1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Market capitalization
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Market capitalization is used by the investment community in ranking the size of companies, as opposed to sales or total asset figures. It is also used in ranking the size of stock exchanges. In performing such rankings, the market capitalizations are calculated at some significant date, the total capitalization of stock markets or economic regions may be compared with other economic indicators. In 2014 and 2015, global market capitalization was US$68 trillion and US$67 trillion, respectively. Market cap is given by the formula M C = N × P, where MC is the capitalization, N is the number of shares outstanding. For example, if company has 4 million shares outstanding. If the closing price per share rises to $21, the cap becomes $84 million. If it drops to $19 per share, the cap falls to $76 million. This is in contrast to mercantile pricing where purchase price, average price, traditionally, companies were divided into large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap. The terms mega-cap and micro-cap have also come into common use. Different numbers are used by different indexes, there is no definition of, or full consensus agreement about. The cutoffs may be defined as rather than in nominal dollars. Market cap reflects only the equity value of a company and it is important to note that a firms choice of capital structure has a significant impact on how the total value of a company is allocated between equity and debt. A more comprehensive measure is enterprise value, which gives effect to outstanding debt, preferred stock, for insurance firms, a value called the embedded value has been used
3.
Norwegian language
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Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants. These Scandinavian languages, together with Faroese and Icelandic as well as extinct languages. Faroese and Icelandic are hardly mutually intelligible with Norwegian in their spoken form because continental Scandinavian has diverged from them, as established by law and governmental policy, the two official forms of written Norwegian are Bokmål and Nynorsk. The official Norwegian Language Council is responsible for regulating the two forms, and recommends the terms Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk in English. Two other written forms without official status also exist, one and it is regulated by the unofficial Norwegian Academy, which translates the name as Standard Norwegian. Nynorsk and Bokmål provide standards for how to write Norwegian, no standard of spoken Norwegian is officially sanctioned, and most Norwegians speak their own dialects in all circumstances. Thus, unlike in other countries, the use of any Norwegian dialect. Outside Eastern Norway, this variation is not used. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, Danish was the written language of Norway. As a result, the development of modern written Norwegian has been subject to strong controversy related to nationalism, rural versus urban discourse, historically, Bokmål is a Norwegianised variety of Danish, while Nynorsk is a language form based on Norwegian dialects and puristic opposition to Danish. The unofficial form known as Riksmål is considered more conservative than Bokmål, Norwegians are educated in both Bokmål and Nynorsk. A2005 poll indicates that 86. 3% use primarily Bokmål as their written language,5. 5% use both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and 7. 5% use primarily Nynorsk. Thus, 13% are frequently writing Nynorsk, though the majority speak dialects that resemble Nynorsk more closely than Bokmål. Broadly speaking, Nynorsk writing is widespread in western Norway, though not in major urban areas, examples are Setesdal, the western part of Telemark county and several municipalities in Hallingdal, Valdres, and Gudbrandsdalen. It is little used elsewhere, but 30–40 years ago, it also had strongholds in rural parts of Trøndelag. Today, not only is Nynorsk the official language of four of the 19 Norwegian counties, NRK, the Norwegian broadcasting corporation, broadcasts in both Bokmål and Nynorsk, and all governmental agencies are required to support both written languages. Bokmål is used in 92% of all publications, and Nynorsk in 8%
4.
Stock exchange
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A stock exchange or bourse is an exchange where stock brokers and traders can buy and/or sell stocks, bonds, and other securities. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for issue and redemption of securities and other financial instruments, Securities traded on a stock exchange include stock issued by listed companies, unit trusts, derivatives, pooled investment products and bonds. Stock exchanges often function as continuous auction markets, with buyers and sellers consummating transactions at a central location, to be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it must be listed there. Trade on an exchange is restricted to brokers who are members of the exchange, the initial public offering of stocks and bonds to investors is by definition done in the primary market and subsequent trading is done in the secondary market. A stock exchange is often the most important component of a stock market, supply and demand in stock markets are driven by various factors that, as in all free markets, affect the price of stocks. There is usually no obligation for stock to be issued via the exchange itself. Such trading may be off exchange or over-the-counter and this is the usual way that derivatives and bonds are traded. Increasingly, stock exchanges are part of a securities market. The idea of debt dates back to the ancient world, as evidenced for example by ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets recording interest-bearing loans, there is little consensus among scholars as to when corporate stock was first traded. Some see the key event as the Dutch East India Companys founding in 1602, economist Ulrike Malmendier of the University of California at Berkeley argues that a share market existed as far back as ancient Rome. One such service was the feeding of geese on the Capitoline Hill as a reward to the birds after their honking warned of a Gallic invasion in 390 B. C. Participants in such organizations had partes or shares, a concept mentioned various times by the statesman, in one speech, Cicero mentions shares that had a very high price at the time. Such evidence, in Malmendiers view, suggests the instruments were tradable, the societas declined into obscurity in the time of the emperors, as most of their services were taken over by direct agents of the state. Tradable bonds as a used type of security were a more recent innovation, spearheaded by the Italian city-states of the late medieval. While the Italian city-states produced the first transferable government bonds, they did not develop the other ingredient necessary to produce a fully fledged capital market, the Dutch East India Company became the first company to offer shares of stock. Control of the company was held tightly by its directors, with shareholders not having much influence on management or even access to the companys accounting statements. However, shareholders were rewarded well for their investment, the company paid an average dividend of over 16 percent per year from 1602 to 1650. Financial innovation in Amsterdam took many forms, by the 1620s, the company was expanding its securities issuance with the first use of corporate bonds
5.
Nordic countries
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The Nordic countries or Nordics are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, where they are most commonly known as Norden. They consist of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the population of the Nordic countries are mainly Scandinavian or Finnish, with Greenlandic Inuit and the Sami people as minorities. Of todays native languages, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, the non-Germanic languages spoken are Finnish, Greenlandic and several Sami languages. The main religion is Lutheran Christianity, the Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, their use of Scandinavian languages and social structure. Politically, Nordic countries do not form an entity. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries, Scandinavian Peninsula on the other hand covers mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northernmost part of Finland. At 3,425,804 square kilometers, the area of the Nordic countries would form the 7th-largest country in the world. Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of area, mostly in Greenland. In January 2013, the region had a population of around 26 million people, the Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The North Germanic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible and these languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries. Swedish, for example, is a subject in Finnish schools. Danish is mandatory in Faroese and Greenlandic schools, as these states are a part of the Danish Realm. Iceland also teaches Danish, since Iceland too was a part of the Danish Realm until 1918, there is a high degree of income redistribution and little social unrest. The Nordic countries consists of historical territories of the Scandinavian countries, areas that share a common history and it is meant unambiguously to refer to this larger group, since the term Scandinavia is narrower and sometimes ambiguous. The Nordic countries are considered to unambiguously refer to Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the Scandinavian languages, unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning northern dweller, especially outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is often used incorrectly as a synonym for the Nordic countries
6.
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
7.
Cermaq
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Cermaq is one of the worlds leading companies in farming of salmon and trout, with operations in Norway, Canada and Chile. In 2013 the farming business had sales of around NOK5.2 billion, cermaqs feed business unit EWOS was sold in 2013. In October 2014, Cermaq ASA became a fully owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, the company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway. In October 2014, the acquisition of the firm was completed by Mitsubishi Corporation for $1.4 billion, Cermaq produces Atlantic salmon, coho and trout. In Canada the operations are on Vancouver Island with offices located in Campbell River, in Norway the company has operations in Nordland and Finnmark while the operations in Chile are around Puerto Montt. The total production of salmon was 142,300 tonnes in 2013, in addition Cermaq has minority ownership in grain wholesaler Norgrain. Cermaq was founded as Statkorn Holding when the division of Statens Kornforretning was demerged. In 1996 the company started to purchase NorAqua, a food producer. In 2000, the government sold the first 20% of the company, through the 2000s, Cermaq has sold its original grain wholesaling divisions and entered the seafood and fish food market. It was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange in 2006
8.
DNB ASA
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DNB ASA is Norways largest financial services group with total combined assets of more than NOK1.9 trillion and a market capitalisation NOK164 billion as per 20 May 2016. The Group includes brands such as DNB, Vital, Nordlandsbanken, Cresco, Postbanken, DnB NORD, dNBs head office is located in Oslo. The two largest owners of DNB are the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and Sparebankstiftelsen DnB NOR, the latter was created as a foundation with the sole purpose of owning part of the company. It was created when Gjensidige NOR was made a limited company to ensure that the companies customers retained partial ownership of the company. The foundation also can give up to 25% of its received dividend as gifts to charity, DNB Bank has bank offices throughout the country. Though both Postbanken and Nordlandsbanken are part of the company, they retain their own brands and offices, Postbanken offers its services through the post offices while Nordlandsbanken has its offices exclusively in the county of Nordland. As of April 2011, Postbanken and its brand has been merged with the DNB Group, the DNB Bank Group is the largest entity in the DNB Group and Norways largest, offering services to the corporate, retail and securities markets and the public sector. DNB has the largest customer base in the Norwegian financial market and is a leader in most domestic market segments, in Norway, DNB has more than 2.3 million retail customers and more than 200,000 corporate clients, with 218 Branch offices. The groups activities are focused on Norway, however, it is one of the worlds foremost shipping banks. The company also has offices in Sweden. In November 11,2011, the bank was rebranded and adopted the common DNB brand throughout these countries, in these countries, DNB has 930,000 customers and 163 Branch offices. The history of the group back to 1822 with the establishment of Christiania Sparebank. The name DnB NOR was adopted in 2003, when the two banks Den norske Bank and Gjensidige NOR merged in 2003, the company changed its legal name and brand to DNB in November 2011. List of oldest companies, which includes Gjensidige NOR Official website
9.
Evry
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Evry A/S is a Norwegian information technology company that supplies services relating to computing, including operation, outsourcing and online banking. The company is headquartered in Oslo and it was established through a merger between EDB Business Partner and ErgoGroup in 2010 and has 10,000 employees at 135 offices in 16 countries. EDB ErgoGroup ASA was formed in 2010 with the merger of EDB Business Partner, telenor owned most of the shares of ErgoGroup. The company subsequently changed its name to EVRY ASA in April 2012, in August 2014, EVRY announced that it was initiating a process to investigate strategic opportunities. This was motivated by their assessment of the IT sector in the Nordic countries, in March 2015 Apax Partners became the majority owner of the company, a new board was appointed and it decided to apply for a de-listing from the stock exchange. On 29 October 2015, the company was delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange, in August 2015, following the loss of a contract with Norwegian bank DNB, EVRY announced it would lay off 500-550 workers in Norway and Sweden to increase profits, saving NOK 400–500 million. In October 2015 it announced the transfer of a further 600 employees to IBM in a deal worth USD1 billion. In 2016 it announced it would double the manpower at its Indian subsidiary, then at 600 in Mohali and 1,500 in Bengaluru, EVRY had a total workforce of 9,400 in 2016. EVRY acquired Span Infotech, an Indian IT company, which was renamed EVRY India to be coherent with its parent company
10.
Fred. Olsen Energy
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Olsen Energy is a Norwegian offshore drilling rig company, offering services for the offshore industry within development and production of oil and gas. The company operates in two segments, Offshore Drilling and Engineering & Fabrication, the latter of which includes the Northern Irish shipyard Harland and Wolff. Olsen Energy has its headquarters in Oslo, and offices in Stavanger, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Hungary, India, United States, the Company was established in 1997 and is listed on the Oslo stock exchange with the ticker FOE. The main shareholders are the companies Bonheur and Ganger Rolf ASA, the Chairman of the board is Anette Olsen.6 bn Norwegian kroner In 1997 the company was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The next year its remotely operated vehicle division was sold to Stolt Comex Seaways, since then the company has bought a number of drilling rigs. Most recently a new deepsea rig went into operations late 2014, another extreme conditions deepsea rig is expected to be ready autumn 2015. Both off them have longterm contracts with dayprices well over 500.000 USD
11.
Frontline Ltd.
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Frontline Ltd. is the worlds largest oil tanker shipping company, based in Hamilton, Bermuda and controlled by John Fredriksen. Its primary business is transporting crude oil, as of 2008 the company had one of the worlds largest tanker fleets consisting of VLCC, Suezmax and Suezmax OBO carriers. Frontline has its origin in Frontline AB, which was founded in 1985, Hemen Holding became the largest shareholder of Frontline in 1996. In May 1997, a decision was made at the meeting in Frontline AB to change its domicile from Sweden to Bermuda. The change of domicile was executed through a share for share exchange offer from the newly formed Frontline in Bermuda. Under Fredriksen the company absorbed several companies, London and Overseas Freighters, ICB. These takeovers made Frontline the worlds largest tanker company, a position it has retained to the present day, as of December 31,2010, Frontlines tanker and OBO fleet consisted of 73 vessels. The fleet consists of 44 VLCCs, which are owned or chartered in,21 Suezmax tankers which are either owned or chartered in. Frontline also had five VLCC newbuildings and two Suezmax newbuildings on order and three VLCCs under our commercial management, the companys largest shareholder is Hemen Holding Ltd. a company indirectly controlled by the chairman of Frontline, billionaire John Fredriksen, Norways highest net worth person. The freight market is a volatile market, with standard deviations of up to 70%. From an options perspective, this is a possibility for a very large up, aG-Japan clean and dirty are the most liquid routes traded in the derivatives market. Frontline has a high dividend yield, both in cash and in Ship Finance stocks, for example, in late 2007 its annual dividend ran between 12 and 18%, depending on the fluctuating share price. SFL is an offshoot of Frontline, the offshoot is estimated to have generated 25% gains to shareholders due to the different risk in Frontline, Golden Ocean Group, a dry bulk carrier firm, was also spun off of Frontline and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. GOGL is a stock, and as with Frontline, dry freight derivatives are available. In 2006, Frontline has started a new Floating Production Storage and Offloading project, in June 2007, Frontline sold its entire holding of 25,500,000 shares in Sea Production. The sale of the shares was in line with Frontlines strategy to remain a pure crude oil transportation company, Frontline and Sea Production will continue a strategic partnership with respect to conversion of crude oil tankers into oil storage and production units. Klemp John Fredriksen retained the title as the most influential person in the shipping industry in TradeWinds Power 2012 list
12.
Gjensidige
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Gjensidige Forsikring ASA is a Norwegian insurance company. The company traces its roots back to 1816 when a fire mutual was founded at Land in what is today Oppland county, Gjensidige demutualised and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in December 2010. The firm, headquartered in Oslo, has a share of some 25% in the Norwegian insurance market. The company has 36 branch offices in Norway, not including affiliated fire mutuals, Gjensidige has subsidiaries in Denmark, Sweden and The Baltics. The company offers all kinds of insurance for Retail customers, agriculture and it also offers retail banking products through its subsidiary Gjensidige Bank as well as pensions and savings products. In the early 1970s the p&c-company traded under the name Samtrygd, the two Companies formed a Strategic alliance in 1976, adopting Gjensidige as a joint brand name, but as both Companies were mutually owned they did not merge. In 1992 Gjensidige acquired Forenede Forsikring and in 1993 Gjensidige Bank was created with banking services, in 1999 Gjensidige and the savings bank Sparebanken NOR created the Gjensidige NOR-group. The Group was a Strategic alliance between mutually owned Companies, when Gjensidige NOR merged with Den norske Bank in 2003 to form DnB NOR, Gjensidige Forsikring remained an independent company. In 2007 Gjensidige acquired shares in Storebrand, and for some time held the position as the number one shareholder with 24. 33% of the stock, the entire shareholding was sold in 2014. In 2010 Gjensidige demutualised and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Gjensidige Foundation is the largest owner with some 62 per cent of the shares. List of oldest companies Official website
13.
Golar LNG
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Golar LNG is a liquefied natural gas shipping company registered in Bermuda. The company operates 26 LNG carriers and is listed on NASDAQ, the company was founded in 1946 as Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Company. In 1970 the company entered the LNG segment, in 1973 the Gotaas-Larsen oil tanker SS Golar Patricia exploded and sank off the Canary Islands. Her Gross Register Tonnage was 98,894 long tons and her tonnage was 216,326 long tons. The Singapore-based Osprey Maritime bought the company in 1997, in 2000 the Fredriksen-controlled World Shipholding started a take-over of Osprey, completed in 2001 when the LNG segments of Osprey were transferred to Golar LNG. It was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2001 and NASDAQ in 2002,30 August 2012 it was delisted from Oslo Stock Exchange, in June 2015, Golar LNG announced a joint venture with Stolt-Nielsen to pursue production and distribution opportunities. The latter also made an investment in the former, acquiring a 2.3 percent stake. Golar LNG Partners LP operates the worlds first regasification vessel Golar Spirit converted from an LNG carrier
14.
Marine Harvest
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Marine Harvest ASA, Pan Fish prior to February 6,2007, is a Norwegian seafood company with operations in a number of countries around the world. The companys primary interest is the production, processing and sale of farmed salmon, the operations of which are focused on Norway, Scotland, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Ireland and Chile. The group has a share of between 25 and 30% of the salmon and trout market, making it the worlds largest company in the sector. Marine Harvest also owns a value added processing unit, which prepares and distributes a range of products. The company assumed its current form as a result of expansion in 2006. The group is headquartered in Bergen and is dual-listed on both the Oslo Stock Exchange where it is a constituent of the benchmark OBX Index, and the New York Stock Exchange. The first company to use the name Marine Harvest was founded in Lochailort, Unilever had been developing farming methods at a research facility there. The company began operations in Chile in 1975, after deciding to divest Marine Harvest McConnell so as to concentrate on its core cash and carry business in 1998, Booker eventually succeeded in finding a buyer in July 1999. The Dutch-based nutrition firm Nutreco acquired the unit for GB£32.7 million, adding it to its fish food, Nutreco retained the name Marine Harvest for the units fish farming operations, and established interests in the emerging farmed cod, halibut, yellowtail and barramundi markets. Nutreco held a 75% stake in the joint venture, with Stolt taking the remainder, Pan Fish Holding AS was founded in 1992 with a strategy to acquire many fish farms domestically and abroad. By 1997 the firm had made numerous acquisitions and opted to list on the Oslo Stock Exchange as Pan Fish ASA, however, the company had borrowed heavily to finance its rapid growth—by the end of 2001, debts had reached over NOK4.7 billion. When the market price of salmon collapsed in 2001, Pan Fish encountered extreme financial difficulties, posting a loss in 2002. A major refinancing operation implemented in late 2002 coincided with the dismissal of the board of directors, including founder. The company slowly recovered over the years, returning to profitability in 2005. Fjord Seafood has its origins in Torgnes Invest, a company founded in June 1996 which initially operated a fish farm in the Norwegian town of Brønnøysund. As with Pan Fish, poor market conditions saw Fjords share price worsen dramatically in 2001, the companys future was only secured thanks to a NOK700 million bail out from major shareholders that September. Nevertheless, Fjord stabilised its financial position through restructuring and cost-cutting measures, moves toward consolidation in the aquaculture sector were sparked by the activity of shipping magnate John Fredriksen, Norways richest man before abandoning his citizenship of the country in 2006. Fredriksens first major move into the industry came in the quarter of 2005
15.
Norsk Hydro
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Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. Hydro is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide and it has operations in some 50 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state owns 43. 8% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, a further 6. 5% is owned by Folketrygdfond, which administers the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Norsk Hydro employs approximately 12,500 people, Svein Richard Brandtzæg has been the CEO since 2009. The company had a significant presence in the oil and gas industry until October 2007, the technology had been developed by the Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland. The method is known as the Birkeland–Eyde process. The process required large amounts of energy, and for this. Later also Rjukan Falls was developed and its power harnessed, in the establishing the city of Rjukan. Hydros first factory was built at Notodden followed up another at Rjukan. Then in 1912 production is established at Glomfjord in Nordland, in 1930 Norsk Hydro opened a plant at Herøya outside Porsgrunn. To begin with it was to function as a port for the fertilizer as well as a point to import limestone. From 1936 Hydro also started producing fertilizer at Herøya, there was also opened a railway, Rjukanbanen, connecting Rjukan with Hærøy. The railway opened in 1909 and consisted of a ferry across Lake Tinn, railway again with the Tinnoset Line. The canal was superseded by the Bratsberg Line in 1916, by 1945, IG Farben had become a majority shareholder in Norsk Hydro. The plant at Herøya was a result of no longer being dependent on immediate proximity to the power sources. This provided the advantage of being able to have the plants, the first steps towards light metal production came in 1940 when Hydro started construction of a magnesium carbonate plant at Herøya, but the German invasion of Norway stopped the plans. In 1941 the Oslo Consortium invested money equivalent to year 2014 Norwegian kroner 172 million, collaboration with the Nazi-German regime, did not result in any company employees being convicted after the war. During the Second World War Norsk Hydro collaborated with IG Farben, the construction was however ended on July 24,1943 when an allied bombardment completely destroyed the facilities, killing 55 construction workers
16.
Orkla Group
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Orkla is a Norwegian conglomerate operating in the Nordic region, Eastern Europe, Asia and the US. At present, Orkla operates in the consumer goods, aluminium solutions. The companys strategic focus is on growth in its branded consumer goods operations, the group has 30,000 employees in more than 40 countries and a turnover of NOK61 billion. Borregaard is a Norwegian chemical company with products within wood based chemicals, Sapa Group is a Swedish-based company that produces high value-added profiles, building systems and heat transfer strips in aluminium. Sapa Groups aluminium profiles business was in 2007 merged with Alcoas, in 2009 Alcoa took over all aluminium activities from Elkem while Sapa Group took over the profile business from Alcoa. The same year Sapa Group took over bankrupt Indalex in USA, as of March 2009, Orkla had major ownerships in Jotun and Renewable Energy Corporation. Orkla started out in 1654 with pyrite mining at Løkken Verk in Sør-Trøndelag, later the company also started mining copper, but the copper mining was abandoned in 1845. This railway is operated as a museum railway after the mining operations at Løkken Verk were closed on 10 July 1987. In 1929, Orkla became listed on Oslo Stock Exchange and in 1931 the new smelting plant at Thamshavn outside Orkanger is opened, by 1941 Orkla started with a separate investments portfolio, and opened offices in Oslo in 1975. In 1984 Orkla started a major takeover of Norwegian newspapers, creating Orkla Media as one of the three largest media companies in Norway, half of the magazine publisher Egmont-Mortensen is added to Orkla Media in 1992 and the Danish Det Berlingske Officin in 2000. Orkla sold the section to Mecom in 2006. In 1986 Orkla merged with Borregaard based in Sarpsborg to form Orkla Borregaard, the company then merged with Nora Industrier in 1992. Borregaard was spun off and introduced to the Oslo Stock Exchange in October 2012, Orkla heavily invests in foods and among others acquired Swedish brewery Pripps as well as other companies including Abba Seafood, Baltic Beverages Holding and Procordia Food. Norwegian Ringnes and Pripps were merged with Carlsberg Breweries, where Orkla acquires a 40% ownership in 2000, Orkla sold its ownership in Carlsberg in 2004, the same year it buys SladCo. In 2005 Orkla bought the Norwegian material company Elkem and Sapa Group in Sweden, in 2010 Orkla bought the Estonian confectionery company Kalev. At the beginning of 2013 Orkla owns «Слад&Ко», «Фабрика имени Крупской», «Конфи», «Волжанка», «Пекарь» and it is known to be the fifth largest confectionery producer in Russia
17.
Petroleum Geo-Services
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Petroleum Geo-Services offers a broad range of products including seismic and electromagnetic services, data acquisition, processing, reservoir analysis/interpretation and multi-client library data. Their services help oil companies to find oil and gas reserves offshore worldwide, PGS was founded in Norway in 1991, with 2 seismic ships and some highly innovative ideas on how to reshape the industry. The headquarters is in Oslo, Norway and PGS shares are listed on the Oslo stock exchange
18.
Prosafe
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Prosafe SE is the worlds leading owner/operator of semi-submersible accommodation vessels. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and posted revenues of USD523.5 million in 2013, Prosafe owns/operates 11 semi-submersible accommodation vessels, and has 4 new build vessels under construction. Two harsh environment semi-submersible accommodation vessels are being constructed at Jurong Shipyard, furthermore, Prosafe is building two semi-submersible accommodation vessels at COSCO Offshore Co. Ltd. Prosafe is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ticker code PRS, accommodation vessels offer additional accommodation, engineering, construction or storage capacity offshore. Prosafe’s vessels have accommodation capacity for 306-812 people and they have catering facilities, storage, workshops, offices, medical services, deck cranes and lifesaving and fire fighting equipment aboard. The vessels are positioned alongside the host installation and are connected by means of a telescopic gangway so that personnel can walk to work and this company merged with Safe Offshore ASA, thereby entering the business segment of accommodation/service rigs, and changed its name to Prosafe ASA. Prosafe acquired floating production company Nortrans Offshore in 2001, extending its activities to include the conversion, chartering, in 2005, Prosafe sold the Drilling Services division. In 2006, the company acquired Consafe Offshore AB, which owned three semi-submersible accommodation/service rigs and one accommodation jack-up and this acquisition cemented Prosafe’s leading position in the market for semi-submersible accommodation/service rigs. In May 2008, Prosafe spun off business division Floating Production and this business division became an independent company, named Prosafe Production Public Limited. On November 25,2010, BW Offshore completed the 100% acquisition of Prosafe Production Public Ltd. for approximately NOK3,120. 92m
19.
Questerre Energy
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Questerre Energy Corporation is an international energy exploration company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange. It holds the largest acreage position in the Utica Shale in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands, questerre also have operations in Saskatchewan and in the Montney Formation in Alberta. The company was co-founded in 2000 by the Canadian Michael Binnion, Binnion is CEO, and Paus was Chairman 2006–2015. The company was included on the OBX Index between June 2010 and December 2011
20.
Renewable Energy Corporation
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The Renewable Energy Corporation is a solar power company with headquarters in Singapore. REC produces silicon materials for applications and multicrystalline wafers, as well as solar cells. All of RECs solar cell and wafer production plants in Norway were shut down permanently in 2011 and 2012 due to market conditions. The predecessor of todays company was established in 1996 under the name Fornybar Energi AS, todays company is a result of a fusion in September 2000 between ScanWafer AS, SolEnergy AS and Fornybar Energi AS. In 2002 REC ScanCell started production of solar cells in Narvik for the sister company REC ScanModule in Glava. REC Wafer was at the time the worlds largest producer of multicrystalline wafers with factories in Glomfjord and at Herøya. Immediately after its IPO in 2006, the price of the company soared, reaching a peak of NOK262 in November 2007. Based on this value, the company was at the time the largest wholly owned company in Norway. In 2007, REC decided to build its new worldscale integrated solar manufacturing facility in Singapore, when completed, the manufacturing complex was planned to incorporate wafer, cell and module production facilities, with a production capacity of up to 1.5 gigawatts. In 2008 and 2009 two new factories for multicrystalling wafers were opened at Herøya, in August 2008 REC made the decision to build a new facility for silicon manufacturing expansion in Bécancour, Quebec, Canada. Included in the decision is a 20-year power contract with Hydro-Québec for the delivery of electricity at a competitive industrial rate, as of May 2010, the market capitalization is down to 18 billion NOK. The remaining Norwegian plant, at Herøya, was closed down in 2012 and its wafer subsidiary, REC Wafer Norway AS, is planning to file for insolvency. In 2013, REC was split and a company, Renewable Energy Corporation ASA was formed. The splinter company consisted of the manufacturing facilities at Moses Lake, Washington and Butte. At these plants, REC Silicon produces polysilicon and silane gas for the solar industry, REC Silicon produced 21,405 MT of polysilicon in 2012, and targets a production of 20,000 MT polysilicon in 2013. 1 Estimated production/capacity REC produce multicrystalline solar cells and solar panels,1 Estimated production/capacity2 Numbers not available3 Plant closed down REC has entered into a significant long-term agreement for supply of mono-crystalline silicon wafer to Suniva, Inc. Under the agreement, REC will until 2013 deliver wafers worth more than US$300 million, REC also entered into a significant long-term agreement for supply of mono-crystalline silicon wafers to China Sunergy Co. Ltd. Under the agreement, REC were to deliver wafers worth more than US$400 million until 2015 and it was structured as a take-or-pay contract with pre-determined prices and volumes for the entire contract period
21.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is an American global cruise company incorporated in Liberia and based in Miami, Florida. It is the worlds second-largest cruise line operator, after Carnival Corporation & plc, as of March 2009, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. fully owns three cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara Club Cruises. They also hold a 50% stake in TUI Cruises and 49% stakes in Pullmantur Cruises, previously Royal Caribbean Cruises also owned 50% of Island Cruises, but this was sold to TUI Travel PLC in October 2008. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. was formed in 1997 when Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, founded in 1968, was established as the new parent company of both Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. A third brand under Royal Caribbean Cruises ownership was formed in 2000 when Island Cruises was created as a joint venture with British First Choice Holidays, Island Cruises became an informal cruise line on the British and Brazilian markets. In November 2006, Royal Caribbean Cruises purchased Pullmantur Cruises based in Madrid, another new cruise line, TUI Cruises began operations in 2009. The brand is aimed at a German-speaking audience and is a joint venture with TUI AG, TUI Travel had previously become the owner of 50% of Island Cruises following their merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007. In October 2008 Royal Caribbean Cruises sold their share of Island Cruises to TUI, Royal Caribbean International - Empress Class, all built by Chantiers de lAtlantique, France. Empress of the Seas -48,563 tons /2,020 passenger berths +685 crew Sovereign Class, all built by Chantiers de lAtlantique, France
22.
Schibsted
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Schibsted Media Group is a Norwegian media group with operations in 29 countries, the most important being Norway and Sweden. The company has its headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and is listed on Oslo Stock Exchange, Schibsteds present activities are related to media products in the field of newspapers, online classifieds, publishing, multimedia and mobile services. Schibsted Media Group is currently organized into Online Classifieds, media houses, rolv Erik Ryssdal became CEO of Schibsted on 1 June 2009. EVP Communications & CSR is Lena K Samuelsson, Schibsteds largest shareholder is Blommenholm industrier. At least 30% of the company is owned by banks and financial services companies, such as J. P. Morgan, Northern Trust. In 1839 Christian Michael Schibsted founded the publishing company Schibsteds Forlag and in 1860 he started publishing Christiania Adresseblad, in 1989, under the leadership of Tinius Nagell-Erichsen, Schibsted went from being a family-owned company to a corporation, and was listed on Oslo Stock Exchange in 1992. Kjell Aamot has been CEO since 1989, in the 1990s and 2000s Schibsted bought a number of international newspapers. The group is organized into Online Classifieds, Schibsted Media House Norway, Sweden Schibsted Media House. Schibsted has approximately 6,900 employees and operates in 29 countries, in the majority of these countries are run only online-based businesses. Schibsted owns 41% of the Swiss company 20 Min Holding AG which participates in the publication of editions of the free daily newspapers. Schibsted owns many of the biggest newspapers in Norway and Sweden, the media houses represent a part of Schibsted’s core businesses. In Norway, collaboration between the newspapers Aftenposten, Bergens Tidende, Stavanger Aftenblad and Fædrelandsvennen was formalized through the establishment of the media company Media Norge, in 2012, VG was added and the company changes name to Schibsted Norge. The objective is to take advantage of the economies of scale which editorial and commercial collaboration can offer and this will help the media houses fulfill their primary tasks in a good way while still ensuring a high editorial quality. Schibsted Sverige was established in Sweden in 2009 and this collaboration comprises all the underlying businesses in Aftonbladet and the SvD group. From December 2010, Schibsted’s Swedish activities are gathered under one roof in Kungsbrohuset in Stockholm, Schibsted Classified Media operate most of Schibsteds online classifieds business. SCM have operations in several markets in Western Europe and in growing markets in Asia, Eastern Europe. It includes the sites, Schibsted Growth invests in digital companies. Growth helps founders and teams to establish products or services, scale their business, maximize growth, Schibsted Growth have made investments in companies like Blocket, Prisjakt, Hitta, TV. nu, Lets Deal, Lendo, Pubfront and many more
23.
Seadrill
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Seadrill is a deepwater drilling contractor which provides drilling services to the oil and gas industry. It is incorporated in Bermuda and managed from London, Seadrill has operations in Angola, Brunei, the Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Norway, Thailand, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE, United States and the United Kingdom. The company operates semi-submersibles, jack-ups and drillships, the company provides quarterly online updates on the status of each rig in its fleet on its website. As of 2015, founder John Fredriksen owned 119 million shares of the company, Seadrill was incorporated as a Bermuda company in May 2005 by the Norwegian-born shipping tycoon John Fredriksen and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in November 2005. In July 2005, it acquired the drilling company Odfjell, in September 2006, it purchased a controlling share of Smedvig by outbidding Noble Energy. In 2007, Seadrill acquired Eastern Drilling, in May 2010, Seadrill outbid Ensco plc for Scorpion Offshore, valuing the company at $567 million. In 2014, Seadrill conducted a public offering of its North Atlantic Drilling subsidiary. Seadrill continued to own 70% of North Atlantic Drilling, in 2013, the company sold the majority of its tender rig and semi-tender operation to SapuraKencana. The company also sold Tender rigs T-15, T16 and the West Vencedor to Seadrill Partners LLC, in June 2013, Seadrill acquired a majority interest in Sevan Drilling. In September 2013, a company, Heirs Holdings made a “substantial” investment in Seadrill’s Nigerian unit. In November 2014, the company suspended dividend payments as a result of a downturn in the industry, in 2015, Petrobras alleged bribery in the negotiations of rig contracts signed by Sevan Drilling, a subsidiary of Seadrill, in 2005-2008. The rig was operated by the Thai firm PTTEP, for 74 days, gas and oil ran into the Timor Sea, in what was one of the worst environmental disasters in Australian history
24.
Storebrand
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Storebrand is a financial services company in Norway. By volume, the main activities are related to life insurance. However, the company also has major divisions working on investments, banking and, until 1999 and again since 2006, through its acquisition of Swedish SPP from Handelsbanken in 2007, Storebrand gained a sizable division dedicated to the Swedish market for life insurance. The companys headquarters are located in Lysaker in the municipality of Bærum, just outside Oslo, Storebrand is a public company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The company CEO is Odd Arild Grefstad, Storebrand issues an annual report for companies engaging in socially responsible investments. The company traces its roots back to 1767 when Den almindelige Brand-Forsikrings-Anstalt, in 1982 Storebrand merged with its competitor, insurance company Norden, to form the Storebrand-Norden group. The company changed its name to AS Storebrand in 1986, in 1991 Storebrand merged with the companies under the UNI Forsikring trademark, to become UNI Storebrand. This caused the prices of UNI Storebrand to plummet and the government took control of the company. In 1993 the company managed to restructure its debt and was again made available for trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange. In 1996 the company changed its name to Storebrand ASA, and was granted concession to operate banking services through its fully owned subsidiary Storebrand Bank. The following year, attempts to merge with Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse, now part of Nordea, in 1999 Storebrand merged its P&C insurance division with similar divisions of Skandia and Pohjola to form If P&C Insurance, in which Storebrand retained an ownership share of 33 percent. List of oldest companies Official site in English Storebrand Norwegian website
25.
Subsea 7
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Subsea 7 S. A. is a subsea engineering, construction and services company serving the offshore energy industry. The company is registered in Luxembourg with its headquarters in London in the United Kingdom, the company was formed by the January 2011 combination of its two predecessor companies, Acergy S. A. and Subsea 7, Inc. Acergy was founded in 1970 as Stolt Nielsen Seaway, a division of the Norwegian Stolt-Nielsen Group offering divers for the exploration of the North Sea. After a series of acquisitions, including Comex Services of France in 1992 and Houston, Texas-based Ceanic Corporation in 1998, five years later Stolt-Nielsen spun out the company as an independent business listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. The firm renamed as Acergy in March 2006, halliburton exited the joint venture in November 2014. The company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in August 2005 following its restructuring the same year, on June 21,2010 the combination of Acergy S. A. and Subsea 7 Inc. was announced and was completed on January 7,2011. The new entity took the Subsea 7 name while retaining Acergys Luxembourg domicile, the chairman and chief executive roles were filled by Kristian Siem and Jean Cahuzac, who had previously held the same roles at Subsea 7 and Acergy respectively. The current world headquarters for Subsea 7 are located at 200 Hammersmith Road, angola Australia Brazil Canada Egypt France Ghana Indonesia Luxembourg Mexico Malaysia Mozambique Nigeria Norway Portugal Russia Singapore USA United Kingdom Official website
26.
Telenor
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Telenor Group is a Norwegian mostly government-owned multinational telecommunications company headquartered at Fornebu in Bærum, close to Oslo. It is one of the worlds largest mobile telecommunications companies with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and it has extensive broadband and TV distribution operations in four Nordic Countries, and a 10-year-old research and business line for Machine-to-Machine technology. Telenor owns networks in 13 countries, and has operations in 29 countries if their 33% ownership in VimpelCom Ltd is included, Telenor started off in 1855 as a state-operated monopoly provider of telegraph services named Telegrafverket. Televerket began by connecting Christiania to Sweden as well as Christiania, by 1857 the telegraph had reached Bergen on the west coast via Sørlandet on the south coast, and by 1871 it had reached Kirkenes on the far north coast. Cable connections were opened to Denmark in 1867 and to Great Britain in 1869, the telegraph was most important for the merchant marine who now could use the electric telegraph to instantly communicate between different locations, and get a whole new advantage within logistics. The first telephone service in Norway was offered in 1878 between Arendal and Tvedestrand, while the first international service between Christiania and Stockholm was offered in 1893. Automation of the system was started in 1920 and completed in 1985. In 1946 the first Telex service was offered, and in 1976 satellite telephone connections to oil platforms in the North Sea were installed, in 1980 the first steps to digitalise the telephone network were taken. Televerket opened its first manual telephone system in 1966, being replaced with the automatic NMT system in 1981. Norway was the first country in Europe to get a mobile telephone system. The digital GSM system came into use in 1993, the third generation of mobile technology with UMTS system began full operation 2004. The Opera web browser was created in 1994 by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, Opera Software was established in 1995 after the pair went on to continue development of their browser. Telenor and Huawei Conducted a Successful Test of 5G with 70 Gbps Speeds in Lab environment. The corporation changed its name to Televerket in 1969, in 1994, the then Norwegian Telecom was established as a public corporation. The authorities wanted to deregulate the telecom sector in Norway, an attempt to merge Telenor with its counterpart in Sweden, Telia, failed in 1999, while both still were owned by their respective governments. On December 4,2000 the company was privatised and listed on Oslo Stock Exchange. The privatisation gave the company NOK15,6 billion in new capital, as of 2014, the Norwegian government holds 53. 97% of the Telenor shares directly and another 4. 66% through the Pension Fund. Operations in Greece, Ireland and Germany were sold in 1999/2000, in October 2005 Telenor acquired Vodafone Sweden, changing the name to Telenor in April 2006. On 31 July 2006, Telenor acquired 100 per cent share of mobile operator Mobi 63, Telenor offers a full range of telecommunication services in Norway, including mobile and fixed telephony as well as Internet access and content
27.
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company
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TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company, referred to as TGS and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, was founded by a 1998 merger of TGS, Calibre Geophysical Co. Inc, and NOPEC International ASA founded in 1981, with headquarters in Oslo. The Company is led by CEO Robert Hobbs and has based in cities around the globe with main offices located in Oslo, Calgary, Houston, London. TGS provides multi- client geoscience data to oil and gas Exploration and Production companies worldwide through our product lines, multi-client geophysical data, multi-client geological data, and imaging services. TGS’s data management receives, inventories, and stores seismic data tapes and materials for multi-client 2D, list of Norwegian companies www. tgs. com, the companys official website
28.
Yara International
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Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. Its largest business area is the production of fertilizer, however it also encompasses the production of nitrates, ammonia, urea. The company was established in 1905 as Norsk Hydro – the world’s first producer of nitrogen fertilizers –. Yara is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has its headquarters in Oslo, the company has around 13,000 employees, production sites on six continents, operations in more than 50 countries and sales to about 150 countries. The Norwegian government owns more than a third of Yara and is its largest shareholder, the company has three primary areas of activity, - Industrial products, a wide range of nitrogen and specialty chemicals and civil explosive solutions. - Environmental solutions, solutions for NOx abatement, odor control, water treatment, - Agricultural products, complete portfolio of fertilizers and solutions, covering all necessary nutrients for any crop. Crop Nutrition, Sales, marketing and distribution activities around the globe, Industrial, development and processing of environmental solutions and industrial activities. Supply Chain, optimization of energy, raw materials, sourcing, logistics, the history of Yara dates back to the founding of modern Norwegian industry. Norsk Hydro was founded by Sam Eyde, who ”brought the vision”, Kristian Birkeland, who ”brought the science”, and Marcus Wallenberg, Norsk Hydro used Norway’s large hydroelectric-energy resources to produce its first product. The company pioneered direct nitrogen fixation, called the Birkeland-Eyde process and this contribution to the fertilizer market attracted global attention as the product enabled farmers to boost their yields. Hydrolectric power was, as mentioned, essential in order to produce the nitrogen fertilizer, as a consequence, the company built two major power plants – one at Notodden, and one in Rjukan. The company adopted an international perspective early, sending its first shipment to China in 1913, Norsk Hydro was founded on advanced research and driven by a need to diversify and develop new industries. The production of fertilizer was successful, and the company expanded into other businesses such as oil. In 1969, Norsk Hydro entered into its first joint venture, with access to a competitive source of gas and a strategic location in the Middle East, the joint venture opened up a global market for the company. Norsk Hydro in the 1970s was shaped under the leadership of Johan Berthin Holte, by the 1970s, the company was established in Asia, the Middle East and North America. The late 1970s to the mid-1980s was a period of growth, through the acquisition of major fertilizer companies in France, Germany, the Netherlands. At the end of the 1990s, the company was established in Brazil. In 2004, Hydro Agri de-merged from Norsk Hydro and became an independent company called Yara International ASA, the company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on March 25,2004 and is a leading producer of ammonia, nitrates, nitrogen products, and NPK specialty fertilizers
29.
History of Norway
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The history of Norway has been influenced to an extraordinary degree by the terrain and the climate of the region. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat of the inland ice sheets. They traveled steadily northwards along the areas, warmed by the Gulf Stream. In order to survive they fished and hunted reindeer, between 5,000 BC and 4,000 BC the earliest agricultural settlements appeared around the Oslofjord. Gradually, between 1500 BC and 500 BC, these agricultural settlements spread into the areas of Norway - whilst the inhabitants of the northern regions continued to hunt. The Neolithic period started 4000 BC, the Migration Period caused the first chieftains to take control and the first defenses to be made. From the last decades of the 8th century Norwegians started expanding across the seas to the British Isles, the Viking Age also saw the unification of the country. Christianization took place during the 11th century and Nidaros became an archdiocese, the population expanded quickly until 1349 when it was halved by the Black Death and successive plagues. Bergen became the trading port, controlled by the Hanseatic League. Norway entered the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden in 1397, after Sweden left the union in 1523, Norway became the junior partner in Denmark–Norway. The Reformation was introduced in 1537 and absolute monarchy imposed in 1661, in 1814 Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden by the Treaty of Kiel. Norway declared its independence and adopted a a constitution, however, no foreign powers recognized the Norwegian independence but supported the Swedish demand for Norway to comply with the treaty of Kiel. The union was established after the extraordinary Storting adopted the necessary amendments to the Constitution. Industrialization started in the 1840s and from the 1860s large-scale emigration to North America took place, in 1884 the king appointed Johan Sverdrup as prime minister, thus establishing parliamentarism. The union with Sweden was dissolved in 1905, from the 1880s to the 1920s, Norwegians such as Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen carried out a series of important polar expeditions. Shipping and hydroelectricity were important sources of income for the country, the following decades saw a fluctuating economy and the rise of the labor movement. Germany occupied Norway between 1940 and 1945 during the Second World War, after which Norway joined NATO and underwent a period of reconstruction under public planning, Oil was discovered in 1969 and by 1995 Norway was the worlds second-largest exporter. This resulted in an increase of wealth
30.
Nordic Stone Age
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The Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia. As the ice receded, reindeer grazed on the plains of Denmark and southernmost Sweden, while along the coast of western Sweden, marine resources were exploited. This was the land of the Ahrensburg culture and preceding Hamburg culture, tribes who hunted over territories 100,000 km² vast, on this land there was little forest but arctic white birch and rowan, but the taiga slowly appeared. In the 7th millennium BCE, the climate in Scandinavia was warming as it transitioned from the former Boreal age to the Atlantic period, reindeer and their hunters had already migrated and inhabited the lands of northern Scandinavia, and forests had established. A culture called the Maglemosian culture lived in the areas of Denmark, to the north, in Norway and along the coast of western Sweden, the Fosna-Hensbacka culture was living mostly in changing seasonal camps along the shores and close to the now thriving forests. Utilizing fire, boats and stone tools, these Stone Age tribal cultures managed to survive in northern Europe, the northern hunter-gatherers followed the herds and the salmon runs, moving south during the winters, moving north again during the summers. During the 6th millennium BCE, the climate of Scandinavia was generally warmer and more humid than today, large animals like aurochs, wisent, moose and red deer roamed freely in the forests and was hunting game for tribes of what we now call the Kongemose culture. Like their predecessors, the Kongemose tribes also hunted animals such as seals. North of the Kongemose people, lived other hunter-gatherers in most of southern Norway and Sweden, now dubbed the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures, descendants of the Fosna and Hensbacka cultures. During the 5th millennium BCE, the Ertebølle people learned pottery from neighbouring tribes in the south, soon, they too started to cultivate the land and, ca 4000 BCE, they became part of the megalithic Funnelbeaker culture. During the 4th millennium BCE, these Funnelbeaker tribes expanded into Sweden up to Uppland, the Nøstvet and Lihult tribes learned new technology from the advancing farmers, but not agriculture, and became the Pitted Ware cultures, towards the end of the 4th millennium BCE. At least one settlement appears to be mixed, the Alvastra pile-dwelling and this new people advanced up to Uppland and the Oslofjord, and they probably provided the language that was the ancestor of the modern Scandinavian languages. These new tribes were individualistic and clearly patriarchal with the axe as a status symbol. They were cattle herders and with them most of southern Scandinavia entered the Neolithic, however, soon a new invention would arrive, that would usher in a time of cultural advance in Scandinavia, the Bronze Age
31.
Petty kingdoms of Norway
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The petty kingdoms of Norway were the entities from which the later Kingdom of Norway was founded. Before the unification of Norway in 872 and during the period of fragmentation after King Harald Fairhairs death Norway was divided in small kingdoms. Some could have been as small as a cluster of villages, by the time of the first historical records of Scandinavia, about the 8th century, a number of small political entities existed in Norway. The exact number is unknown, and would probably also fluctuate with time and it has been estimated that there were 9 petty realms in Western Norway during the early Viking age. Archaeologist Bergljot Solberg on this basis estimates that there would have been at least 20 in the whole country, there are no written source from this time to tell us the title used by these rulers, or the exact borders between their realms. The main written sources we have on this period, the sagas, were not written until the 12th and 13th centuries. While they were in part based on poems, and possibly on oral tradition. The sagas, most notable of which is Heimskringla, often refer to the petty rulers as konungr, the rulers of all the areas might be called petty kings, herser, subkings, kings or jarls depending on the source. A number of communities were gradually organised into larger regions in the 9th century. Many of the kingdoms would later become jarldoms under the Norwegian high king. Below follows an incomplete list of petty kingdoms of Norway and their known rulers, most of the people mentioned in this list are legendary or semi-legendary. Some of the areas might have a status as petty kingdoms. Kjotve the Rich, late 9th century Harald Grenske, 976–987 Might also be called Firda or Firdafylke, Rulers, Alrek Eiriksson early 600s Hrolf or Bergi Svåsason Solvi Hrolfson Kaun Solvason Eirik King of Hordaland late 800s Rulers, Saeming Thrand Gudlog 480s. -ca. C.600 Jossur Ingjaldsson fl mid 600s Hjor Jossurasson fl, 700s Hjorleif Hjorsson the Fornicator fl. mid-late 700s Halfur Hjorleifsson Hjor Halfsson. -870 Geirmundur Hjorarsson Rulers, Raum the Old legendary Jötunbjörn the Old son of Raum Raum Hrossbjörn Orm Broken-shell Knatti Thórolf, Rulers, Halfdan Hvitbeinn The status of Telemark as a kingdom has been contested by some historians. Olaf Gudrødsson Ruled half the kingdom, archaeologists have made finds of richly endowed burials in the area around the estuary of the river Glomma, at Onsøy, Rolvsøy and Tune, where the remains of a ship, the Tune ship, was found. This indicates that there was a center of power in this area, there are indications that at least the southern part of this area was under Danish rule in the late 9th century
32.
Viking Age
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The Viking Age is the period from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, following the Germanic Iron Age. It is the period of history when Scandinavian Norsemen explored Europe by its seas and rivers for trade, raids, colonisation and conquest. Three Viking ships had beached in Weymouth Bay four years earlier, the Viking devastation of Northumbrias Holy Island was reported by the Northumbrian scholar Alcuin of York, who wrote, Never before in Britain has such a terror appeared. Vikings were portrayed as violent and bloodthirsty by their enemies. The chronicles of medieval England portrayed them as rapacious wolves among sheep, the first challenges to the many anti-Viking images in Britain emerged in the 17th century. Pioneering scholarly works on the Viking Age reached a readership in Britain. Archaeologists began to dig up Britains Viking past, linguistics traced the Viking-Age origins of rural idioms and proverbs. New dictionaries of the Old Norse language enabled more Victorians to read the Icelandic Sagas, the Vikings who invaded western and eastern Europe were chiefly pagans from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. They also settled in the Faroe Islands, Ireland, Iceland, peripheral Scotland, Greenland and their North Germanic language, Old Norse, became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 801, a central authority appears to have been established in Jutland. In Norway, mountainous terrain and fjords formed strong natural boundaries, communities there remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, some 30 small kingdoms existed in Norway, the sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the 8th century that Scandinavians began to build ships of war, the North Sea rovers were traders, colonisers and explorers as well as plunderers. There are various theories concerning the causes of the Viking invasions, for people living along the coast, it would seem natural to seek new land by the sea. Another reason was that during this period England, Wales and Ireland, the Franks, however, had well-defended coasts and heavily fortified ports and harbours. Pure thirst for adventure may also have been a factor, a reason for the raids is believed by some to be over-population caused by technological advances, such as the use of iron, or a shortage of women due to selective female infanticide. Although another cause could well have been caused by the Frankish expansion to the south of Scandinavia. Consequently, these Vikings became raiders, in search of subsistence, There is ongoing debate among scholars as to why the Scandinavians began to expand during the 8th through 11th centuries
33.
Hereditary Kingdom of Norway
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The Kingdom of Norway as a unified realm was initiated by King Harald I Fairhair in the 9th century. His efforts in unifying the petty kingdoms of Norway, resulted in the first known Norwegian central government, the country however fragmented soon, and was collected into one entity in the first half of the 11th century. Norway has been a monarchy since then, passing through several eras, thus was born the medieval kingdom of Norway, the realm of the Fairhair dynasty. According to the view, Norway was the hereditary kingdom of this dynasty. The throne was inherited by all of Haralds male descendants after year 872, in the 13th century, the kingdom was officially declared hereditary by law, contrary to the other Scandinavian monarchies which were elective kingdoms in the Middle Ages. Harald Fairhair was the first king of Norway, as opposed to in 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. Harald Fairhair unified Norway, at least the coastal areas north to Trøndelag, after his death, the fragmentation back into petty kingdoms happened almost instantly. However, most of them were now in the hands of Haralds putative sons, although there were districts in the hands of other dynasties, the concept of a central power on an hereditary basis had come into existence. It remains uncertain whether Norway can be defined as an hereditary kingdom even after the successions of Eric I of Norway and Haakon I of Norway, sons of Fairhair himself. Some historians put emphasis on the actual control over the country and assert that St. Olav. Olav is traditionally held to be the force behind Norways final conversion to Christianity. He was later revered as Rex Perpetuum Norvegiæ. The Fairhair dynasty can, however, be seen as an artificial construct, adherents of this proposal consider Harald Hardråde to be the actual dynastic founder. This claim has won wide, but not universal, acceptance among historians and it is a disputed question whether Harald Hardråde himself actually claimed inheritance from Harald Fairhair, or whether this claim was constructed later by his descendants. From our sources, it seems reasonable to assume that Olav II and Harald Hardråde were half-brothers, with a common mother, descent from the same mother was not in Germanic understanding a proper dynastic tie, and Harald Hardrådes supporters did not base his rights and claims on that. Instead, Harald Hardrådes father was supposedly a descendent, in male line. The same has been claimed regarding Olav IIs line, to researchers, one or perhaps both of these somewhat obscure male-line descents may be legendary. Research has generally shown a tendency to create a prestigious past to the country
34.
Kalmar Union
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The Union was not quite continuous, there were several short interruptions. Legally the countries remained separate sovereign states, but with their domestic, one main impetus for its formation was to block German expansion northward into the Baltic region. The main reason for its failure to survive was the struggle between the monarch, who wanted a strong unified state, and the Swedish and Danish nobility which did not. Diverging interests gave rise to a conflict that would hamper the union in several intervals from the 1430s until its breakup in 1523 when Gustav Vasa became king of Sweden. Norway continued to remain a part of the realm of Denmark–Norway under the Oldenburg dynasty for nearly three centuries until its dissolution in 1814. Then Union between Sweden and Norway lasted until 1905, when a grandson of the incumbent king of Denmark was elected its king, the union was the work of Scandinavian aristocracy wishing to counter the influence of the Hanseatic League. Margaret, a daughter of King Valdemar IV of Denmark, married King Haakon VI of Norway and Sweden, Margaret succeeded in having her son Olav recognized as heir to the throne of Denmark. In 1376 Olav inherited the crown of Denmark from his grandfather as King Oluf III, with his mother as guardian. The two kingdoms were united in a union under a child king, with the kings mother as his guardian, later. On 2 February the next year, she was recognized as regent of Norway. Their common enemy was the Hanseatic League and the growing German influence over the Scandinavian economy. The Nordic union was established on 17 June 1397 by the Treaty of Kalmar, signed in the Swedish castle of Kalmar on Swedens south-east coast, at each junction, installation of a new monarch tended to mean a break-up of the union for a while. Eric of Pomerania, however, became the monarch of all three kingdoms, at Kalmar, the 15-year-old Eric of Pomerania was crowned king of all three kingdoms by the archbishops of Denmark and Sweden, but Margaret managed to remain in control until her death in 1412. It is said that contemporaries of the Union would not recognize the term, Union of Kalmar—that they just understood that much of the time. While the term meaning Treaty of Kalmar was known already at the time, the Swedes were not happy with the Danes frequent wars on Schleswig, Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Pomerania, which were a disturbance to Swedish exports to the European continent. Furthermore, the centralization of government in Denmark raised suspicions, the Swedish Privy Council wanted to retain a fair degree of self-government. The unity of the union eroded after the Danish defeat against the German Hanseatic League in the 1430s, even to the point of armed rebellion, erik was deposed as the union king and was succeeded by his nephew, the childless Christopher of Bavaria. In the power vacuum that arose following Christophers death, Sweden elected Charles VIII king with the intent to reestablish the union under a Swedish king, during the next seven decades struggle for power and the wars between Sweden and Denmark would dominate the union
35.
Kingdom of Norway (1814)
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1814 was a pivotal year in the history of the Kingdom of Norway. It started with Norway in a union with Denmark, subject to a blockade by The British Empire. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway independent, by the end of the year the Norwegian parliament had agreed to join with Sweden in a personal union under the monarch of Sweden. Although nationalist aspirations were not to be realized until the events of 1905,1814 was the crisis. The year contains the story of one king and two future kings in Scandinavia who may have hoped to unite Sweden, Denmark. The Norwegian people and their leaders were caught in the middle of this rivalry, denmark–Norway had become entangled on the French side in the Napoleonic War through its participation in the Gunboat War. Having lost its fleet, it was virtually defenceless as the tides turned against France, the British Royal Navy had blocked all Norwegian ports effectively from 1808, thus breaking many bonds to Denmark, and leaving Norway to itself. Under those conditions, tension grew in Norway, and an independence movement was formed in 1809. The Swedish campaign against Norway in 1808-09 had been repulsed by the Norwegian army, the years of 1812 and 1813 were known for severe famine due to the blockade, and the hardships were long remembered in Norway. In addition, he was to join the allied powers in their fight against Napoleon, secret correspondence from the British government in the preceding days had put pressure on the negotiating parties to reach an agreement to avoid a full-scale invasion of Denmark. The letter instructed him to deliver the Norwegian fortresses to Swedish forces, the public were informed of the peace treaty on 26 January through a censored article in the newspaper Tiden, under the headline. It did not clearly convey the fact that the king had ceded his kingdom to the king of Sweden, historically the enemy of Norway. As there was the annual February market in Christiania at the time, a local priest observed that the entire marketplace swirled with rumours of the treaty. As news spread, it was apparent to many Norwegian intellectuals that the people were offended by the treaty, the King had been informed of these plans in a secret letter of December 1813. The Prince had also instructed to keep the union with Denmark intact. In Norway, the sentiment was that Norway had been out to Sweden. These so-called Prince notes were necessary to keep the wheels of government turning, but they contributed to the already chaotic monetary situation, the cause of the financial crisis was the refusal of King Frederick VI to establish a Bank of Norway. Christian Frederick decided to claim the throne of Norway as rightful heir, the week prior to January 30, the prince toured parts of Norway and found the same real or false willingness to fight everywhere he came
36.
Union between Sweden and Norway
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The Norwegian government was presided over by viceroys, Swedes until 1829, Norwegians until 1856. That office was vacant and then abolished in 1873. Foreign policy was conducted through the Swedish foreign ministry until the dissolution of the union in 1905, by the 1814 Treaty of Kiel, the King of Denmark-Norway was forced to cede Norway to the King of Sweden. But Norway refused to submit to the treaty provisions, declared independence, after the adoption of the new Constitution of Norway on 17 May 1814, Prince Christian Frederick was elected king. On 4 November the Storting elected Charles XIII as the King of Norway, Sweden accepted the unions dissolution on 26 October. After a plebiscite confirming the election of Danish Prince Carl as the new king of Norway, he accepted the Stortings offer of the throne on 18 November and took the regnal name of Haakon VII. After the establishment of absolutism in 1660, a centralised form of government was established. The united kingdoms are referred to as Denmark-Norway by later historians, the ambitious wars waged by king Charles XII, however, led to the loss of that status after the Great Northern War, 1700–1721. Sweden also invaded Norway in 1567,1644,1658 and 1716, to wrest the country away from the union with Denmark, the repeated wars and invasions led to popular resentment against Sweden among Norwegians. During the 18th century, Norway enjoyed a period of great prosperity, the biggest growth industry was the export of planks, with Great Britain as the chief market. Some members of the aristocracy saw Sweden as a more natural partner. Around 1800, many prominent Norwegians secretly favoured a break with Denmark and their undeclared leader was Count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg. The Swedish policy during the period was to cultivate contacts in Norway. King Gustav III actively approached circles in Norway that might favour a union with Sweden instead of Denmark, such endeavours on both sides of the border toward a rapprochement were far from realistic before the Napoleonic Wars created conditions that caused political upheavals in Scandinavia. Sweden and Denmark-Norway tried to remain neutral during the Napoleonic wars, both countries joined Russia and Prussia in a League of Armed Neutrality in 1800. Denmark-Norway was forced to withdraw from the League after the British raid on the navy during the first Battle of Copenhagen in April 1801, the league collapsed after the assassination of Tsar Paul I of Russia in 1801. Denmark-Norway was compelled into an alliance with France after the British preemptive second attack on the Danish navy, the defenceless capital had to surrender the navy after heavy bombardment, because the army was at the southern border to defend it against a possible French attack. As Sweden in the meantime had sided with the British, Denmark-Norway was forced by Napoleon to declare war on Sweden on 29 February 1808
