Norway

Norway (Norwegian: Norge (bokmål) or Noreg (nynorsk)), officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country and constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It is bordered by Sweden, Finland, and Russia. more...

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The country's extensive coastline along the North Atlantic Ocean is home to its famous fjords.

The Kingdom of Norway also includes the Arctic island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard is based upon the Svalbard Treaty, but that treaty does not apply to Jan Mayen. Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean and Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land in Antarctica are external dependencies, but those three entities do not form part of the kingdom.

Since World War II, Norway has experienced rapid economic growth, and is now amongst the wealthiest countries in the world, with a fully developed welfare system. This economic progress is caused in part by the development of oil and gas reserves off its coast. Norway was ranked highest of all countries in human development from 2001 to 2006, and tied in the first place with fellow Nordic country Iceland in 2007. It also rated the most peaceful country in the world in a 2007 survey by Global Peace Index. It is a founding member of NATO.

Name

Many etymologists believe the country's name comes from the North Germanic languages and that it means "the northern route" (the way to the north), which in Old Norse would be nord veg or *norð vegri. The Old Norse name for Norway was Nóreegr, in Anglo-Saxon Norþ weg, and in mediaeval Latin Nhorvegia. The present name of Norway is Norge in Norwegian bokmål and Noreg in Norwegian nynorsk. The Old Norse and nynorsk forms are quite similar to an ancient Sami word that means "along the coast" or "along the sea" — realized as nuorrek in contemporary Lule Sami. The presence of the archaic prosecutive case marker (sometimes also called prolative in Finno-Ugric language research) supports the claim that the Sami word is indigenous and not a borrowing from North Germanic languages.

In the other native languages of Norway, the name is: Northern Sami: Norga; Lule Sami: Vuodna; Southern Sami: Nøørje; Finnish/Kven: Norja. The official name is: Norwegian: Kongeriket Norge (bokmål), Kongeriket Noreg (nynorsk); Other names are; Northern Sami: Norgga gonagasriika; Lule Sami: Vuona gånågisrijkka; Southern Sami: Nøørjen gånkarijhke; Finnish/Kven: Norjan kuningaskunta.

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