1.
Norway
–
The Antarctic Peter I Island and the sub-Antarctic Bouvet Island are dependent territories and thus not considered part of the Kingdom. Norway also lays claim to a section of Antarctica known as Queen Maud Land, until 1814, the kingdom included the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland. It also included Isle of Man until 1266, Shetland and Orkney until 1468, Norway has a total area of 385,252 square kilometres and a population of 5,258,317. The country shares a long border with Sweden. Norway is bordered by Finland and Russia to the north-east, Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. King Harald V of the Dano-German House of Glücksburg is the current King of Norway, erna Solberg became Prime Minister in 2013, replacing Jens Stoltenberg. A constitutional monarchy, Norway divides state power between the Parliament, the Cabinet and the Supreme Court, as determined by the 1814 Constitution, the kingdom is established as a merger of several petty kingdoms. By the traditional count from the year 872, the kingdom has existed continuously for 1,144 years, Norway has both administrative and political subdivisions on two levels, counties and municipalities. The Sámi people have an amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sámi Parliament. Norway maintains close ties with the European Union and the United States, the country maintains a combination of market economy and a Nordic welfare model with universal health care and a comprehensive social security system. Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, lumber, seafood, the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the countrys gross domestic product. On a per-capita basis, Norway is the worlds largest producer of oil, the country has the fourth-highest per capita income in the world on the World Bank and IMF lists. On the CIAs GDP per capita list which includes territories and some regions, from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2009 to 2017, Norway had the highest Human Development Index ranking in the world. It also has the highest inequality-adjusted ranking, Norway ranks first on the World Happiness Report, the OECD Better Life Index, the Index of Public Integrity and the Democracy Index. Norway has two names, Noreg in Nynorsk and Norge in Bokmål. The name Norway comes from the Old English word Norðrveg mentioned in 880, meaning way or way leading to the north. In contrasting with suðrvegar southern way for Germany, and austrvegr eastern way for the Baltic, the Anglo-Saxon of Britain also referred to the kingdom of Norway in 880 as Norðmanna land. This was the area of Harald Fairhair, the first king of Norway, and because of him
2.
Charles XIV John of Sweden
–
Charles XIV & III John, also known as Carl John, was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death and served as de facto regent and head of state from 1810 to 1818. He was also the Sovereign Prince of Pontecorvo, in south-central Italy and he was born Jean Bernadotte in France and served a long career in the French Army. He subsequently acquired the name of Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte. He was appointed as a Marshal of France by Napoleon, though the two had a turbulent relationship and his candidacy was advocated by Baron Carl Otto Mörner, a Swedish courtier and obscure member of the Riksdag of the Estates. Upon his Swedish adoption, he assumed the name Carl and he did not use the name Bernadotte in Sweden, but founded the royal dynasty there of that name. Bernadotte was born in Pau, France, as the son of Jean Henri Bernadotte, prosecutor at Pau, the family name was originally du Poey, but was changed to Bernadotte – a surname of an ancestress at the beginning of the 17th century. Soon after his birth Baptiste was added to his name, to him from his elder brother Jean Évangeliste. Bernadotte himself added Jules to his first names as a tribute to the French Empire under Napoleon I, at the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a local attorney. The early death of his father, however, would stop him following in his fathers career, Bernadotte joined the army as a private in the Régiment de Royal-Marine on 3 September 1780, and first served in the newly conquered territory of Corsica. Subsequently, the Régiment stationed in Besançon, Grenoble, Vienne and he reached to the rank of Sergeant in August 1785 and was nicknamed Sergeant Belle-Jambe, for his smart appearance. In early 1790 he was promoted to Adjutant-Major, the highest rank for noncommissioned officers in the Ancien Régime, following the outbreak of the French Revolution, his eminent military qualities brought him speedy promotion. By 1794 he was promoted to brigadier, attached to the Army of Sambre-et-Meuse, after Jourdans victory at Fleurus he the became a divisional general. At the Battle of Theiningen, Bernadotte contributed, more than anyone else, at the beginning of 1797 he was ordered by the Directory to march with 20,000 men as reinforcements to Napoleon Bonapartes army in Italy. His successful crossing of the Alps through the storm in midwinter was highly praised, upon receiving insult from Dominique Martin Dupuy, the commander of Milan, Bernadotte was to arrest him for insubordination. However, Dupuy was a friend of Louis-Alexandre Berthier and this started a long-lasting feud between Bernadotte and Napoleons Chief of Staff. He had his first interview with Napoleon in Mantua and was appointed the commander of the 4th division. During the invasion of Friuli and Istria, Bernadotte distinguished himself greatly at the passage of the Tagliamento where he led the vanguard, and at the capture of the fortress of Gradisca. Paul Barras, one of five directors, was cautious that Napoleon would overturn the Republic, Bernadotte was pleased with this appointment but Napoleon lobbied Talleyrand-Périgord, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to appoint him the embassy to Vienna instead
