(
Norwegian:
Norge)
A country in north-west Europe, on the Scandinavian Peninsula, bounded to
the east by Sweden, to the north-east by Finland and the Russian
Federation, to the south by the North Sea, to the west by the Atlantic
Ocean, and to the north by the Atlantic Ocean.
Norway was originally inhabited by the Saami (Lapps) and other nomads and
was gradually invaded by the Goths. It was ruled by local chieftains until
unified by Harald Fairhair (r. 872-933), as a feudal country. Norway's
Vikings raided and settled in many parts of Europe in the 8th-11th
Centuries. Christianity was introduced by Olaf II in the 11th Century; he
was defeated in 1030 by rebel chieftains backed by Canute (Knut), but his
son Magnus I regained the throne in 1035. Haakon IV (1217-1263) established
the authority of the crown over the nobles and the church and made the
monarchy hereditary.
Denmark and Norway were united by marriage in 1380, and in 1397 Norway,
Denmark, and Sweden, became united under one sovereign, the so-called
Kalmar Union. Sweden broke away in 1523, but Norway remained under
Danish rule until January 1814, when it was ceded to Sweden by the Treaty
of Kiel. Tired of forced Unions, Norway rebelled on 17 May 1814, adopting
her own constitution. Sweden, however, invaded, yet a compromise was reached
whereby Norway kept its own parliament but was united with Sweden under a
common monarch.
With rising conflict between the Norwegian Parliament and
the Swedish Crown, the country declared itself independent in 1905, and
confirmed this by a national plebiscite.
Norway declared her neutrality in World War II, but the country fell to
German forces, after a two-month struggle in the spring of 1940. The country
is a member of EFTA, and the Nordic Council, but is not a member of the
European Union, its citizens having rejected membership several time in
national referenda.