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.
Jens Stoltenberg
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Jens Stoltenberg is a Norwegian politician, and the 13th Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He served as Prime Minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001, Stoltenberg was first elected to Parliament in 1993 for the Oslo constituency, and is a member of the Labour Party. He served as State Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment from 1990 to 1991, while in parliamentary opposition, Stoltenberg served in the standing committee on energy affairs. He became the Parliamentary Leader and Prime Minister candidate for the Labour Party in February 2000, Stoltenberg was appointed Prime Minister in March 2000, following a motion of no confidence against Bondeviks First Cabinet. The policies of the first Stoltenberg cabinet instituted the most widespread privatisation by any Norwegian government to that date, Stoltenberg was re-elected in 2009 for a second term as Prime Minister, and then lost the election for a third term in 2013. Stoltenberg submitted his resignation on 14 October 2013, and left two days later. From 2013, Stoltenberg served as a United Nations special envoy on climate change and he has chaired the UN High-Level Panel on System Wide Coherence and the High-Level Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing. In March 2014, he was appointed by NATOs North Atlantic Council to be the Secretary General, Stoltenberg has been described as a cautious politician, belonging to the right wing of social democracy. In foreign policy, Stoltenberg has been a proponent of Norwegian membership in the European Union. In security policy, Stoltenberg favours increased military spending and dialogue, Jens Stoltenberg was born 16 March 1959 in Oslo, Norway, into the Stoltenberg family, whose name is derived from Stoltenberg in northern Germany. His father, Thorvald Stoltenberg, was a prominent Labour party politician who served as ambassador, as defence minister and his mother, Karin Stoltenberg, was a geneticist who served as state secretary in multiple governments during the 1980s. Marianne Heiberg, married to former Foreign Minister Johan Jørgen Holst, was his maternal aunt, Jens lived in Serbia from 1960 to 1963 while his father was Ambassador to Yugoslavia. Stoltenberg attended primary school at Oslo Waldorf School, and upper school at Oslo Cathedral School. He served his military service with the Armys Infantry Training Centre at Evjemoen in Aust-Agder. After leaving the army, Stoltenberg enrolled at the University of Oslo, the title of his thesis was Makroøkonomisk planlegging under usikkerhet. Stoltenbergs first steps into politics came in his teens, when he was influenced by his sister Camilla. Opposition to the Vietnam War was his triggering motivation, following heavy bombing raids against the North Vietnamese port city of Hai Phong at the end of the Vietnam War, he participated in protest rallies targeting the United States Embassy in Oslo. On at least one occasion embassy windows were broken by stone-throwing protesters, several of Stoltenbergs friends were arrested by the police after these events
3.
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs is a councilor of state and chief of the Norways Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since 16 October 2013, the position has held by Børge Brende of the Conservative Party. Except during the four in which a Deputy of the Prime Minister of Norway was appointed, the position was created on 7 June 1905, the day Norway declared independence from Sweden, with the Liberal Partys Jørgen Løvland as the inaugural. Thirty-nine people from five parties have held the position, all men, from 1983 to 2013 the ministry also had the Minister of International Development, which was responsible for issues related to foreign aid. Halvard Lange is the longest-serving, having held the position for more than eighteen years in four cabinets, the shortest-serving is the fellow party member, Edvard Bull, Sr. who held the position for the sixteen days that Hornsruds Cabinet lasted. Johan Ludwig Mowinckel was appointed four times as minister, three people have sat concurrently as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Løvland, Mowinckel and Ivar Lykke. Three officeholders would later become Prime Minister, Løvland, Mowinckel, two former Prime Ministers have held the office, John Lyng and Thorbjørn Jagland. Trygve Lie resigned from the office to become the inaugural Secretary-General of the United Nations, two people have died while in office, Knut Frydenlund and Johan Jørgen Holst. The following lists the minister, their party, date of assuming and leaving office, their tenure in years and days, centre Party Christian Democratic Party Conservative Party Labour Party Liberal Pary
4.
Gabon
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Gabon, officially the Gabonese Republic, is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometres and its capital and largest city is Libreville. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had three presidents, in the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a new democratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term. GDP grew by more than 6% per year from 2010 to 2012, however, because of inequality in income distribution, a significant proportion of the population remains poor. Gabons name originates from gabão, Portuguese for cloak, which is roughly the shape of the estuary of the Komo River by Libreville, the earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples. They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated, in the 15th century, the first Europeans arrived. By the 18th century, a Myeni speaking kingdom known as Orungu formed in Gabon, on February 10,1722, Bartholomew Roberts, a Welsh pirate known as Black Bart, died at sea off Cape Lopez. He raided ships off the Americas and West Africa from 1719 to 1722, French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor, several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon when France officially occupied it in 1885. In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, in World War II, the Allies invaded Gabon in order to overthrow the pro-Vichy France colonial administration. The territories of French Equatorial Africa became independent on August 17,1960, the first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon Mba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. However, when Mba dissolved the National Assembly in January 1964 to institute one-party rule, French paratroopers flew in within 24 hours to restore Mba to power. After a few days of fighting, the coup ended and the opposition was imprisoned, French soldiers still remain in the Camp de Gaulle on the outskirts of Gabons capital to this day. When MBa died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president, in March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party—the Parti Democratique Gabonais. He invited all Gabonese, regardless of political affiliation, to participate. Bongo was elected President in February 1975, in April 1975, the position of president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister
5.
Omar Bongo
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El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba was a Gabonese politician who was President of Gabon for 42 years from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as an official under Gabons first President Léon Mba in the 1960s. In 1967, he succeeded Mba to become the second Gabon President, Bongo headed the single-party regime of the Gabonese Democratic Party until 1990, when, faced with public pressure, he was forced to introduce multi-party politics into Gabon. The 1993 presidential election was controversial but ended with his re-election then. His respective parliamentary majorities increased and the opposition becoming more subdued with each succeeding election, after Cuban President Fidel Castro stepped down in February 2008, Bongo became the worlds longest-serving non-monarch ruler. He was one of the longest serving rulers in history, Bongo was criticized for in effect having worked for himself, his family and local elites and not for Gabon and its people. After Bongos death in June 2009, his son Ali Bongo—who had long been assigned key ministerial responsibilities by his father—was elected to succeed him in August 2009 and he was a member of the small Bateke ethnic group. He changed his name to El Hadj Omar Bongo when he converted to Islam in 1973, after Gabons independence in 1960, Albert-Bernard Bongo began his political career, gradually rising through a succession of positions under President Léon Mba. Bongo campaigned for M. Sandoungout in Haut Ogooué in the 1961 parliamentary election, choosing not to run for election in his own right, Sandoungout was elected and became Minister of Health. Bongo worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a time, in 1964, during the only coup attempt in Gabons history, Mba was kidnapped and Bongo was held in a military camp in Libreville, though Mba was restored to power two days later. On 24 September 1965, he was appointed as Presidential Representative and placed in charge of defense and he was then appointed Minister of Information and Tourism, initially on an interim basis, then formally holding the position in August 1966. Mba, whose health was declining, appointed Bongo as Vice-President of Gabon on 12 November 1966, in the presidential election held on 19 March 1967, Mba was re-elected as President and Bongo was elected as Vice-President during the same election. Bongo was in control of Gabon since November 1966 during President Léon Mbas long illness. Bongo became President on 2 December 1967, following the death of Mba four days earlier, aged 31, Bongo was Africas fourth youngest president at the time, after captain Michel Micombero of Burundi and sergeant Gnassingbé Eyadéma of Togo. In March 1968 Bongo decreed Gabon to be a one-party state and changed the name of the Gabonese Independence Party, in the 1973 elections for the national assembly and the presidency, Bongo was the sole candidate for president. He and all PDG candidates were elected by 99. 56% of the votes cast, mebiame would remain as prime minister until his resignation in 1990. In addition to the presidency, Bongo held several ministerial portfolios from 1967 onward, including Minister of Defense, Information, Planning, Prime Minister, the Interior, the PDG congress had criticized Bongos administration for inefficiency and called for an end to the holding of multiple offices. Bongo was again re-elected for a term in 1979, receiving 99. 96% of the popular vote
6.
Neo-Nazism
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Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive the far-right tenets of Nazism. The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements, Neo-Nazism borrows elements from Nazi doctrine, including ultranationalism, racism, ableism, xenophobia, homophobia, antiziganism, antisemitism, and initiating the Fourth Reich. Holocaust denial is a feature, as is incorporation of Nazi symbols. Neo-Nazi activity is a phenomenon, with organized representation in many countries. In some European and Latin American countries, laws have been enacted that prohibit the expression of pro-Nazi, racist, Many Nazi-related symbols are banned in European countries in an effort to curtail neo-Nazism. The major postwar far-right party was the Austrian National Democratic Party, until it was banned in 1988 for violating Austrias anti-Nazi legislation, the Freedom Party of Austria served as a shelter for ex-Nazis almost from its inception. In 1980, scandals undermined Austrias two main parties, and the economy stagnated, jörg Haider became leader of the FPÖ and offered partial justification for Nazism, calling its employment policy effective. Professor Ali Mazrui, however, identified the FPÖ as neo-Nazi in a BBC world lecture, Haider, who in 2005 left the Freedom Party and formed the Alliance for Austrias Future, was killed in a traffic accident in October,2008. Barbara Rosenkranz, the Freedom Partys candidate for the Austrian presidential election,2010, is controversial for having made allegedly pro-Nazi statements, Rosenkranz is married to Horst Rosenkranz, a key member of a banned neo-Nazi party, who is known for publishing far-right books. Rosenkranz says she cannot detect anything dishonourable in her husbands activities, the volume Rechtsextremismus in Österreich seit 1945, issued by DÖW in 1979, listed nearly 50 active far right organizations in Austria. Their influence waned gradually, partly due to programs in secondary schools and universities which emphasized Austrian identity. Votes for the RFS, the Freedom Partys academic student organization, in the 1995 elections for the student representative body Österreichische Hochschülerschaft, the RFS got 4% of the vote. The FPÖ won 22% of the votes at the General Election in the same year, in 1993 Küssel was repeatedly convicted on charges of NS-Wiederbetätigung under the Austrian anti-Nazi law and sentenced to ten years in prison. The VAPO de facto disbanded in the course of the imprisonment of its leading figures, due to procedural errors Küssels sentence was revoked by the OGH and his trial was reheld in 1994 at the end of which he was sentenced to eleven years in prison. A Belgian neo-Nazi organization, Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw, was created in 2004 after splitting from the international network. The group rose to prominence in September 2006, after 17 members were arrested under the December 2003 anti-terrorist laws and laws against racism, antisemitism. According to Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael, a police operation, which mobilized 150 agents, searched five military barracks as well as 18 private addresses in Flanders. They found weapons, munitions, explosives and a homemade bomb large enough to make a car explode, the leading suspect, B. T. was organizing the trafficking of weapons and was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch far-right movement De Nationale Alliantie
7.
Norwegian parliamentary election, 2001
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Parliamentary elections were held in Norway on 9 and 10 September 2001. The governing Labour Party lost seats and their share was the lowest they had ever obtained in a post-war election. Although they still won a plurality of votes and seats, they were unable to form a government, polls are indicated by share of votes in percentage, or by seats indicated by brackets. The Progress Party saw the most surprising changes in support, having achieved as high as 34. 7% in September 2000, the Labour Party and Conservative Party also varied greatly in support in the years before the election. Outside the Whale, Norways Storting Election of 10 September 2001, Storting Election 2001 - Labours worst election in 77 years from Statistics Norway Detailed results Results by district from Adam Carrs Election Archive
8.
Conservative Party (Norway)
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The Conservative Party is a conservative and liberal-conservative political party in Norway. It is the party of the Norwegian centre-right, and the leading party in the governing Solberg cabinet. The current party leader is the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, in national elections in September 2013, voters ended eight years of Labour Party rule. After winning the elections, Solberg said her win was an election victory for the right-wing electoral bloc. The party advocates economic liberalism, reduction of taxes, and individual rights and it has historically been the most outspokenly pro-European Union party in Norway, supporting Norwegian membership during both the 1972 and 1994 referendums. The party generally supports semi-privatization through state-funded private services and tougher law, founded in 1884, the Conservative Party is the second oldest political party in Norway after the Liberal Party. In the interwar era, one of the goals for the party was to achieve a centre-right alliance against the growing labour movement. The Conservative Party of Norway was founded in 1884 after the implementation of parliamentarism in Norway, the jurist Emil Stang was elected the first chairman of the party. Stang underlined important principles for the work in Høyre, the party was to be a social party of reforms that worked within the constitutional frames set by a parliamentary democracy. In the 1981-election, Høyre got 31. 7% and it was the best election since 1924. The result in 1993 was 17% and this election was influenced by the EU membership issue which divided the Liberal Party. The 1997 parliamentary election resulted in the lowest support since 1945, Høyre has since then seen increased popular support, and got 21. 3% in the 1999 local elections and 21. 2% in the 2001 parliamentary election. Throughout the years Høyre has supported a policy that aims to stimulate growth in order to avoid unemployment, in the beginning of the 20th century Høyre took the initiative to construct a modern Norwegian communications network. After the devastating First World War it was important for Høyre to work for the reconstruction of sound, an example of this is the resolution Høyre passed in 1923 introducing old-age insurance. But because of the States finances it was not possible to continue this effort, Høyre was the leading party in opposition in the post-war years in Norway. Høyre fought against the Labour Partys regulating policy, Høyre wanted another future for Norway consisting of private initiative and creative forces. Høyre has been a protagonist in the construction of the system in this country. Additionally Høyre has advocated that the States activity must concentrate on its basic problems, during the post-war years Høyre has consolidated its position as a party with appeal to all parts of the nation
9.
David Sandved
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David Sandved was a Norwegian architect. He was born in Sandnes and received his education at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1937. He established his own practice in Haugesund and his architecture developed from classical modernism to a form of critical regionalism, using local building motifs and symbols. In 1948 he moved from Oslo to Haugesund to work on ship interiors and he made all the interiors for Christian Haalands new freight liners, the «Concordia Line». He designed many different building types, including public, commercial, residential buildings, Sandved was working as an architect to the late 1980s. From 5 February 1948 to his death he was married to Marit Sandved, in the 1950s he was strongly influenced by Rudolf Steiner and his anthroposophy. Sandved also participated actively in the sphere, defending the composer Fartein Valen. In the 1990s the painter Odd Nerdrum discovered that David Sandved was his biological father, villa for Direktør Hilmar Onarheim, Onalund, Valevegen 7, Hystad, Stord. Villa for Doctor Simonsen, Breidablikkgaten 217, Haugesund, villa for Lawyer Arne Lothe, Asalvikvegen 17, Haugesund. Villa for Shipowner Rasmussen, Salhusveien 15, Haugesund, villa, Kong Sulkes gate 1, Haugesund. Presthaug Apartment blocks, Presthaugvegen 1-4, Haugesund, Haugesund Maritime High school, Maskinistskolen, Salhusveien 68, Haugesund. Haugesund Maritime High school, Haugesund kokke- og stuertskole, Salhusveien 68, Haugesund Public library, Kirkegata 151, Haugesund. Haraldshallen, Hanne Hauglands veg 10, Haugesund, haraldsvang Secondary school, Hanne Hauglands veg 9, Haugesund. Saltveit Primary school, Tittelsnesvegen 332, Haugesund, Haugesund Lillebo institution for mental retarded children, Floraveien 15, Haugesund. Haugesund Art Gallery, Erling Skjalgsonsgate 4, Haugesund, extension of Solvang Secondary school, Hervikvegen 14, Haugesund. Turnhallen, Hanne Hauglands veg 8, Haugesund, gymnastics- and stage building for Rudolf Steiner School in Haugesund, Skjoldavegen 175, Haugesund. Soria Moria Steiner preschool, Skjoldavegen 173, Haugesund, bookshop Nils Sundt, Haraldsgaten 159, Haugesund. Haugesund Savings Bank, Haraldsgaten 115, Haugesund, «The Norwegian motif», Europe square at the Europe tower in Mulhouse, France, stone mosaic consisting of 7 different types of marble
10.
Harald V of Norway
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Harald V is the King of Norway, having ascended the throne following the death of his father on 17 January 1991. Harald was the child and only son of Olav V of Norway. He was second in the line of succession at the time of his birth, in 1940, as a result of the German occupation during World War II, the royal family went into exile. Harald spent part of his childhood in Sweden and the United States and he returned to Norway in 1945, and subsequently studied for periods at the University of Oslo, the Norwegian Military Academy, and Balliol College, Oxford. In 1957, following the death of his grandfather, Haakon VII, a keen sportsman, he represented Norway in sailing at the 1964,1968, and 1972 Olympic Games, and later became patron of World Sailing. Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968, with their relationship initially being controversial due to her status as a commoner, the couple had two children, Märtha and Haakon. Harald succeeded his father as king in 1991, with Haakon becoming his heir apparent, Prince Harald was born in Skaugum and was baptized in the Royal Chapel in the Royal Palace in Oslo on 31 March 1937 by Bishop Johan Lunde. His parents already had two daughters, Princess Ragnhild and Princess Astrid, in 1940 the entire royal family had to flee Oslo because of the German invasion. It was deemed safer for the family to split up, the King and Crown Prince Olav would remain in Norway and the Crown Princess was to make her way to Sweden with the three children. The latter party reached Sweden on the night of 10 April, according to Princess Astrid and others who were present, they were admitted only after the driver threatened to ram the border gate. Another account does not describe the escape so dramatically, however, when the King and Crown Prince inquired of Swedish foreign minister Christian Günther whether they could sleep one night in Sweden without being interned, they were denied. Harald spent the days in Sälen before moving to Prince Carl Bernadottes home in Frötuna on 16 April. On 26 April the group moved to Drottningholm in Stockholm, King Gustaf V has been accounted to have had an amicable relationship with his Norwegian guests, but the topic of the war in Norway was not to be raised. However, influential Swedish politicians, including Minister of Justice Westman, wanted the Crown Princess and Prince Harald to be sent back to Norway so he could be proclaimed King by the Germans. After the King and Crown Prince had to leave Norway on 7 June they felt Sweden might not be the best place for the rest of the family, and started planning for them to go to the United States. On 17 August the Crown Princess and her left for the United States from Petsamo, Finland. One of the events he remembers from that time is standing behind Franklin D. Roosevelt when he was sworn in for his fourth term on the South Portico of the White House in 1945. Such childhood experiences are reflected in a trace of an American accent when he speaks English, Harald visited Norwegian servicemen training in the United States
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