Norway

The Kingdom of Norway is a delightful place to visit, with a mix of the old and the new as well as many natural wonders that truly make Norway unique. Norway has about 4,000 fjords, with two being listed in the UNESCO World Heritage sites, the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord. The longest is Sognefjord while one of the famous fjords is the Hardangerfjord that is lined with apple and cherry trees. Norway is famous for its indigenous Sami people, the legendary Vikings who inhabited the kingdom from AD 800-1050, the fantastic and very colorful dance of the northern lights and the summer midnight sun. Not to be forgotten are the folkloric trolls. Norway is home to a January 1, 2011 estimated population of 4,923,000. It is a wealthy nation and based on a per-capita, it is the largest oil and natural gas producer (outside of the Middle East) in the world.

:: Background of Norway ::

The earliest known settlement in Norway was from the period between 9000 and 8000 B.C. There were also discoveries to prove that Norway has been settled since the latter part of the ice age. Norway, officially called the Kingdom of Norway was made famous by the Vikings, who had settled in Norway since the Middle Ages. They were fearless warriors, raiders, explorers as well as traders. They controlled much of Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland and were also present in Britain, Ireland and even in France around AD 800 to 1100. Their strong ships have sailed to Greece, Newfoundland, and Constantinople and even up to portions of Northern Africa. The Vikings were very highly skilled in boat building and have created the famous longships with wide and flat hulls. They were fearsome; they raided, looted and killed. From being grouped into small communities, the Vikings were unified and ruled by the first supreme ruler of Norway, King Harald Fairhair, or Harald Hårfagre in Norwegian. He later founded the Fairhair dynasty.

The raids into other countries by the Vikings continued for two centuries and only tapered down when King Olaf I Tryggvason, descendant of King Harald Fairhair adopted Christianity in 994. The conversion of the Kingdom of Norway to Christianity took several decades. Their travels also brought the Black Death or bubonic plague into Norway and nearly decimated the population. The plague lasted from 1349 and prevailed until 1351.

With the nation being christened and rule by one monarch, Norway formed a union with Denmark and Sweden that lasted for over two centuries from 1397 up to 1523. The union of Kalmar came to a halt when Sweden seceded and Norway became a tributary of Denmark with most of the country’s possessions lost.

Norway was under the rule of Denmark for almost 400 years until a resistance movement was formed and a new constitution was adopted. However, Sweden came and invaded the country, with an agreement that Norway will be able to keep its constitution although the country had to accept that they will be ruled by a Swedish king.

In 1905, the culmination of the rise of nationalism in Norway led to a national referendum for the country’s full independence. It displayed neutrality in the First World War but incurred losses to its shipping industry. It again remained neutral when the Second World War broke but was briefly occupied by Nazi Germany for five years between 1940 and 1945. In 1949 though, Norway signed and treaty and became a NATO member, which declared the abolishment of its policy of neutrality during wars among nations.

Oil and natural gas were discovered in Norway in the latter part of the 1960s and greatly boosted the economy of the country, which greatly raised the standard of living in Norway, higher than the standard of living prevailing in other countries in Europe. Referenda for Norway to join the European Union had been held in 1972 and again in 1974 but so far the nation does not want the membership to happen. Norway, however keeps a close association with the greater European Economic Area which allows it to have internal trade with the EU member countries without being a legitimate EU member.

:: Geography of Norway ::

The country Norway is quite rugged, with about two-thirds of the land covered with mountains. It also has one of the world’s longest and most rugged coastlines. Its coastline is dotted with about 50,000 islands and its location on the map makes Norway a very important gateway to the air routes and sea lanes in the North Atlantic.

Location
Geographically Norway lies 62° 00’ 00” north and 10° 00’ 00” east. It is located in the northern part of Europe and borders the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, with Sweden on its eastern side.

Area
The country has a total land mass of 323,800 square kilometers, according to the 2011 statistics. The total land area is 304,280 square kilometers while the water surface is 19,520 square kilometers.

Boundaries
Slightly larger than the state of New Mexico, Norway shares land boundaries with three nations. It shares a border with Russia for 196 kilometers and Finland for 727 kilometers on its northeastern side. Its longest land border is shared with Sweden on the east, which is 1,619 kilometers. The rest of Norway is bordered by water with the Barents Sea, an arm of the Arctic Ocean on its northern side. The southern coast is bordered by Skagerrak Strait and the North Sea while the Norwegian Sea hugs its western side.

Coastline
Norway has a very rugged and indented coastline due to its numerous fjords and islands. It also has one of the longest coastlines in the world. The mainland coastline is about 2,650 kilometers. Including the indentations and the fjords, the coastline of the mainland totals 25,148 kilometers while the length of the island coastlines extend to about 58,133 kilometers.

Maritime Claims
With three sides surrounded by water, Norway has a territorial sea claim of 12 nautical miles with a contiguous zone of 10 nautical miles. It has a continental shelf that extends to 200 nautical miles and an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles.

Climate
The North Atlantic makes the weather in Norway temperate. Its west coast experiences rainy weather the whole year while the interior sections of the country is colder, has increased precipitation and cool summer.

Terrain
Norway has a glaciated terrain, covered with rugged mountains and high plateaus, interspersed with valleys. There are scattered plains that are deeply indented by numerous fjords. The northern section of the country has arctic tundra or permanently barren and frozen subsoil where it is impossible for anything other than heath, lichen and moss to grow.

Elevation Extremes
The lowest point in Norway is the Norwegian Sea, while the highest point is the Galdhøpiggen. Its English translation is Galdhø Peak. It rises to a height of 2,469 meters. It is the highest mountain in the Scandinavian region as well as in Northern Europe. Galdhøpiggen is located in Lom, a municipality in Oppland where the Jotunheimen mountain range is found. It is the highest of the more than 500 mountains in Norway.

Natural Resources
Norway is rich in natural resources, with deposits of iron ore, copper, zinc, titanium, nickel, pyrites and lead. It is also rich in hydropower, in fish and in timber. Norway is the largest producer of natural gas and petroleum outside of the Middle East on a per capita basis.

Land Use
The rugged landscape of Norway makes it difficult for farmers to engage in agriculture, with only 2.8% of the land area being arable, with 0% planted to permanent crops. The rest of the land or 92.4% is allocated for other uses, according to 2007 available data.

Natural Hazards
Norway due to its mountainous terrain is prone to snow avalanches and rockslides. There is one active volcano in Norway, Beerenberg located in the Norwegian Sea on the island of Jan Mayen. It rises to a height of 2,227 meters. It is the northernmost active sub-aerial volcano in the world. It is also a stratovolcano with ice-filled crater, with several glaciers, five of which reach down into the sea. Beerenberg’s last eruption occurred in 1985.

Current Environmental Issues
Industrialization and modernization brought several environmental issues to Norway, including air pollution for vehicles and water pollution. There is acid rain in Norway that is seriously affecting its lakes, enough to threaten the country’s fish stocks. Acid rain is also causing damage to the forests of Norway.

International Environmental Agreements
Norway has signed but is yet to ratify any of the selected international agreements the country had entered into. It is participating in marine dumping, laws of the sea, ozone layer protection, wetlands, whaling, hazardous wastes, ship pollution, and tropical timber 83 and 94, climate change, biodiversity and climate change-Kyoto protocol. It is also participating in international agreements on desertification, environmental modification, endangered species, air pollution-persistent organic pollutants, air pollution-volatile organic compounds, air pollution-sulfur 85 and 94, air pollution-nitrogen oxides and air pollution. It is also party to agreements on Antarctic Treaty, Antarctic seals, Antarctic-marine living resources and Antarctic-environmental protocol.

:: People of Norway ::

The inhabitants of Norway are called Norwegians. Singular form is Norwegian, a term also used as an adjective to indicate the nationality of the people from Norway.

Population
As of January 4, 2011, the population of Norway is 4,937,000, unevenly distributed across the country, with some areas very sparsely populated due to its rugged and mountainous terrain. Most of the inhabitants of Norway are located in the southeast and urban areas like Oslo, the nation’s capital. Its net migration of 1.7 from neighboring Sweden and Denmark helped increase the population. Its very slow population growth is estimated to be only at 0.329%. The current fertility rate is 1.77 children for every woman, which is still below the 2.1 replacement level, which determines population growth.

Age Structure
Currently the age structure in Norway is in the 15 to 64 age group, which comprise 66% of the population, divided into 1,568,729 males and 1,529,799 females. The younger set, from zero to 14 years is 18%, with 431,111 males and 412,864 females. The members of the population aged 65 years and above is estimated in 2011 to be about 16%, with 326,711 males outnumbered by 422,635 females.

Median Age
According to the 2011 estimates, the current median age for women in Norway is 40.8 years, greater than the 39.1 average for the men. The average overall is placed at 40 years.

Birth and Death Rates
In the 2011 estimates, the birth rate in Norway at the moment is 10.84 births for each 1,000 inhabitants while the death rate is estimated to be around 9.24 for every 1,000 members of the population.

Sex Ratio
The difference in gender in Norway is also at parity, with 1.054 males for every female at birth. For those under the age of 15 years, the ratio is 1.04 males for every female, maintained at 1.03 males for every female in the 15 to 64 age group. In the 65 years and above category, there is a decrease with the number going down to 0.76 males for every female, with a total population ratio of 0.98 males for every female in Norway, based on the estimates done in 2011.

Infant Mortality Rate
Out of the total population, the infant mortality rate is placed at 3.52 deaths for every 1,000 born alive. There is more deaths in the males with 3.85 while 3.17 infant deaths are occurring for every 1,000 females born in Norway, based on the 2011 estimates.

Life Expectancy At Birth
The females outlive the males, with the life expectancy of the females placed at 83.02 years according to estimates done in 2011, while the males reach an average age of 77.53 years. For the whole of Norway, the average is 80.2 years.

HIV/AIDS
There are cases of HIV/AIDS infection in Norway with adult prevalence estimated to be 0.1% of the population. The estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS according to the estimates done in 2009 is 4,000, while the number of deaths occurring from the dreaded disease is less than 100, according to the same estimates.

Ethnic Groups
Norwegians comprise 94.4% of the population, which includes the indigenous Sami, which numbers about 60,000. There are other European groups (3.6%) and other mixed groups that comprise about 2% of the Norwegian population.

Religions
The predominant religion in Norway is the Church of Norway, a Protestant Christianity religion that has a following of 85.7% of the population. Other religions include the Pentecostal with 1% and Roman Catholic with 1%. Some members of the population follow other forms of Christian religions, comprising 2.4%. There is also about 1.8% following the Muslim faith while 8.1% follow other religions.

Languages
Bokmål Norwegian is the official language in Norway. This is basically book language, while the more modern Nynorsk Norwegian, another official language is widely spoken also. The Sami language is official in six municipalities in Norway while there is also a minority group that speaks Finnish.

Literacy
With government-subsidized higher education is very high, with 100% of the population age 15 and over being able to write and write. The average number of years a male student stay in school is 17 years, and the females staying one year longer.

:: References ::
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/no.html
http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Articles/Theme/About-Norway/Facts-about-Norway/
http://www.ssb.no/folkber_en/main.html
http://www.ssb.no/english/
http://en.worldstat.info/Europe/Norway/Land

Geography of Norway: Important Geographical Information about Norway

Norway resembles a downward-facing tadpole with a very long tail. It is a Nordic country that is located on the northern and western parts of the Scandinavian Peninsula in northern Europe. It is flanked on the east by Sweden and on the northeastern part by Finland and Russia. The North Atlantic Ocean or the Norwegian Sea is located on its western side while the Barents Sea lies to its northeast side. The Skagerrak inlet is located to the south of Norway and the North Sea borders it in its southwest side.

It was literally covered with thick sheets of ice during the last several Ice Ages and the movement of the receding melted ice carved deep valleys into the land and filled some of the valleys with seawater and turned them into the famous fjords of Norway. It can be said that Norway grew out of the sea. The deepest lake in Europe, the Hornindalsvatnet, is a remnant of the ice carving into the land.

Physically, Norway has a series of mountain ranges traversing the whole country, giving the country a varied landscape of mountainous regions with lowlands, fertile valleys, tablelands and uplands. The tundra region is to the north of the country while its long coastline is covered by coastal plains.

Norway is three times the size of Iceland, covering a total land mass of 323,800 square kilometers with an overall coastline of 21,930 kilometers, one of the longest in the world, although Norway’s coastline is convoluted and indented by numerous fjords. It has more than 50,000 islands and close to 600 mountains, rendering about one-third of the country above the treeline. Its highest elevation is Galdhøpiggen, towering at 2,469 meters. The most active volcano in Norway is Beerenberg. Jan Mayen, a volcanic island is where Beereberg can be found. It last erupted in 1985.

Divisions
Norway comprises five regions, each with different characteristic. To the north is the region of North Norway or Nord Norge in Norwegian. There is also the Trøndelag / Midt-Norge, translated into Trondheim Region / Mid-Norway. The South Country is Sørlandet in Norwegian. The other regions are the West Country or Vestlandet and the East Country or Østlandet.

North Norway
In Bokmål, it translates to Nord-Norge, while in Nynorsk, North Norway is called Nord-Noreg. It consists of three counties – Finnmark, Nordland and Troms and covers about 35% of the mainland. This is where the midnight sun occurs and where one can view the northern lights. It is also home to Norway’s indigenous people belonging to the Sami tribe, the Kvens or Norwegian Finns and the Kirkenes, a Russian population in Norway. Some of the richest seas in the world surround North Norway, and part of the land is very fertile, particularly those with soil made from seaweed. The most outstanding features of North Norway are the Seven Sisters mountain range close to Sandnessjøen and Mount Torghatten with a natural hole running through the mountain. The hole was formed by the erosion of the looser rocks by ice and water. It is possible to walk through this natural hole.

Trondheim Region
The name of the region means it is the home of the fertile and strong ones, from the Old Norse word Þróndheimr. It was the first capital city of Norway, founded by King Olav (Olaf) Tryggvason way back in 997 AD. And this is the place where the coronation ceremonies of the kings of Norway are conducted since the time of Harald Hårfagre up to King Harald V. The city is known as a wooden city where some of the old wooden buildings dating as far back as the 1700s are still preserved.

South Country
South Country or Sørlandet is a coastal region that receives the most sun in Norway. Its summers are mild. Shipping and agriculture are the major source of income from then until now. South Country’s Setesdalen silversmiths are known for their exquisite craftsmanship.

East Country
Østlandet or the East Country is located in the southeastern side of Norway. The region is delimited by mountains, the highest of which is the Jotunheimen mountain range that includes the highest peak in Norway, Galdhøpiggen that reaches up to 2,469 meters. Deep valleys and fjords cut through the mountains, while other parts of the region have flat cultivated lands. This is where the nation’s capital Oslo is located. One of its municipalities is Oppland where Lillehammer, made famous for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics can be found.

West Country
West Country is called Vestlandet in Norwegian. Rogaland is the area where evidences of the first human settlers in Norway are found. It is the third largest region of Norway. It is a mountainous area but also where agriculture thrives. Out of the many fjords that cut through Vestlandet, the longest and largest fjord in Norway, the Sognefjorden, stretching for 205 kilometers, is found here. It is also the second longest fjord in the world. The highest point in West Country is the Store Skagastølstind that rises to a height of 2,405 meters. Vestlandet is also the location of the largest glacier in Europe, the Jostedals Glacier, locally known as the Jostedalsbreen. It measures about 487 square kilometers.

Climate and Seasons
Norway’s geographical location and its topography give the country a varied climate that prevails over its different regions. In the northern region, the sun never sets in the summer while sunshine is not visible during the winter months.

Winter
The winter season in Norway is from December up to February. It will be above freezing near the coast from Lista in Vest-Adger up to Lofoten in Nordland. In the northern and southern parts of the Norway, the mean temperature during winter is very low. The coldest area is in the Finnmark Plateau which has a mean temperature of -5 °F monthly. The strong southerly wind brings high temperature around the Sunndalsøra area in Møre og Romsdal in winter. Temperatures of -40 °F are not unusual in the inner districts in the Troms county and Østlandet.

Spring
March, April and May are the spring months in Norway, where the sun melts the snow covering the region and the land is getting warmer faster than the cold seas. During early spring the higher temperatures are experienced near the coast on the western section of Norway. As spring progresses, the higher temperatures move to the southern part of the country around Østlandet.

Summer
June up to August are the summer months in Norway where the warmest areas are located in the coastal areas of Sørlandet and the southern areas in Østlandet. The midnight sun affects the temperature in Northern Norway and can experience temperatures that are about 86 °F.

Autumn
From September up to November, Norway feels the effects of autumn, when the heat dissipates and only the coastal areas will have higher temperatures, with the warmest areas being the coastal regions of Hordaland and Rogaland.

Precipitation
It is notable that Norway receives three categories of rainfall and snowfall. Most of Norway receives he frontal precipitation where the warm and humid air from the south and the cold and dry air from the north meet, with the warm air rising above the cold air thus releasing precipitation. The polar cyclone activity is more active in the autumn and winter months, although this can be experienced throughout the year.

Norway also has orographic precipitation, where the air masses are lifted by the mountains, cooling the air and causes more precipitation to fall, usually occurring near the coast. Orographic and frontal precipitation normally occur in the Western Country in autumn and winter.

Showery precipitation happens when the unstable air move in vertical currents, cooling the rising air and causing precipitation to be release. Showery precipitation is more common during the summer months because of the higher temperature. It can coincide with the orographic and frontal precipitation to enhance the showery precipitation. Showery precipitation normally occurs in the inner sections of Finnmark and Østlandet, turning the summer into the wettest months of the year while the spring and winter months are the driest.

:: References ::
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Norway
http://met.no/English/Climate_in_Norway/

Professional Translation Organizations & Associations in Norway

Below is a list of the major translation organizations and associations of Norway.

:: List of Organizations ::

Høgskolen i Agder,Humanistiske fag

Norsk Faglitterær Forfatter- og Oversetterforening

Norsk Oversetterforening (Norwegian Association of Literary Translators)

Statsautoriserte Translatørers Forening (The Association of Government Authorized Translators in Norway)

The Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association

The University of Oslo

Information about the Norwegian Flag: Colors and Meaning of the Flag of Norway

The Norwegian flag, officially adopted on July 17, 1821 has an indigo blue-colored cross over a red field. The cross is in the style of a Scandinavian cross, with its shorter arm or the vertical part of it placed lopsided, nearer to the hoisting side of the flag. The cross is outlined in white. In another term, it can be a wider white cross with a smaller blue cross placed inside the white one. Its proportion favors a longer flag with a dimension of 8:11.

The Norwegian flag was designed in 1821 by Parliamentarian Frederik Meltzer. The parliament was discussing how to incorporate Norway’s link with Denmark and Sweden. And they also wanted colors that will convey freedom, drawing inspiration from the designs and colors of the flags of the Netherlands, the United States, France and the United Kingdom. Eventually the design took shape, with the lopsided cross in blue to honor Norway’s ties with Sweden that started from 1814 and lasted until 1905; white to outline the cross to echo the color used in the banners well as weapons of the past kings of Norway and red for Norway’s old affiliation with Denmark that started in the middle of the 15th century up to 1814.

There are no special meanings associated with the colors used in the flag of Norway. The cross symbolizes Christianity and its blue color symbolizes the association with Sweden and a white outline added while red is for Denmark. The tricolors denote Norway’s independence.

:: References ::
http://www.worldflags101.com/n/norway-flag.aspx
http://www.flags-flags-flags.org.uk/norwegian-flag.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Norway

Extensive List of Languages of Norway: Spoken and Extinct Languages

:: List of Languages ::

Finnish, Kven
[fkv] 6,500 (1998 The Federation of Norwegian Kven People). North; Tromso and Finnmark counties, Ruija, Kveeniland; Tromso City; Oteren, Skibotn, Storslett, Kvaenangsbotn, Nordreisa, Alta, Borselv, Neiden, Bygoynes, Vadso. Alternate names: Kven, North Finnish. Dialects: Standard Finnish [fin] speakers generally understand, except for some vocabulary. More similar to Tornedalen Finnish [fit] (see Sweden) than to Standard Finnish. Various dialects: northern west coast varieties differ from eastern ones. Kven has integrated Norwegian loans, whereas Tornedalen has integrated Swedish [swe] loans. Classification: Uralic, Finnic

Norwegian
[nor] 4,640,000. Dialects: Bokmål, Nynorsk. Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, North, East Scandinavian, Danish-Swedish, Danish-Bokmal

Norwegian Sign Language
[nsl] 4,000 (Van Cleve 1986). Dialects: Holmestrand, Oslo, Trondheim. Intelligible with Danish [dsl] and Swedish [swl] sign languages with only moderate difficulty. Not intelligible with Finnish Sign Language [fse]. Classification: Deaf sign language

Norwegian, Traveller
[rmg] Alternate names: Norwegian Traveller, Rodi. Dialects: Based on Norwegian with heavy lexical borrowing from Northern Romani varieties and German Rotwelsch [rmd]. Not intelligible with Angloromani [rme]. Classification: Mixed language, Norwegian-Romani

Romani, Tavringer
[rmu] 6,000 in Norway (1998 Hallman). East and north. Alternate names: Rommani, Svensk Rommani, “Tattare” , Traveller Swedish. Classification: Mixed language, Swedish-Romani

Romani, Vlax
[rmy] 500 in Norway (Johnstone 1993). 3,500 ethnicGypsies in Norway. Dialects: Lovari. Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Romani, Vlax

Saami, Lule
[smj] 500 in Norway (Krauss 1995). Ethnic population: 1,000 to 2,000 in Norway (Krauss 1995). 31,600 to 42,600 ethnic Sámi in Norway (1995). Tysfjord, Hamaroy, and Folden. Alternate names: Lule, Saame. Classification: Uralic, Sami, Western, Northern

Saami, North
[sme] 15,000 in Norway (Krauss 1995). Population total all countries: 20,700. Ethnic population: 30,000 to 40,000 in Norway (Krauss 1995). Finnmark, Troms, Nordland, Ofoten. Also in Finland, Sweden. Alternate names: “Lapp” , “Northern Lappish” , Northern Saami, “Norwegian Lapp” , Saami, Same, Samic. Dialects: Ruija, Torne, Sea Lappish. Classification: Uralic, Sami, Western, Northern

Saami, Pite
[sje] Between Saltenfjord and Ranenfjord. Alternate names: “Lapp” , Pite. Classification: Uralic, Sami, Western, Northern Nearly extinct.

Saami, South
[sma] 300 in Norway (Krauss 1995). Ethnic population: 600 in Norway. Hatfjelldal and Wefsen, south to Elga. Alternate names: “Northern Lappish” , “Norwegian Lapp” , Saami, Same, Samic. Classification: Uralic, Sami, Western, Southern

:: Reference ::
Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/

Famous Norwegian People: Norwegian Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

Since the days of the Vikings, Norwegians have been explorers so it is no wonder that there are several explorers coming from Norway. There are also several famous skiers, as Norway introduced skiing to the western world. Included in the list of famous Norwegians are artists in different disciplines – art, music, theater and movies. There are also Norwegians whose inventions are still being utilized today and some that have made historic discoveries in the field of medicine.

:: List of Famous People from Norway ::

Roald Amundsen
His full name is Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen and he was born on the 16th of July in 1872. He was undisputedly the first person to reach the North and South Poles and also the first explorer to traverse the Northwest Passage, a sea route passing through the Arctic Ocean. He navigated the route from 1903 to 1906, an exploration that had been attempted earlier by several others including John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Henry Hudson and Christopher Columbus. The route passes along the northern coast of North America through the waters in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. He studied medicine due to a promise made to his mother who wanted him away from the shipping industry but he quickly quit school at 21 years of age after his mother died to give in to his longing to be a sea explorer. He learned different survival skills from tribes he met during his exploration, including the handling and use of sled dogs, use of skis and the wearing of animal skins rather than the heavier woolen parkas. He disappeared in the middle of 1928 while attempting to rescue a crew coming from the North Pole. It was believed that that plane he was in crashed into the Barents Sea due to thick fog, although his body was never found.

Leif Erikson
Leif Erikson’s name is sometimes spelled as Leifr Eiríksson, following the Old Norse spelling. He was born circa 970 AD in Iceland, the son of Erik Thorvaldsson, more popularly known as Erik the Red. Leif’s father was an outlaw and his grandfather, the father of Erik the Red, Thorvald Asvaldsson was also an outlaw. Leif’s father was an explorer from Western Norway.

Leif was regarded as the very first person from Europe to land in North America, except Greenland, about 5 centuries earlier than Christopher Columbus. He was said to have established a Norse settlement in L’Anse aux Meadows in Vinland, later known as the northern apex of Newfoundland in Canada.

The United States celebrates October 9 as Leif Erikson Day, commemorating the first organized immigration of Norwegians to the United States aboard the ship named Restauration. The ship came from Stavanger in Norway and reached the New York Harbor on the 9th day of October in 1825.

Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl was born on October 6, 1914 in Larvik. He became famous for his Kon-Tiki expedition aboard a pae-pae raft made from balsa wood that he used to sail 8,000 kilometers from South America to the islands of Tuamotu, the largest chain of atolls in the world located in the Pacific Ocean and inhabited by Polynesians. The journey took 101 days and ended on August 7, 1947 when the raft smashed on the reef on Raroia in Tuamotu. Heyerdahl was an adventurer and ethnographer and had a background in geography and zoology. He made several expeditions into other countries including the Easter Island and Azerbaijan.

He constructed and experimented with boats made from papyrus reeds that came from Ethiopia’s Lake Tana but failed in his first attempt, the boat named Ra, due to some modifications made by the crew. His second experimental boat was names Ra II, made from totora or giant bulrush sedge growing in Lake Titicaca. His boat was able to sail from Morocco to Barbados. He experimented also on building a boat he named the Tigris, again using reeds. The boat was constructed in Iraq and successfully made its 5-month journey up to Djibouti. He and his crew burned the boat in protest against the war raging in that part of Africa.

Otto Neumann Knoph Sverdrup
Otto Sverdrup was a sailor and Arctic explorer born in Bindal, Helgeland on October 31, 1854. Not as celebrated as Roald Amundsen and other Norwegian explorers, he was still considered a hero in Norway. His father was a farmer and as the eldest son he was supposed to inherit his father’s properties but he opted to work for his uncle and became a seaman. A relative of his mother bought a steamboat and Sverdrup became its captain and met Alexander Nansen, a lawyer and brother of Fridtjof Nansen, also an explorer. Sverdrup later joined Fridtjof in his exploration of Greenland. Fram, a ship built and owned by Fridtjof came under Sverdrup’s command and he and his crew charted and names fjords and peninsulas on the western shores of Ellesmere Island, located in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut, a Canadian Territory. They spent three winters there from 1899 to 1902 and discovered the islands of Amund Ringnes, Ellef Ringnes and Axel Heiberg. The three islands were known as the Sverdrup Islands collectively. Like Amundsen, he and his crew were able to survive the harsh winters applying the Inuit survival skills. There were able to chart 260,000 square kilometers of the Canadian territory and these were mapped by Gunnar Isachsen, Sverdrup’s cartographer. His explorations resulted in 35 academic publications. Although the islands, which Sverdrup claimed for Norway, were ceded to Canada, the Canadian government bought Sverdup’s records of his explorations for $67,000, which secured his family’s future as he died two weeks after he signed the deal. Sverdrup died on November 26, 1930. The records were once archived in the National Archives of Canada but these are currently archived at Norway’s National Library.

Kristian Olaf Birkeland
Kristian Birkeland was born on December 13, 1867. As a scientist, he was noted to be the first person to clearly explain about the phenomenon of the Aurora Borealis. He was the inventor of the electromagnetic cannon. And he was also credited for inventing the process of fixing nitrogen to create artificial fertilizers, called the Birkeland-Eyde process. He made several experiments and established observatories under the regions where the Aurora Borealis occurs to collect data on magnetic field. He developed vacuum chambers to study the magnet’s influence on cathode rays. He experimented with magnetized model balls called terrellas and found out that an electron beam when directed to a terrella will move toward the magnetic poles and produced rings of light around the magnetic poles. He concluded that the same is true with the occurrence of the Aurora Borealis, developing a theory where the electrons that were ejected from the sunspots were directed to earth toward the polar regions by a geomagnetic field thus producing the visible and colorful play of lights. He developed an electromagnetic cannon that failed in a demonstration because the targeted velocities were not reached. He later created another version he called the aerial torpedo, which also failed though it led to an astounding success in creating the process for making artificial fertilizer.

Birkeland was suffering paranoia and was taking Veronal to help him sleep. While visiting colleagues in Tokyo, he accidentally took 10g of the drug instead of the recommended dosage of 0.5g and died from an overdose on June 15 1917.

Vilhelm Friman Koren Bjerknes
Vilhelm Bjerknes, born on March 14, 1862 in Christiania was a meteorologist and a physicist who had been exposed early to fluid dynamics as he worked as an assistant to his father, Carl Anton, who had earlier conducted mathematical analysis and discovered the analogy between oscillating and pulsating bodies in fluid and the magnetic and electric actions at a distance. The young Vilhelm devised several instruments to demonstrate the relationship between electricity and magnetism. He continued working on several experiments while attending school and became an assistant to Henrich Hertz who was then working on electromagnetic resonance. Vilhelm continued to delve into the theories of electromagnetism and thermodynamics while he was a professor of mathematical physics and applied mechanics at the University of Stockholm. He contributed primitive equations used on climate models that provided the inspiration for Carl-Gustav Arvid Rossby and V. Walfrid Ekman to apply his theories on a large scale basis for motions of the atmosphere and oceans, leading to the modern method of weather forecasting. A crater on Mars as well as a crater on the moon were named Bjerknes in his honor. He died on April 9, 1951.

Ivar Giaever
Ivan Giæver is a physicist and a Nobel Prize in Physics winner, an award he shares with Brian Josephson of Wales and Leo Esaki (Reona Esaki) of Japan for their discoveries on the tunneling formula in solids (quantum tunneling). He was born on April 5, 1929 in Bergen. He is a professor-at-large at the University of Oslo, the president of Applied Biophysics and also an institute professor emeritus at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a privately-owned research university in Troy, New York.

Gerhard Henrik Armauer Hansen
Gerhard Hansen, physician, was born on July 29, 1841 in Bergen, Norway. He was the one who identified the Mycobacterium leprae that causes leprosy. He studied medicine at the University of Oslo, which was called the Royal Frederik’s University then and earned his degree in 1866. He worked with Daniel Cornelius Danielssen in 1868 to study leprosy that was plaguing Norway. It was initially thought that leprosy was hereditary although Hansen gave the conclusion through his epidemiological studies that it was a specific disease that occurred due to particular cause and traveled to Vienna and Bonn for training. It was in 1873 when he identified the leprosy bacterium, although he failed to identify the Mycobacterium leprae as bacteria so he was not able to get the much needed support for further research.

Six years later he gave tissue samples to Albert Neisser, a German physician who discovered the strain of bacteria that causes gonorrhea. Neisser was able to stain the leprosy bacterium and announced that he discovered it in 1880. Whatever politics were conducted during their time, leprosy is also called Hansen’s disease in honor of its discoverer.

Anne Stine Ingstad
Dr. Ingstad was an archeologist born on February 11, 1918. She was born in Lillehammer. She and Dr. Helge Ingstad, her husband, discovered a Viking settlement through their archeological digs in Newfoundland and Labrador between 1961 and 1968. The settlement was in L’Anse aux Meadows and the remains they found there were from a Norse settlement dating back to the 11th century and included cooking pits, boathouses, a forge and sod houses. The settlement is now part of the National Historic Site of Canada and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rasmus Jonassen Sørnes
Rasmus Sørnes was born on March 22, 1893. He was a radio technician, an inventor and an avid clockmaker. He had several inventions to his name but only a few of his inventions were patented. He constructed his first astronomical clock and a large reflecting telescope in the early 1930s. His fourth and final astronomical clock was the most complicated clock compared to clocks of the same kind. He finished creating it in 1967, using his own tools and his own funds. It was a marvel of art fusion, electromechanical technology and exquisite craftsmanship that he only worked on during his spare time. It was engraved and had silver and gold plating. Everything in that clock was handmade except for the pendulum. The clock featured Julian and Gregorian calendars, the locations of the moon and the sun in the zodiac, incorporated local time with daylight savings time, with sidereal time as well as GMT. It also included leap year, corrections on the lunar and solar cycles, local sunset and sunrise, phases of the moon, eclipses, sunspot cycles and tides. Amazingly it also included a planetarium with the 248-year orbit of Pluto and the 25,800-year period of precession of the earth’s axis or the polar ecliptics. His astronomical clock was exhibited initially at the Time Museum in Illinois then moved to the Chicago Museum of Science and Technology. In 2002 Sotheby’s sold it to an anonymous buyer. Tor Sørnes, the inventor of the keycard lock is his son.

Kjetil André Aamodt
The most decorated Alpine ski racer in history, Kjetil Aamodt was born in Oslo on September 2, 1971. Aamodt is an all-around Alpine skier who has several distinctions. He is one of only five male Alpine skiers that have won a World Cup race in all its 5 disciplines. He has won 21 individual World Cup events and has five gold medals in the World Championship. He won a total of eight Olympic medals, the only Alpine skier to achieve that feat. Four of his Olympic medals are gold medals he won in 1992 (1), 2002 (2), and 2006 (1). He has two silvers and one bronze medal he won in Lillehammer and one another bronze from the 1992 Olympics in Albertville. Aamodt announced his retirement from the sport on January 6, 2007.

Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie
Bjørn Erlend Dæhlie is a successful businessman and a retired Norwegian cross-country skier. He has won eight Olympic gold medals and nine gold medals in the Nord World Ski Championships. His feats make him the most winning World Champion and Winter Olympics champion cross-country skier of all time. His total medal tally for the Olympic and World Championships is 20 medals, which he won from 1991 to 1999. He measured the highest Vo2 max at 96 ml/kg/min during his career. Upon retirement he became an established fashion and real estate businessman. His real estate investments are worth more than 25 billion kroner. He also has his own signature ski apparel business. The Salomon Nordic System Pilot Bindings, a system that holds or clips the toes of the skier’s boots to the skis were invented by Dæhlie.

Thor Hushvod
Thor Hushvod is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France and the first Scandinavian to win the cycling road race in the World Road Championship. Hushvod was born in Grimstad on January 18, 1978. He is a professional road bicycle racer, currently riding for Garmin-Cervélo but will be moving to BMC Racing Team starting 2012. He is basically known for sprinting and time trialing and for having the most stage wins in Grand Tours for a Scandinavian. He is the Norwegian and World Road champion for 2010.

Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie, born on April 8, 1912 was a bemedalled figure skater. She had won Olympic and World titles than had not been surpassed by a ladies figure skater. She won the European Championships six times from 1931 to 1936. Henie won the World Championships a record ten times form 1927 to 1936 and became the Olympic Ladies Singles Champion three consecutive times in 1928, 1932 and 1936. Sonja Henie also became a movie star and at the height of her career received one the highest salaries paid in Hollywood.

Edvard Grieg
Norwegian composer and pianist Edvard Grieg was born on June 15, 1834 in Bergen. He was born to a musical family and his mother was his first piano teacher. He showed great talent at an early age and violinist Ole Bull, a family friend recognized his musical potential and convinced his parents to send him to the Leipzig Conservatory to study under Ignaz Moscheles. Grieg was 15 at that time. Although he enjoyed studying he did not like the discipline imposed by the school. He achieved good grades except for the organ, a prerequisite for students of the piano. He debuted as a concert pianist in 1861 in Sweden, graduated in 1862 and gave his first concert in Bergen in 1862. Franz Liszt was instrumental in giving Grieg the chance to get a travel grant to go to Rome in 1870. Liszt and Grieg met and discussed Grieg’s Violin Sonata 1. On their second meeting they looked over Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Liszt gave Grieg valuable advice on orchestration. Grieg’s famous works are his Piano Concerto in A minor and his incidental or background music for the play Pee Gynt by Henrik Ibsen. His incidental music included the In The Hall of the Mountain King and Morning Mood.

Morten Harket
Morten Harket (vocals), together with Pål Waaktar (guitars) and Magne Furuholmen (keyboards) make up the 1982 popular new wave/synthpop Norwegian group a-ha. Morten Harket is the founder of the band, which gained international success during the 1990s up to 2000s. Harket was born on September 14, 1959. As a vocalist, Harket is known to have an extraordinary vocal range that some claimed to span 5 octaves. He is capable of what was described by Sylvia Patterson of NME as the greatest falsetto in the history of pop music. In their single Summer Moved On, released in 2000, Harket was able to hold a note for 20.2 seconds.
The band, a-ha had released 9 albums and had sold 36 million copies and 35 million singles around the world. Most popular of their earlier releases were the songs Take on Me and The Sun Always Shines on TV, with Hunting High and Low their best-selling album.

Mona Grudt Bittrick
Mona Grudt was born in a place called Hell in Stjørdal, Norway on April 6, 1971. In 1990 Mona was crowned Miss Universe, the first for Norway. Hell actually translates to luck in English. During her reign as Miss Universe, she appeared in the film series Star Trek: The Next Generation where she played the part of Ensign Graham. Mona was the last Miss Universe who went with Bob Hope on his United Service Organizations (USO) tour. She is now the editor of Ditt Bryllup, a wedding magazine in Norway.

Liv Ullman
Her full name is Liv Johanne Ullman, a Norwegian born in Tokyo, Japan on December 16, 1938. Her father, Viggo Ullman was an aircraft engineer. She grew up in Trondheim and spent a part of her childhood in Canada during WWII. An actress and a film director, Liv Ullman was a Golden Globe award winner and had been nominated for a BAFTA Award, Academy Award and Palme d’Or. Ullman was one of the muses of famed director Ingmar Bergman and her works with the director turned her into one of the most respected actresses in Hollywood.

:: References ::
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/norway/nofamous3.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/