Travel to Norway

Norway is more called as a Scandinavian country due to its position in the northern most part of Europe. It is one of the most beautiful of all the Scandinavian countries. Following are the facts and précis of its background, you need to know before you makeup your mind of going there.





Norway’s official name is the kingdom of Norway and the country covers the mainland area and the associated islands. The overall area of this country is somewhere around 150,000 square miles. In other words, it can be said that the area of Norway is slightly more than the area of New Mexico State of America. The capital of this country is Oslo and this is also the biggest city in entire Norway with population of more than 520,000. Some of the other big cities of Norway are Bergen, Trondheim with population of around 150,000 and Stavanger with population of 110,000.





The topography of Norway is not that much friendly and can be called very intense. It contains some very high plateaus, steep fjords, mountains and some very fertile valleys. The climate is also full of varieties and it can be very pleasant around the coastal areas and surprisingly cooler in the inner part of the country. Because of its northern most position on the globe, it experiences long days during summer season and long nights during winter season. During summer, you can witness sunlight until the midnight and therefore, Norway is also known as the land of midnight sun.





As far as the people of Norway are concerned, they are very friendly. People living there are known as Norwegians. As per the latest population count, which was held in 2006, the population of Norway was 4,593,000. The population is not increasing very fast as the annual growth rate is only .41 percent. A surprising fact is that there is only one person for every 15 square miles of land. Most of the people living in Norway are the blend of people from all the Scandinavian countries. The main majority is the mix of Nordic, Alpine and Baltic people who have intermixed with each other for centuries now. People of Norway do not believe in migrating to some other place hence, the immigration rate is very low. It was registered that there were only 300,000 immigrants in 2006.





From the religion point of view, Norwegians are very particular and finicky. More than 87 percent of total of Norwegian people believe in Christianity as their religion and have very firm faith on the church of Norway. The church of Norway is under the Lutheran concept of preaching. Although, Christianity is the widely spread religion but you can also find some Pentecostal Christians, Roman Catholics and Muslims in very small percentages.





Norwegians basically speak two languages i.e. Bokmal Norwegian and Nynorsk. However Norwegian is widely spoken and is the chief language which is taught in the school system. But still, some Sámi and Finish speaking communities can also be found here but not much in number. The literacy of Norway is very close to 100 percent. Also, the life expectancy is very high as the Norwegian male can live up to 76 years and females there can live up to 81 years.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/interesting-general-facts-of-norway-302682.html

Bjorn Olav Jonsson is a freelance writer. For further information visit the website, www.nordicvisitor.com.

Norway is the northernmost country of the world to have open waters. The reason behind this is the strong trade wind forced across Atlantic Ocean by the American continent. The second potential reason is the warm currents flowing towards north and the Norwegian Sea from the equator. The climate of Norway is full of surprises and differences can be experienced all around the year. These surprises are widely seen in the northern part of Norway because the northern part of Norway in located on the edge of global temperate zone.

The lowest temperature recorded in northern Norway was minus 51o degrees and that was in Karasjohka-Karasjok. The average annual temperature ranges from around eight degrees in western coasts to below freezing point on the mountains. Months of January, February and March are the coldest months whereas time between June and August is considered the warmest time in inland areas. The coastal and the mountain areas get their warmest part of the year in later months.


The climate and the weather conditions of Norway are very unique from that of rest of Scandinavian countries. The mountains present in the mainland of Norway saves from precipitation to big areas of eastern inland of Norway. This is why; Norway has more of a continental type of climate than what is expected from it because of its immediacy to the coastline. As far as rainfall is concerned, it is also very unevenly distributed all over Norway.

Some of the parts in the east of the mountain receive less than 300 millimeters annually. Most of the rain is filched by the west coast of Norway. Some areas in this part receive more than 3000 millimeters of annual rainfall. Most of the rainfall takes places between July and August. The most prominent agricultural areas receive rainfall between 500 and 1000 millimeters. There is a very interesting way to calculate rainy season in Norway. There are 100 rainy days in inland Norway and around 200 raining days in coastal parts.



The winds flowing in Norway are very strong and its direction is also very awkward. This force in wind also varies hugely from place to place mainly because of fast moving pressure fronts. The wind flowing along with mountains and the coasts is often very strong.



But despite of all this, Norway is worth seeing 365 days a year. Norway is one of the few countries of the world that has different attractions in different seasons. Whether you decide to visit Norway in summer, winter, autumn or spring, there is so much to do and so much to see. Norway is not bounded to a particular season for organizing outdoor activities. During summer, you can take shelter of sea in southern Norway and water areas for outdoor activities and can also enjoy skiing in some parts of the mountains.



Hiking on mountains while summer season is the experience one cannot forget. Autumn season comes and compels nature to showcase its sparkling colors and preserved beauty. Air tends to get even cleaner and everything looks refreshed in this time of the year. The period between the summer and the winter is the opportunity to take part in new and surprising outdoor activities. Such outdoor activities contain skiing combined with canoeing trip and much more.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/uniquely-surprising-weather-of-norway-275833.html

Bjorn Olav Jonsson is a freelance writer. For further information visit the website, www.nordicvisitor.com.