Norway

Kingdom of Norway
Kongeriket Norge (Bokmål)
Kongeriket Noreg (Nynorsk)
In other official languages
Anthem: Ja, vi elsker dette landet
(English: "Yes, we love this country")
Royal anthem: Kongesangen
(English: "King's Song")
Location of the Kingdom of Norway (green)

in Europe (green and dark grey)

Capital
and largest city
Oslo
59°56′N 10°41′E / 59.933°N 10.683°E / 59.933; 10.683
Official languages
Recognised national languages
Ethnic groups
(2025)
Religion
(2024)
  • 68.5% Christianity
  • 27.3% no religion
  • 3.4% Islam
  • 0.8% other
DemonymNorwegian
GovernmentUnitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch
Harald V
Jonas Gahr Støre
Masud Gharahkhani
Toril Marie Øie
LegislatureStorting
Unification 
872
• Peak extent of the Old Kingdom
1263
• Kalmar Union (personal union)
1397
• Denmark–Norway (real union)
1524
25 February 1814
17 May 1814
• Kingdoms of Sweden–Norway (personal union)
4 November 1814
7 June 1905
Area
• Total
385,207 km2 (148,729 sq mi) (61stb)
• Water (%)
5.32 (2015)
Population
• 2026 estimate
5,627,400 (116th)
• Density
14.6/km2 (37.8/sq mi) (224th)
GDP (PPP)2025 estimate
• Total
$606.590 billion (49th)
• Per capita
$107,890 (5th)
GDP (nominal)2025 estimate
• Total
$504.280 billion (31st)
• Per capita
$89,690 (6th)
Gini (2020) 25.3
low inequality
HDI (2023) 0.970
very high (2nd)
CurrencyNorwegian krone (NOK)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)
UTC+2 (CEST)
Date formatdd.mm.yyyy
Calling code+47
ISO 3166 codeNO
Internet TLD.nod
Website
norge.no
  1. Includes the mainland, Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Without the integral territories, it is the 67th largest country at 323,802 square kilometres.
  2. This percentage is for the mainland, Svalbard, and Jan Mayen. This percentage counts glaciers as "land". It's calculated as 19,940.14/(365,246.17+19,940.14).
  3. Two more TLDs have been assigned, but are not used: .sj for Svalbard and Jan Mayen; .bv for Bouvet Island.

Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country comprising the western and northernmost parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe, the remote Arctic island Jan Mayen and the archipelago Svalbard. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency, and not a part of the Kingdom; Norway also claims the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. Norway has a population of approximately 5.6 million, and a total area of 385,207 square kilometres (148,729 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Oslo. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden, and is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast. Norway has an extensive coastline facing the Skagerrak strait, the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea, and the Barents Sea.

The unified kingdom of Norway was established in 872 as a merger of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously for 1,153–1,154 years. From 1537 to 1814, Norway was part of Denmark–Norway, and, from 1814 to 1905, it was in a personal union with Sweden. Norway was neutral during the First World War, and in the Second World War until April 1940 when it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany until the end of the war.

Harald V of the House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway. Jonas Gahr Støre has been Prime Minister of Norway since 2021. As a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the parliament, the cabinet, and the judiciary, as determined by the 1814 constitution. Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels: counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the European Free Trade Association, the Council of Europe, the Antarctic Treaty, and the Nordic Council; a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD; and a part of the Schengen Area. The Norwegian dialects form a continuum of mutual intelligibility with Danish and Swedish dialects.

Norway maintains the Nordic model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system, with its values rooted in egalitarian ideals. The Norwegian state has large ownership positions in key industrial sectors, having extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, and fresh water. The petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). On a per-capita basis, Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas outside of the Middle East. The country has the fourth- and eighth-highest PPP-adjusted per-capita GDP in the world on the World Bank's and IMF's list, respectively. It has the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, with a value of US$2.1 trillion.