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.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
4.
Communist Party of Norway
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The Communist Party of Norway is a small Marxist–Leninist communist party in Norway currently without parliamentary or other elected representation. It was formed in 1923, following a split in the Norwegian Labour Party, the party was pro-Stalinist from its establishment and as such supported the Soviet Union and its government, while opposing Trotskyism. During the Second World War, the party initially opposed active resistance, since the late 1940s, the party has played a mostly marginal role in Norwegian politics. While it held a seat in the parliament as late as 1961, it has not been represented in any elected bodies in the last decades. The party supports traditional Soviet historiography and pro-Russian political views, and opposes NATO, the European Union, during the Cold War, the party was officially considered extremist by Norwegian authorities and was under extensive surveillance by the Police Surveillance Agency for the entire Cold War. The Norwegian Labour Party became a member of the Communist International in 1919 under the leadership of Martin Tranmæl, even so, Tranmæl continued to support the Labour Partys membership, even if that meant a future split within the party between the left and the right. A split occurred, based on lines, in 1921. A power struggle erupted between the Tranmælists and the supporters of Olav Scheflo, the partys parliamentary leader, following Kyrre Grepps sickness leave. The reason for the struggle was that Tranmæl wanted to block Grepps chance of becoming the next leader. Before the Labour Party conference in February 1921, Tranmæl came up with the Kristiania-proposal, the Kristiania-proposal supported retaining membership in the Comintern, if the Labour Party could operate on more independent lines. At the conference a majority, by a margin of two votes, voted in favour of the Kristiania-proposal, the Comintern representative at the party conference, Nikolai Bukharin, grudgingly accepted the vote. As a reaction, the Scheflo-wing left the party and established the Norwegian Communist Party, organisationally, the Communist Party continued the representation of Norway in the Comintern. 13 of the Labour members of parliament joined the Communist Party, the newly established party elected Sverre Støstad as chairman, Halvard Olsen as deputy chairman, and Peder Furubotn as general secretary. The party managed to gain 6.1 percent of the votes in the 1924 parliamentary election, but decreased to 4 percent in 1927, at the same time, its membership slowly decreased, and by the 1930s the party had lost much of its former influence. The 1924 election was a failure for the party, the party became the third largest left-wing party, behind the Labour Party, the Communist Party had failed to restrengthened the Comintern organisation in Norway after the 1923-split. The 1925 conference focused on the organisational structure, the Comintern had laid out the partys organisational structure. The structure proposed by the Comintern was duly accepted by a majority at the conference, parallel to its decreasing electoral influence, the party was ravaged by internal strifes. Halvard Olsen and other union leaders left the party in 1924
5.
Knut Hamsun
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Knut Hamsun was a major Norwegian writer, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsuns work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to the subject, perspective and he published more than 20 novels, a collection of poetry, some short stories and plays, a travelogue, and some essays. The young Hamsun objected to realism and naturalism and he argued that the main object of modernist literature should be the intricacies of the human mind, that writers should describe the whisper of blood, and the pleading of bone marrow. Hamsun is considered the leader of the Neo-Romantic revolt at the turn of the 20th century, with such as Hunger, Mysteries, Pan. His later works—in particular his Nordland novels—were influenced by the Norwegian new realism, portraying life in rural Norway and often employing local dialect, irony. Hamsun is considered to be one of the most influential and innovative literary stylists of the past hundred years, isaac Bashevis Singer called Hamsun the father of the modern school of literature in his every aspect—his subjectiveness, his fragmentariness, his use of flashbacks, his lyricism. The whole modern school of fiction in the twentieth century stems from Hamsun, on August 4,2009, the Knut Hamsun Centre was opened in Hamarøy. Since 1916, several of Hamsuns works have been adapted into motion pictures, Knut Hamsun was born as Knud Pedersen in Lom in the Gudbrandsdal valley of Norway. He was the son of Tora Olsdatter and Peder Pedersen. When he was three, the moved to Hamsund, Hamarøy in Nordland. They were poor and an uncle had invited them to farm his land for him, at nine Knut was separated from his family and lived with his uncle Hans Olsen, who needed help with the post office he ran. Olsen used to beat and starve his nephew, and Hamsun later stated that his chronic nervous difficulties were due to the way his uncle treated him. In 1874 he finally escaped back to Lom, for the five years he did any job for money, he was a store clerk, peddler, shoemakers apprentice, sheriffs assistant. At 17 he became an apprentice, at about the same time he started to write. He asked businessman Erasmus Zahl to give him significant monetary support, Hamsun later used Zahl as a model for the character Mack appearing in his novels Pan, Dreamers, and Benoni and Rosa. He spent several years in America, traveling and working at various jobs, working all those odd jobs paid off, and he published his first book about it, Den Gaadefulde, En Kjærlighedshistorie fra Nordland. In his second novel Bjørger, he attempted to imitate Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsons writing style of the Icelandic saga narrative, the melodramatic story follows a poet Bjørger and his love for Laura. This book was published under the pseudonym Knud Pedersen Hamsund and this book later served as the basis for Victoria, En Kærligheds Historie
6.
Labour Party (Norway)
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The Labour Party, formerly the Norwegian Labour Party, is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It was formerly the senior partner of the governing Red-Green Coalition, the party is currently led by Jonas Gahr Støre. The Labour Party is officially committed to social-democratic ideals and its slogan since the 1930s has been everyone shall take part, and the party traditionally seeks a strong welfare state, funded through taxes and duties. During the first Stoltenberg government, the policies were inspired by Tony Blairs New Labour. The party has frequently described as increasingly neoliberal since the 1980s. The Labour Party profiles itself as a party that subscribes to cooperation on a national as well as international level. Its youth wing is the Workers Youth League, the party is a full member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance, and is an observer member of the Socialist International. The Labour Party has always been a supporter of Norways NATO membership and has supported Norwegian membership in the European Union during two referendums. Founded in 1887, the party increased in support until it became the largest party in Norway in 1927. This year also saw the consolidation of surrounding the party during the 1920s following its membership in the Comintern from 1919 to 1923. It formed its first government in 1928, and has led the government for all but 16 years since 1935, from 1945 to 1961, the party had an absolute majority in the Norwegian parliament, the only time this has ever happened in Norwegian history. The domination by the Labour Party, during the 1960s and early 1970s, was broken by competition from the left. From the end of the 1970s however, the party started to lose voters to the right, in 2001 the party achieved its worst electoral results since 1924. Between 2005 and 2013, Labour returned to power after committing to an agreement with other parties in order to form a majority government. Since losing 9 seats in the 2013 election, Labour has been in opposition, the party was founded in 1887 in Arendal and first ran in elections to the Parliament of Norway in 1894. It entered Parliament in 1904 after the 1903 election, and steadily increased its vote until 1927, the party were members of Comintern, a Communist organisation, between 1918 and 1923. From the establishment of Vort Arbeide in 1884, the party had a growing and notable organisation of newspapers, the party press system eventually resulted in Norsk Arbeiderpresse. In January 1913 the party had 24 newspapers, and 6 more newspapers were founded in 1913, the party also had the periodical Det 20de Aarhundre
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.
Hjalmar Andersen
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Hjalmar Hjallis Johan Andersen was a speed skater from Norway who won three gold medals at the 1952 Winter Olympic Games of Oslo, Norway. He was the triple gold medalist at the 1952 Winter Olympics. Nicknamed King Glad for his famous cheerful mood, he was one of Norways most popular sportsmen ever, four statues of him were raised during his lifetime, in Trondheim, Hamar, Rødøy and outside Bislett Stadium in Oslo. He was honored with a funeral at the state’s expense, Andersen was born on Rødøy, an island off the coast of Nordland in Norway, where his mother hailed from. His father, who originally was from Hammerfest, was a boatswain, while Andersen was still an toddler, the family moved to Lademoen, a working-class neighborhood in Trondheim, where sport and friendship was an important part of life. He began speed skating at the age of 10, and became a member of the sports club Falken, the club was part of the Workers Sports Federation, and the first competitions he participated in were small, local competitions organized by the AIF. Other members of the club were Sverre Farstad and Henry Wahl, later Andersen, Farstad, after the German occupation of Norway in 1940, when Andersen was 17 years old, all organized sports competitions were halted as a result of the sports boycott against the Nazi regime. Like others of his generation, he had to wait until the winter of 1946 to take up his sports career again, professionally, he began working as a delivery boy in a sports store after having completed the folkeskole at about 14. He later worked as a driver for several years. In 1950, when he was at the height of his skating career, he opened his own sports store in Trondheim. He was selected for the 10000 m team, but because of the ice conditions he did not finish the race. During the European Championship in Davos he noted a personal best at 2,16.4 at 1,500 m and he placed second overall in the championship. Andersen was the best skater of the world in the period of 1950 to 1952, in those same years, 1950–1952, he was also European Allround Champion and Norwegian Allround Champion, thus winning the triple for three consecutive years. In addition, he set three world records in those three years. A notable event in his career was the European Championship in 1951 at Bislett Stadium, speed skating was immensely popular in Norway at the time and 25,000 people cheered the skaters during the two-day event. King Haakon VII was present at the event, during the event, Andersen won the three first distances and was a clear favourite to become allround champion before the 10,000 metres. After 11 laps, however, Andersen fell and he tried to continue on, but one of his skates had been damaged and he was taken off the rink. Andersen’s fall was soon linked to a used by photographer Johan Brun from Dagbladet at the moment of the fall
9.
Nils Slaatto
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Nils Slaatto was for more than two decades one of Norways most prominent and influential architects, having a strong and distinctive impression on Norwegian architecture. Nils Slaatto was born in the winter sport town of Lillehammer, Oppland, Norway and his father Oddmund Eindride Slaatto, was a functionalist architect in Oslo in the years between the two world wars. His mother, Anine Wollebæk, came from Lillehammer and was also an architect, graduating from the University of Technology, but never practised. During 1938-39 Nils Slaatto took carpentry at the Technical School in Oslo before he enrolled into the Norwegian Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, large parts of the area suffered major damage during the war because of the Germans use of the scorched-earth tactic. In 1949 Slaatto married Margit Bleken of Trondheim, the sister of the famous Norwegian artist Håkon Bleken, when they moved to Oslo Slaatto started as the leader of the Farmers Architectural Office there. Here he met fellow architect and Lillehammer native Kjell Lund, who was also a graduate from the Norwegian Institute of Technology. As youngsters, Slaatto and Lund had both wandered around Maihaugen, a museum consisting of many types of old wooden farm buildings. They were influenced by this Norwegian wood architecture, adapting age-old techniques to modern production demands, an example is the Ål cabin in the Hallingdal Valley, designed in cooperation with Jon Haug. In 1957 Lund and Slaatto were invited to take part in a competition for an extension to the Akershus County Agricultural College at Hvam. In 1958, after winning the competition, they were able to start their architectural firm Kjell Lund and Nils Slaatto, in 1988 the company changed its name to Lund & Slaatto Arkitekter AS. Kjell Lund remained an architect/partner of Lund & Slaatto Arkitekter AS until autumn 2002,1964 Asker Town Hall — one of the most important building from the mid-1960s 1966 The Ål cabin — became both a commercial and professional success. 1971 Det Norske Studentersamfund - Chateau Neuf 1976 Veritas I — Climax of Norwegian Structuralism. L. T
10.
1922 in Norway
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Events in the year 1922 in Norway. Monarch - Haakon VII8 January - The Social Democratic Youth League of Norway is founded,30 November - The establishment of Norwegian government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer Vinmonopolet. Fridtjof Nansen is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a League of Nations High Commissioner, municipal and county elections are held throughout the country
11.
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
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