1.
Norway
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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.
Monarchy of Norway
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The Norwegian monarch is the monarchical head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The present monarch is King Harald V, who has reigned since 17 January 1991, succeeding his father, the heir apparent is his only son, Crown Prince Haakon. The crown prince undertakes various public functions, as does the kings wife. The crown prince also acts as regent in the kings absence, there are several other members of the Royal Family, including the kings daughter, grandchildren and siblings. Whilst the Constitution of Norway grants important executive powers to the King, formally the King appoints the government according to his own judgement, but parliamentary practice has been in place since 1884. Constitutional practice has replaced the meaning of the word King in most articles of the constitution from the king personally to the elected government. The powers vested in the monarch are significant, but are treated only as reserve powers, the King does not, by convention, have direct participation in government. He ratifies laws and royal resolutions, receives and sends envoys from and to foreign countries and he has a more tangible influence as the symbol of national unity. The annual New Years Eve speech is one occasion when the King traditionally raises negative issues, the King is also Supreme Commander of the Norwegian Armed Forces and Grand Master of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav and of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit. The King has no role in the Church of Norway. The position of King of Norway has been in existence since the unification of Norway in 872. In recent years members of the Socialist Left party have proposed the abolition of the monarchy during each new session of parliament and this gives the Norwegian monarchy the unique status of being a popularly elected royal family and receiving regular formal confirmations of support from the Storting. Prior to and in the phase of the Viking Age Norway was divided into several smaller kingdoms. Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway, the boundaries of Fairhairs kingdom were not identical to those of present-day Norway, and upon his death the kingship was shared among his sons. Some historians emphasise the actual control over the country and assert that Olaf II, alias Saint Olaf. Olaf is generally held to have been the force behind Norways final conversion to Christianity. In the 12th and 13th centuries the Norwegian kingdom was at its geographical and cultural peak, the kingdom included Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Shetland, Orkney and other smaller areas in the British Isles. The king had diplomatic relations with most of the European kingdoms and formed alliances with Scotland and Castile, large castles such as Haakons Hall and cathedrals, the foremost being Nidaros Cathedral, were built
3.
Vinmonopolet
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Equally significant is the social responsibility of Vinmonopolet, to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors and visibly inebriated customers. Outlets, located across the country from cities to smaller communities, typically close business earlier than other shops, normally weekdays at 18,00, in 2007 Vinmonopolet sold 71,100,000 litres of alcoholic beverages. The institution was founded in 1922 as a company as the result of trade negotiations with wine exporters. The ban on alcohol was lifted, and sale was allowed through outlets run by Vinmonopolet, in 1999 the format of the outlets was restructured, making nearly all stores self service from the previous format of sales over the counter, and internet sales began in 2002. In January 2015 the flagship specialty store moved its location from Vika to Aker Brygge. S, smaller groups of products that fall outside the launch themes may appear at any other time during the year. As a result of considerable enthusiasm surrounding these product launches, the trends of behaviour has come under criticism for sinking to an uncivilised level. In December 2008, Vinmonopolet announced plans to implement a system of arranging auctions of second-hand wine, under Norwegian law, it was illegal to sell alcohol by auction, until a resolution by Stortinget changed this law in April 2011, effective from January 1,2012. In a 2008 survey by Norsk Kundebarometer, customers of the monopoly were 81. 5% satisfied with the company, ranking it 4th in Norway, a figure that rose to 88% in 2009. Surveys from the mid 90s, indicated a majority of the Norwegian population were in support of dissolving the monopoly arrangement, since the restructuring of 1996, the consumer satisfaction has increased. A2013 TNS Gallup poll showed that 74% of the wanted to keep the monopoly while 22% wanted to dissolve it. Economists have praised Vinmonopolet for being a monopoly that offers good customer service. Robert Lie, then sommelier of Bagatelle, has stated, I am among the supporters, in recent years Vinmonopolet has had great impact on the wine interest of the average Norwegian. To my knowledge there are no stores in the world with an equal selection. There are also fairly good prices for more expensive wines, for highly coveted wines one must pay much more in London. Torkjell Berulfsen, presenter of considerable TV programming with focus on alcoholic goods, has stated, I dont dare imagine some zitty, unmotivated 25-year-old red wine supervisor at Rimi. He acknowledges a near-revolution in that at present there are more than 10,000 products available, I am adequately satisfied with Vinmonopolet as it is now. But they still have some way to go concerning aged wine, the institution has not stayed clear of problems. The explanation was that the more modestly priced Château Latour à Pomerol had its name listing edited down for brevity, by the end of 2016, the range of products had reached near 17,000 items
4.
Fridtjof Nansen
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Fridtjof Nansen was a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth he was a skier and ice skater. He led the team made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888. He won international fame after reaching a record latitude of 86°14′ during his North Pole expedition of 1893–96. Between 1906 and 1908 he served as the Norwegian representative in London, in the final decade of his life, Nansen devoted himself primarily to the League of Nations, following his appointment in 1921 as the Leagues High Commissioner for Refugees. In 1922 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on behalf of the victims of the First World War. Among the initiatives he introduced was the Nansen passport for stateless persons and he worked on behalf of refugees until his sudden death in 1930, after which the League established the Nansen International Office for Refugees to ensure that his work continued. This office received the Nobel Peace Prize for 1938, Nansen was honoured by many nations, and his name is commemorated in numerous geographical features, particularly in the polar regions. The Nansen family originated in Denmark, Hans Nansen, a trader, was an early explorer of the White Sea region of the Arctic Ocean. In later life he settled in Copenhagen, becoming the citys borgmester in 1654, later generations of the family lived in Copenhagen until the mid-18th century, when Ancher Antoni Nansen moved to Norway. His son, Hans Leierdahl Nansen, was a magistrate first in the Trondheim district, after Norways separation from Denmark in 1814, he entered national political life as the representative for Stavanger in the first Storting, and became a strong advocate of union with Sweden. After suffering a stroke in 1821 Hans Leierdahl Nansen died, leaving a four-year-old son, Baldur Fridtjof Nansen. Baldur was a lawyer without ambitions for public life, who became Reporter to the Supreme Court of Norway, Baldur and Adelaide settled at Store Frøen, an estate at Aker, a few kilometres north of Norways capital city, Christiania. The couple had three children, the first died in infancy, the second, born 10 October 1861, was Fridtjof Nansen, Store Frøens rural surroundings shaped the nature of Nansens childhood. In the short summers the main activities were swimming and fishing, the long winter months were devoted mainly to skiing, which Nansen began to practice at the age of two, on improvised skis. At the age of 10 he defied his parents and attempted the ski jump at the nearby Huseby installation. This exploit had near-disastrous consequences, as on landing the skis dug deep into the snow, pitching the boy forward, I, head first, hen I came down again I bored into the snow up to my waist. The boys thought I had broken my neck, but as soon as they saw there was life in me, a shout of mocking laughter went up
5.
Nobel Peace Prize
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Per Alfred Nobels will, the recipient is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Since 1990, the prize is awarded on 10 December in Oslo City Hall each year, the prize was formerly awarded in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and the Parliament. Due to its nature, the Nobel Peace Prize has, for most of its history. Alfred Nobels will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category, as he was a trained chemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear, some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobels way to compensate for developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime, ballistite was used in war and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist organization, carried out dynamite attacks in the 1880s. Nobel was also instrumental in turning Bofors from an iron and steel producer into an armaments company and it is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway, which was ruled in union with Sweden at the time of Nobels death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, the Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations by committee members can be submitted up to the date of the first Committee meeting after this deadline. In 2009, a record 205 nominations were received, but the record was again in 2010 with 237 nominations, in 2011. Nominations from 1901 to 1956, however, have released in a database. Nominations are considered by the Nobel Committee at a meeting where a short list of candidates for review is created. Advisers usually have some months to complete reports, which are considered by the Committee to select the laureate. The Committee seeks to achieve a decision, but this is not always possible. The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway on 10 December each year, the Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize not presented in Stockholm. The Nobel laureate receives a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount, as of 2013, the prize was worth 10 million SEK
6.
League of Nations
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The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organisation whose mission was to maintain world peace. Its primary goals, as stated in its Covenant, included preventing wars through collective security and disarmament, at its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members. The diplomatic philosophy behind the League represented a shift from the preceding hundred years. The League lacked its own armed force and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, however, the Great Powers were often reluctant to do so. Sanctions could hurt League members, so they were reluctant to comply with them, after a number of notable successes and some early failures in the 1920s, the League ultimately proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s. Germany withdrew from the League, as did Japan, Italy, Spain, the onset of the Second World War showed that the League had failed its primary purpose, which was to prevent any future world war. The League lasted for 26 years, the United Nations replaced it after the end of the Second World War on 20 April 1946 and inherited a number of agencies and organisations founded by the League. As historians William H. Harbaugh and Ronald E. Powaski point out, the organisation was international in scope, with a third of the members of parliaments serving as members of the IPU by 1914. Its aims were to encourage governments to solve disputes by peaceful means. Annual conferences were held to help refine the process of international arbitration. Its structure consisted of a council headed by a president, which would later be reflected in the structure of the League, at the start of the 20th century, two power blocs emerged from alliances between the European Great Powers. It was these alliances that, at the start of the First World War in 1914 and this was the first major war in Europe between industrialised countries, and the first time in Western Europe that the results of industrialisation had been dedicated to war. By the time the fighting ended in November 1918, the war had had an impact, affecting the social, political and economic systems of Europe. Anti-war sentiment rose across the world, the First World War was described as the war to end all wars, the causes identified included arms races, alliances, militaristic nationalism, secret diplomacy, and the freedom of sovereign states to enter into war for their own benefit. Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, a British political scientist, coined the term League of Nations in 1914, together with Lord Bryce, he played a leading role in the founding of the group of internationalist pacifists known as the Bryce Group, later the League of Nations Union. The group became more influential among the public and as a pressure group within the then governing Liberal Party. In Dickinsons 1915 pamphlet After the War he wrote of his League of Peace as being essentially an organisation for arbitration and conciliation
7.
Haakon VII of Norway
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Haakon VII, known as Prince Carl of Denmark until 1905, was a Danish prince who became the first king of Norway after the 1905 dissolution of the union with Sweden. He reigned from November 1905 until his death in September 1957, as one of the few elected monarchs, Haakon quickly won the respect and affection of his people. He played a role in uniting the Norwegian nation in its resistance to the Nazi invasion. He became King of Norway before his father and older brother became kings of Denmark, during his reign, he saw his father, his brother and his nephew, Frederick IX, ascend the throne of Denmark, respectively in 1906,1912 and 1947. He died at the age of 85 on 21 September 1957 and he was succeeded by his only son, Olav V. Prince Carl of Denmark was the son of King Frederik VIII of Denmark. Furthermore, he was a brother of Christian X, a paternal grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark. Prince Carl was born at Charlottenlund Palace near Copenhagen and he belonged to the Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg branch of the House of Oldenburg. The House of Oldenburg had been the Danish royal family since 1448, the house was originally from northern Germany, where the Glucksburg branch held their small fief. The family had permanent links with Norway beginning from the late Middle Ages, several of his paternal ancestors had been kings of independent Norway. Christian Frederick, who was King of Norway briefly in 1814, Prince Carl was raised in the royal household in Copenhagen and educated at the Royal Danish Naval Academy. Their son, Prince Alexander, the future Crown Prince Olav, was born on 2 July 1903, gradually, Prince Carl became the leading candidate, largely because he was descended from independent Norwegian kings. The new royal family of Norway left Denmark on the Danish royal yacht Dannebrog, at Oscarsborg Fortress, they boarded the Norwegian naval ship Heimdal. After a three-day journey, they arrived in Kristiania early on the morning of 25 November 1905, two days later, Haakon took the oath as Norways first independent king in 518 years. The coronation of Haakon and Maud took place in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim on 22 June 1906, King Haakon gained much sympathy from the Norwegian people. Although the Constitution of Norway vests the King with considerable executive powers, Haakon confined himself to non-partisan roles without interfering in politics, a practice continued by his son and grandson. However, his long rule gave him moral authority as a symbol of the countrys unity. Haakon, Maud and Crown Prince Olav became interested in skiing and this sport is often viewed as typically Norwegian
8.
1921 in Norway
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Events in the year 1921 in Norway. Monarch - Haakon VII6 May - A general strike begins in Norway,17 September - the Dovre Line was opened. 18 September - Nidareid train disaster on the Trondhjem-Størenbanen railway line, six people were killed in this, the first serious passenger train accident in Norway The 1921 Parliamentary election takes place. 30 June - Gunvor Hofmo, writer and poet 10 July – Eva Kløvstad,10 October - Gunnar Thoresen, bobsledder 17 October – Edel Hætta Eriksen, schoolteacher and politician. 11 November - Trygve Olsen, politician 27 November - Aud Alvær, politician 28 November - Olav Hagen, cross country skier, Gunnar S. Dvergsdal, politician Waldemar Hansteen, architect Gjert Holsen, politician
9.
1920 in Norway
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Events in the year 1920 in Norway. Monarch - Haakon VII9 February – The League of Nations gives Spitsbergen to Norway, 17–19 June – The Centre Party was founded. Aalesund ship is discovered embedded in the south of Ålesund. 29 March – Hans Methlie Michelsen, judge 4 April – Dagfinn Grønoset, author 8 April – Kristian Asdahl, politician 9 April – Otto Nes,10 April - Jakob Aano, politician 12 April – Audun Hetland, illustrator. Platou, electrical engineer and politician 13 July – Jens Christian Magnus, military officer and politician
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