Norway

These parades differ markedly from those of many other countries in that, rather than the military parades of, for example, France, they consist of children. Though notionally synonymous with Christmas, both religious and secular, Yule and Yuletide are sometimes used by English speakers as secular names for December 25th and late December in general in much the same way that the Scandinavian "Jul" does not distinguish between the Germanic Pagan feast, Christmas, and (quite possibly) the pre-Indo-European winter solstice celebration. Henrik Wergeland was the founder of the 17 May parade. A much more popular winter celebration is "Christmas in July", not surprisingly celebrated (several times by some) in July, removing the celebration from all religious connections both Pagan and Christian. Many people wear bunad (traditional costumes) and most participate in or watch the 17 May parade through the towns. Because Christmas happens during extreme summer temperatures in the southern hemisphere, a few Australians celebrate a second festival, known as Yulefest, at the southern winter solstice in June. Norwegians celebrate their national day on May 17, Constitution Day. The holiday is observed in a manner that commemorates the death of the Oak King identified with the wren bird (symbolizing the old year and the shortened sun) at the hands of his son and successor, the robin redbreast Holly King (the new year and the new sun that begins to grow).

The playwright/novelists Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Knut Hamsun and Sigrid Undset have all won the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1903, 1920 and 1928 respectively. In particularly Wiccan-influenced and New Age religions attempts at reconstruction are largely disregarded and the festival is largely only related to historical accounts by name, as a part the Wheel of the Year. Famous Norwegians include the playwrights/novelists Baron Ludvig Holberg and Henrik Ibsen, explorers Roald Amundsen, Fridtjof Nansen, and Thor Heyerdahl, expressionist painter Edvard Munch and the romanticist composer Edvard Grieg. [2]. However, the Finnish language bears some similarities to the Sami language. Groups such as the Asatru Folk Assembly in the US recognize the celebration as lasting for 12 days, beginning on the date of the winter solstice. The Germanic Norwegian language and the Finno-Ugric Sami languages are entirely unrelated. Further attempts at reconstruction of surviving accounts of historical celebrations are often made, a hallmark being variations of the traditional blót.

Several Sami languages are spoken and written throughout the country, especially in the north, by the Sami people. In Germanic Neopagan sects, Yule is celebrated with gatherings that often involve a meal and gift giving. Nevertheless, all of the Norwegian dialects are interintelligible. [1] The Pope sanctions such conversion tactics as Biblically acceptable, pointing out that God did much the same thing with the ancient Israelites and their pagan sacrifices. Around 95 percent of the population speak Norwegian as their native tongue, although many speak dialects that differ significantly from the written language. The Pope suggests that converting heathens is easier if they are allowed to retain the outward forms of their traditional pagan practices and traditions, while recasting those traditions spiritually towards the one true God instead of to their pagan gods (whom the Pope refers to as "devils"), "to the end that, whilst some gratifications are outwardly permitted them, they may the more easily consent to the inward consolations of the grace of God". they are both used in public administration, in schools, churches, and on radio and television, but Bokmål is used by the majority. English historian Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ("Ecclesiastic History of the English People") contains a letter from Pope Gregory I to Saint Mellitus, who was then on his way to England to conduct missionary work among the heathen Anglo-Saxons.

They have officially equal status, i.e. Halloween and Easter are theorized to have been likewise assimilated from northern European pagan festivals. The Norwegian language has two official written forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk. The tradition derives from the sacrifice to the god Freyr at the Yule celebrations. As of 1 January 2003 approximately 5% of the population are unaffiliated ([7]). The Scandinavian tradition of slaughtering a pig at Christmas (see Christmas ham), and not in the autumn, is probably the most salient evidence for this. About 1.5% belong to the secular Human Ethical Union. When the first missionaries began converting the Germanic peoples to Christianity, they found it easier to simply provide a Christian reinterpretation for popular feasts such as Yule and allow the celebrations themselves to go on largely unchanged, rather than trying to suppress them.

Among non-Christian religions, Islam is the largest in Norway with about 1.5%, and other religions are at less than 1% each. are apparently derived from traditional northern European Yule celebrations. Other Christian societies total about 4.5% (the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, the Catholic Church, Pentecostal congregations, the Methodist Church, etc.). Many of the symbols associated with the modern holiday of Christmas such as the burning of the Yule log, the eating of ham, the hanging of boughs, holly, mistletoe, etc. Approximately 86% of the inhabitants are members of the Evangelic Lutheran Church of Norway (state church), although such membership is very frequently nominal. The occasions were annual banquets on December 26,. (Here, immigrants are defined as persons with two foreign-born parents [6].). The confraternities of artisans of the 9th century, which developed into the medieval guilds, were denounced by Catholic clergy for their "conjurations" when they swore to support one another in coming adversity and in business ventures.

The largest immigrant groups are Pakistanis, Swedes, Danes, Iraqis, Vietnamese and Somalis. It is, however, known to have included the sacrifice of a pig for the god Freyr, a tradition which survives in the Scandinavian Christmas ham. Norway only takes in a very limited number of asylum seekers and aims to repatriate these people as quickly as possible. 'Yule-Joy', with dancing, continued through the Middle Ages in Iceland, but was frowned upon when the Reformation arrived. In recent years, immigration has accounted for more than half the population growth, and 7.9% of the population are immigrants as of 1 January 2005. What is certain is that Yule celebrations at the winter solstice predate Christianity, and though there are numerous references to Yule in the Icelandic sagas, there are few accounts of how Yule was actually celebrated, beyond the fact that it was a time for feasting. The largest concentration of Sami people is, however, found in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Other Slavic languages have similar words as well.

The Sami are instead considered an indigenous people, and traditionally live in the Northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In Russian, the word "ёлка" /ˈjɔlkɐ/ refers to fir trees, which are associated with yuletide. Ethnically most Norwegians are Nordic / North Germanic, while small minorities in the north are Finnish (see also Cwen). The meaning later narrowed to mean Christmas with the coming of Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England. The Norwegian population is 4.6 million and increases by 0.4% per year (estimate July 2004). In Old English, geóla originally referred to the month of December. Norway's whaling limits itself to the Minke Whale. The word "jul" has also been borrowed into the neighboring Finnic languages, most notably to Finnish and Estonian (where it has been modified to "joulu" and "jõul" , respectively, and denotes Christmas in modern usage), although the Finnic languages have a linguistic origin different from Germanic languages.

Many supporters of whaling agree that its macroeconomic importance is negligible, but hold that the livelyhood of individuals and small firms depend on it, that sustainable development depends on human harvesting of all non-endangered species, and that the opposition against whaling is mostly based on sentimental rather than rational arguments ([5]). "Jewish Yule") for Hanukkah. This is despite the argued negligible contribution that whaling makes to the economy, and despite opposition from around the world ([4]). In the Scandinavian Germanic languages, the term Jul covers both Yule and Christmas, and is also occasionally used to denote other holidays in December, e.g., "jødisk jul" or "judisk jul" (tr. Animal rights and anti-whaling groups have commented that given Norway's economic position it is paradoxical that this is one of a very small number of countries actively engaged in, and favours the continuation of, commercial whaling. Linguists suggest that Jól has been inherited by Germanic languages from a pre-Indo-European substrate language and either borrowed into Old English from Old Norse or directly inherited from Proto-Germanic. This research was done by graduate students of NTNU and researches at SINTEF in Trondheim [3]. Of the contested origin of Jól, one popular but factually unlikely connection is to Old Norse hjól, wheel, to identify the moment when the wheel of the year is at its lowpoint, ready to rise again.

The coal is terribly inaccessible today, but there are realistic hopes that it can be accessed in the future. . In comparison, the currently known coal reserves for the entire world is estimated at 0.9×10¹² tonnes. This usage survives in the term "Yule log"; it may also persist in some Scottish dialects. A rough estimate has been given at 3×10¹² tonnes of coal of unknown quality in these reserves. Indeed, this is the only meaning of "Yule" accepted by either the full Oxford English Dictionary or the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and people unfamiliar with ancient pagan traditions will not distinguish between Yule and Christmas. However, recent research shows early evidence of massive amounts of coal beneath the oil-reserves on the continental shelf of Norway. "Yule" and "Yuletide" are also archaic terms for Christmas, sometimes invoked in songs to provide atmosphere.

Economical overheating is avoided by the partial saving - rather than spending - of the oil revenues which are of very big importance for a relatively small country. In Germanic Neopaganism it is one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, where Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern hemisphere, circa December 21, and in the southern hemisphere, circa June 21. With arguably the highest quality of life worldwide, Norwegians worried about that time in the next two decades when the oil and gas begin to run out, accordingly, Norway has been saving its oil-boosted budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum Fund, which is invested abroad and at the end of the second quarter of 2005 was valued at 181.5 billion US dollars . Yule was the winter solstice celebration of the Germanic pagans. After little growth in 2002 and 2003, the economy expanded more rapidly in 2004. The economic growth was 0.8% in 1999, 2.7% in 2000, and 1.3% in 2001.

In 2000 the government sold one-third of the then 100% state-owned oil company Statoil. However, Norway, together with Iceland and Liechtenstein, participate in the EU's single market via the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement. Norway opted to stay out of the European Union during a referendum in 1972, and again in November 1994. The last 25 years, the Norwegian economy has shown various signs of the economic phenomenon called Dutch disease.

Only Saudi Arabia and Russia export more oil than Norway, which is not a member of OPEC. The country is richly endowed with natural resources - petroleum, hydropower, fish, forests, and minerals - and is highly dependent on its petroleum production and international oil prices; in 2004, oil and gas accounted for 50% of exports. The government controls key areas, such as the vital petroleum sector (through large-scale state enterprises). The Norwegian economy is a prosperous bastion of social capitalism, featuring a combination of free market activity and government intervention.

Note: Temperatures have tended to be higher in recent years (see main article).
Norwegian Meteorological Institute: The climate of Norway. Data from Norges Meteorologiske Institutt (Norwegian Meteorological Institute). Climate data for some cities in different regions of the country; base period 1961-1990 (temperatures are 24hr average):. The inland climate can be more severe and to the north more subarctic conditions are found, especially in Finnmark.

The Norwegian climate is fairly temperate, especially along the coast under the influence of the Gulf Stream. With a maximum depth of 514 m, Hornindalsvatnet is Norway's and Europe's deepest lake. Norway's highest point is the Galdhøpiggen at 2,469 m. To the east, in order from south to north, it shares a long border with Sweden, a shorter one with Finland, and a still shorter one with Russia.

Norway is bounded for its entire length by seas of the North Atlantic Ocean: the North Sea to the southwest and its large inlet the Skagerrak to the south, the Norwegian Sea to the west, and the Barents Sea to the northeast. The southern part is not known for this, however in summertime, the sun is only away for a few hours. The Northern part of the country is also known as the Land of the Midnight Sun because of its northern location, north of the Arctic Circle, where for part of each summer the sun does not set, and in winter much of its land remains dark for long periods. The landscape is generally rugged and mountainous, topped by glaciers, and its coastline of over 83,000 km [2] is punctuated by steep-sloped inlets known as fjords, as well as a multitude of islands and islets.

See also Regions of Norway. The counties of Norway are:. Note: The 19 fylker might be replaced with 5 - 9 larger regions by 2010. The fylke is the intermediate administration between state and municipality.

Fylke and kommune are officially translated to English as county and municipality. Norway is divided into 19 administrative regions, called fylker (singular fylke) and 431 kommuner (singular kommune). In order to form a government, more than half (currently at least 10 out of 19 members) of the Council of State are required to belong to the Church of Norway . The special High Court of the Realm, which consists of the Supreme Court plus the Lagting, hears impeachment cases.

Judges attached to regular courts are appointed by the King in council after nomination by the Ministry of Justice. The regular courts include the Supreme Court or Høyesterett (17 permanent judges and a chief justice), courts of appeal, city and district courts, and conciliation councils. Apart from this, the Storting functions as a unicameral parliament. Impeachment cases are very rare and are raised by the Odelsting and judged by the Lagting as part of the High Court of the Realm.

Laws are proposed by the government through a Member of the Council of State or by a member of the Odelsting and decided on by the Odelsting and Lagting, in case of repeated disagreement by the joint Storting. The Storting divides itself into two chambers, the Odelsting and the Lagting when voting on legislation. The members are elected from the 19 counties for 4-year terms according to a system of proportional representation. The Norwegian parliament, Stortinget, currently has 169 members (increased from 165, effective from the elections of 12 September 2005).

Parliamentarism has evolved since 1884 and entails that the cabinet must not have the parliament against it, and that the appointment by the King is a formality. The Council of State consists of a Prime Minister and his council, formally appointed by the King. The reserve powers vested in the Monarch by the constitution are however significant and an important security part of the role of the Monarchy, and were last used during World War II. Although the constitution of 1814 grants important executive powers to the King, these are almost always exercised by the Council of State in the name of the King (King's Council, or cabinet).

[1] The functions of the King, Harald V, are mainly ceremonial, but he has influence as the symbol of national unity. The Royal House is a branch of the princely family of Glücksburg, originally from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. Norway is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. However, Norway is a member of the much smaller European Free Trade Association (EFTA).

Norway has twice voted against joining the European Union (in 1972 and 1994), but is associated with the EU via the European Economic Area. Norway was one of the signatories of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949 and was a founding member of the United Nations, providing its first secretary general – Trygve Lie. The occupation during World War II disturbed the Norwegians' confidence in neutrality, and they turned instead to collective security. The German forces in Norway surrendered on 8 May 1945.

The Russians peacefully returned the area to Norwegian control after the war. The Soviets attacked into eastern Finnmark to create a buffer zone after pushing the German forces out of the arctic Kola peninsula. In 1944, the Germans evacuated the provinces of Finnmark and northern Troms, using a scorched earth tactic to create a vast area of No-man's land in response to the Red Army attacking their positions in eastern Finnmark. During the five years of Nazi occupation, Norwegians built a strong resistance movement which fought the German occupation forces with both armed resistance and civil disobedience.

Quisling, as minister president, later formed a government under German control. Real power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. On the day of the invasion, the collaborative leader of the small National-Socialist party Nasjonal Samling — Vidkun Quisling — tried to seize power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. King Haakon and the Norwegian government continued the fight from exile in Rotherhithe, London.

Norway put up a stiff fight against the German occupation and armed resistance in Norway went on for two months. The Allies also had plans to invade Norway, in order to take advantage of her strategically important Atlantic coast, but were thwarted by the German operation. Norway also attempted to claim neutrality during World War II, but was invaded by German forces on the 9th of April 1940 (Operation Weserübung). Norway was a neutral country during World War I.

In 1913, Norwegian women gained suffrage. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the medieval kings of independent Norway. After a referendum confirming the monarchy, the Parliament unanimously elected him king. The Norwegian government offered the throne of Norway to Danish Prince Carl.

Norway's growing dissatisfaction with the union with Sweden during the late 19th century, combined with National Romanticism and the growing national culture coming from it, led to the dissolution of the union on 7 June 1905. The movement covered all branches of culture, including literature (Henrik Wergeland, Maurits Christopher Hansen, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, Jørgen Moe), painting (Hans Gude, Adolph Tiedemand), music (Edvard Grieg), and even language policy, where attempts to define a native written language for Norway led to today's two official written forms for Norwegian, Bokmål and Nynorsk. This period also saw the rise of the Norwegian romantic nationalism movement in art and culture, as the Norwegians sought to define and express a distinct national character. Nevertheless, Norway was militarily forced into a personal union with Sweden, but kept its liberal constitution and independent institutions, except for the foreign service.

Norway took this opportunity to declare her independence, adopted a constitution based on American and French models and elected the Danish crown prince Christian Fredrik as king on 17 May 1814. The Dano-Norwegian Oldenburg king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. After Denmark-Norway was attacked by England, it entered into an alliance with Napoleon, and in 1814 found itself on the losing side in the Napoleonic Wars and in dire economic conditions. Additionally, Norway saw its land area decrease in the 17th century with the loss of the provinces Båhuslen, Jemtland, and Herjedalen to Sweden, as a result of the wars between Denmark-Norway and Sweden.

Olav at the Nidaros shrine, and with them, much of the contact with the cultural and economic life of the rest of Europe. With the introduction of Protestantism in 1537, Norway lost the steady stream of pilgrims to the relics of St. Other factors also contributed to Norway's decline in this period. As Norway was the weaker part of a union that kept all of its royal, intellectual, and administrative power in Copenhagen, Denmark, this period is was in light of the national romanticism in the 19th century sometimes referred to as the "400-Year Night".

The country entered into the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden, and after 1450 remained in a union with Denmark alone that would last until 1814. The Norwegian royal line died out in 1387, partly because of a recession following the Black Plague in 1349, which wiped out the majority of the population, and partly because of royal politics that brought the thrones of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden under the control of Queen Margrethe. Rollo's great-great-great-grandson William the Conqueror successfully invaded and conquered England in 1066. The Norwegian Rollo invaded and was ceded Normandy by the West Frankish king Charles the Simple in 911.

Norwegians founded the modern day Irish cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford and captured the Anglo-Saxon city of Eoforwic renaming it Jorvik, today known as York. The Norwegians settled on Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and parts of the British Islands and attempted to settle at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, Canada (it is the Vinland of The Saga of Eric the Red). The Viking age (8th to 11th centuries) was one of national unification and expansion. According to tradition, Harald Fairhair gathered the small kingdoms into one and in 872 with the battle of Hafrsfjord, he established a feudal state.

In the 9th century Norway consisted of a number of petty kingdoms. . Additionally, Norway has a claim for Dronning Maud Land in Antarctica. Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and a claim for Peter I Island in the South Pacific Ocean are also external dependencies, but these are not part of the Kingdom.

The Norwegian sovereignty on Svalbard is based on the Svalbard Treaty, but this does not apply to Jan Mayen. The Kingdom of Norway also includes the arctic island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. The country has a very elongated shape. Norway's extensive coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean is home to its famous fjords.

Norway, or officially the Kingdom of Norway (Norwegian: Kongeriket Norge or Kongeriket Noreg) is a Nordic country on the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, bordering Sweden, Finland and Russia. World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - 9th of 117 countries. Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2004 - 8th of 145 countries. Save the Children: State of the World's Mothers 2004 Children's Index: Rank 1, Women's Index: Rank 6, Mother's Index: Rank 6 (119 countries).

Reporters Without Borders Worldwide press freedom index - 1st of 166 countries 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002. Index of Economic Freedom - 29th of 155 countries. Human Development Index - 1st of 177 countries 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001. GDP per capita - 3rd of 232 countries.

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Philharmonic Orchestras in Norway