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. Its area was about 7,277 square kilometres (2,810 sq mi). The county administration was located in its largest city, Kristiansand.
Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden, while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side of Oslofjord. The county's administrative seat was Sarpsborg. The county controversially became part of the newly established Viken County on 1 January 2020. On 1 January 2024, Østfold will be re-established as an independent county, however without the former municipality of Rømskog, which was amalgamated with the Akershus municipality Aurskog-Høland in 2020.
Skåneland or Skånelandene (Danish) is a region on the southern Scandinavian peninsula. It includes the Swedish provinces of Blekinge, Halland, and Scania. The Danish island of Bornholm is traditionally also included. Skåneland has no official recognition or function and the term is not in common usage. Equivalent terms in English and Latin are "the Scanian Provinces" and "Terrae Scaniae" respectively. The term is mostly used in historical contexts and not in daily speech. In Danish, Skånelandene is used more often. The terms have no political implications as the region is not a political entity but a cultural region, without officially established administrative borders.
Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties which until 1918 were known as amter. The counties form the first-level administrative divisions of Norway and are further subdivided into 356 municipalities. The island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly at the national level. The capital Oslo is both a county and a municipality.
The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries, rivers, lakes, groundwater systems (aquifers), and wetlands.
Agder is a county and traditional region in the southern part of Norway. The county was established on 1 January 2020, when the old Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties were merged. Since the early 1900s, the term Sørlandet has been commonly used for this region, sometimes with the inclusion of neighbouring Rogaland. Before that time, the area was considered a part of Western Norway.
Norwegian dialects (dialekter) are commonly divided into four main groups, 'Northern Norwegian', 'Central Norwegian' (trøndersk), 'Western Norwegian' (vestlandsk), and 'Eastern Norwegian'. Sometimes 'Midland Norwegian' and/or 'South Norwegian' are considered fifth or sixth groups.
{{subst:proposed deletion|concern=inadequate 3rd party sources}}
Southern Norway is the geographical region (landsdel) along the Skagerrak coast of southern Norway. The region is an informal description since it does not have any governmental function. It roughly corresponds to the old petty kingdom of Agder as well as the two former counties of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder. From New Year 2020, the two counties have been merged into one county, Agder. The total combined area of Vest-Agder and Aust-Agder counties is 16,493 square kilometres (6,368 sq mi). The name is relatively new, having first been used in Norway around 1900.
The Norwegian Christian Student and School Association, is a Christian youth organization in Norway. Members refer to NKSS as "The team".
Raet is the largest terminal moraine in Scandinavia. It was formed during the end of the last glacial period, 12,800–11,500 years ago, in one of the latest advances of the glaciers. The moraine system extends from Finland, where it is known as Salpausselkä, through Sweden into Østfold in southeast Norway, across the Oslofjord and around the tip of southern Norway, where Raet National Park is located in Agder, then north to northern Norway and the Kola Peninsula in northwest Russia. In several regions there is more than one moraine, an older on the coast or underwater and a younger further inland. The moraines have created numerous lakes by damming watercourses, and several stretches have been used as roads since ancient times. In Norway, both Raet National Park and Jomfruland National Park are along the moraine.
The North Sea Trail is a transnational long-distance hiking trail along the coast of the North Sea. The route passes through seven countries and 26 partner areas. The aim of the project is to promote sustainable tourism and to keep alive the common cultural heritage of the North Sea countries. The trail has a theoretical total length of about 4,900 kilometres (3,000 mi), but so far only about 3,700 kilometres (2,300 mi) have been developed.
The North Sea Region (NSR) of Europe refers to European countries and regions that have access to the North Sea. Cultural and economic co-operation has a strong tradition in the area, dating back to the Vikings and the Hanseatic League.
The relations between Denmark and Sweden span a long history of interaction. The inhabitants of each speak related North Germanic languages, which have a degree of mutual intelligibility. Both countries formed part of the Kalmar Union between 1397 and 1523, but there exists an inherited cultural competition between Sweden and Denmark. From 1448 to 1790 the two kingdoms went to war against each other at nearly every opportunity; in more than one case a new king tried to prove his worth by waging war on the other country for little or no political reason. Eleven Dano-Swedish wars took place between 1521 and 1814.
As a member of EFTA, Norway (NO) is not included in the Classification of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS), but in a similar classification used for coding statistical regions of countries that are not part of the EU but are candidate countries, potential candidates or EFTA countries. The three levels are:
The Euroregion Baltic (ERB) refers to a cross-border Euroregion in the south-east of the Baltic Sea Region, consisting of eight regions of Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden. On 2 March 2022, the ERB's Executive Board suspended Russia's membership, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Arctic cooperation and politics are partially coordinated via the Arctic Council, composed of the eight Arctic nations: the United States, Canada, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Denmark with Greenland and the Faroe Islands. The dominant governmental power in Arctic policy resides within the executive offices, legislative bodies, and implementing agencies of the eight Arctic nations, and to a lesser extent other nations, such as United Kingdom, Germany, European Union and China. NGOs and academia play a large part in Arctic policy. Also important are intergovernmental bodies such as the United Nations and NATO.
The Norwegian Correctional Service is a government agency responsible for the implementation of detention and punishment in a way that is reassuring for the society and for preventing crimes. The agency is governed by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
The Arctic Policy of the Kingdom of Denmark defines the Kingdom's foreign relations and policies with other Arctic countries, and the Kingdom's strategy for the Arctic on issues occurring within the geographic boundaries of "the Arctic" or related to the Arctic or its peoples. In order to clearly understand the Danish geopolitical importance of the Arctic, it is necessary to mention Denmark's territorial claims in areas beyond its exclusive EEZ in areas around the Faroe Islands and north of Greenland covering parts of the North Pole, which is also claimed by Russia.
The Albanians in the Nordic countries refers to the Albanian migrants in Nordic countries such as Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, Norway and Sweden and their descendants.