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.
Mountain
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A mountain is a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. A mountain is steeper than a hill. Mountains are formed through tectonic forces or volcanism and these forces can locally raise the surface of the earth. Mountains erode slowly through the action of rivers, weather conditions, a few mountains are isolated summits, but most occur in huge mountain ranges. High elevations on mountains produce colder climates than at sea level and these colder climates strongly affect the ecosystems of mountains, different elevations have different plants and animals. Because of the less hospitable terrain and climate, mountains tend to be used less for agriculture and more for resource extraction and recreation, the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest in the Himalayas of Asia, whose summit is 8,850 m above mean sea level. The highest known mountain on any planet in the Solar System is Olympus Mons on Mars at 21,171 m, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain. Elevation, volume, relief, steepness, spacing and continuity have been used as criteria for defining a mountain, whether a landform is called a mountain may depend on local usage. The highest point in San Francisco, California, is called Mount Davidson, notwithstanding its height of 300 m, similarly, Mount Scott outside Lawton, Oklahoma is only 251 m from its base to its highest point. Whittows Dictionary of Physical Geography states Some authorities regard eminences above 600 metres as mountains, in addition, some definitions also include a topographical prominence requirement, typically 100 or 500 feet. For a while, the US defined a mountain as being 1,000 feet or taller, any similar landform lower than this height was considered a hill. However, today, the United States Geological Survey concludes that these terms do not have technical definitions in the US, using these definitions, mountains cover 33% of Eurasia, 19% of South America, 24% of North America, and 14% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the Earths land mass is mountainous, there are three main types of mountains, volcanic, fold, and block. All three types are formed from plate tectonics, when portions of the Earths crust move, crumple, compressional forces, isostatic uplift and intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upward, creating a landform higher than the surrounding features. The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher and steeper, major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs, indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Volcanoes are formed when a plate is pushed below another plate, at a depth of around 100 km, melting occurs in rock above the slab, and forms magma that reaches the surface. When the magma reaches the surface, it builds a volcanic mountain. Examples of volcanoes include Mount Fuji in Japan and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, the magma does not have to reach the surface in order to create a mountain, magma that solidifies below ground can still form dome mountains, such as Navajo Mountain in the US
3.
Church of Norway
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The Church of Norway, from 2017 called the Peoples Church, is a Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity that serves as the peoples church and the largest church in Norway. The church was established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark–Norway in 1536–1537 broke ties with the Holy See, the church professes the Lutheran Christian faith, with its foundation on the Bible, the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian Creeds, Luthers Small Catechism and the Augsburg Confession. The church is a member of the Porvoo Communion with 12 other churches and it has also signed some other ecumenical texts, including the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification with the Roman Catholic Church. Until 1969, the name for administrative purposes was simply the State Church or sometimes just the Church. While the church remains state-funded and integrated in the administration with a special constitutional role, it is largely self-governing in doctrinal matters. On 27 May,2016, Stortinget passed a new bill that establishes the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity rather than a branch of the civil service, the Church of Norway officially ceased to be the state church on January 1,2017. Until 1845 the Church of Norway was the only religious organization in Norway. Dissenterloven was a passed by the Storting on 16 July 1845 that allowed the establishment of alternative religious bodies. This bill was in 1969 replaced by Lov om trudomssamfunn og ymist anna, until 2012 the constitutional head of the church was the King of Norway, who is obliged to profess himself a Lutheran. After the constitutional amendment of May 21,2012, the church is self-governed with regard to doctrinal issues, bishops and priests are civil servants also after the 2012 constitutional reform. Each parish has an autonomous administration, the state itself does not administer church buildings, buildings and adjacent land instead belong to the parish as an independent public institution. The Minister of Church Affairs, Trond Giske, was responsible for proposing the 2012 amendments, the church itself explained that, In 2012 the Parliament changed the constitution such that Norway no longer has a public religion. The Church of Norway can accordingly no longer be labeled as state church, a bill passed in 2016 created the Church of Norway as an independent legal entity, effective from 1 January 2017. The church has a structure, with 1,284 parishes,106 deaneries,11 dioceses and since 2 October 2011. The dioceses are – according to the rank of the five historic sees and then according to age, Nidaros, seated in Trondheim, bishops, Presiding Bishop of Nidaros and Bishop of Nidaros Cathedral Deanery Helga Haugland Byfuglien, Bishop of Nidaros Tor Singsaas. Bjørgvin, seated in Bergen, covering the counties of Hordaland, Oslo, seated in Oslo, covering Oslo and parts of the county of Akershus. Stavanger, seated in Stavanger, covering the county of Rogaland, Hamar, seated in Hamar, covering the counties of Hedmark and Oppland. Nord-Hålogaland, seated in Tromsø, covering the counties of Troms and Finnmark, agder og Telemark, seated in Kristiansand, covering the counties of Vest-Agder, Aust-Agder and Telemark
4.
Trondheim
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Trondheim, historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It has a population of 187,353, and is the third most populous municipality in Norway and it is the third largest city in the country, with a population of 169,972 inhabitants within the city borders. The city functions as the centre of Sør-Trøndelag county. Trondheim lies on the shore of Trondheim Fjord at the mouth of the river Nidelva. The settlement was founded in 997 as a trading post, from 1152 to 1537, the city was the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros, since then, it has remained the seat of the Lutheran Diocese of Nidaros and the Nidaros Cathedral. The current municipality dates from 1964, when Trondheim merged with Byneset, Leinstrand, Strinda, for the ecclesiastical history, see Archiepiscopate of Nidaros Trondheim was named Kaupangen by Viking King Olav Tryggvason in 997. Shortly thereafter it came to be called Nidaros, in the beginning it was frequently used as a military retainer of King Olav I. It was frequently used as the seat of the king, and was the capital of Norway until 1217, people have been living in the region for thousands of years as evidenced by the rock carvings in central Norway, the Nøstvet and Lihult cultures and the Corded Ware culture. In ancient times, the Kings of Norway were hailed at Øretinget in Trondheim, Harald Fairhair was hailed as the king here, as was his son, Haakon I, called the Good. The battle of Kalvskinnet took place in Trondheim in 1179, King Sverre Sigurdsson, some scholars believe that the famous Lewis chessmen, 12th-century chess pieces carved from walrus ivory found in the Hebrides and now at the British Museum, may have been made in Trondheim. Trondheim was the seat of the Archdiocese of Nidaros for Norway from 1152, due to the introduction of Lutheran Protestantism in 1537, the last Archbishop, Olav Engelbrektsson, had to flee from the city to the Netherlands, where he died in present-day Lier, Belgium. The city has experienced major fires. Since much of the city was made of wooden buildings, many of the fires caused severe damage. Great fires ravaged the city in 1598,1651,1681,1708, twice in 1717,1742,1788,1841 and 1842, however, the 1651 fire destroyed 90% of all buildings within the city limits. The fire in 1681 led to an almost total reconstruction of the city, overseen by General Johan Caspar von Cicignon, broad avenues like Munkegaten were created, with no regard for property rights, in order to stop the next fire. At the time, the city had a population of roughly 8000 inhabitants, after the Treaty of Roskilde on 26 February 1658, Trondheim and the rest of Trøndelag, became Swedish territory for a brief period, but the area was reconquered 10 months later. The conflict was settled by the Treaty of Copenhagen on 27 May 1660. During World War II, Trondheim was occupied by Nazi Germany from 9 April 1940, the home of the most notorious Norwegian Gestapo agent, Henry Rinnan, was in Trondheim
5.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
6.
Grong
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Grong is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, the administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Medjå. Other villages in the municipality include Bergsmoen, Formofoss, Gartland, Grong was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1901, the district of Høylandet was separated from Grong to form its own municipality. On 1 January 1923, the district of Røyrvik, the northwestern district of Namsskogan. This left a smaller municipality of Grong with only 1,272 residents. On 1 January 1964, the municipality of Harran was merged back into Grong, the municipality is named after the old Grong farm, since the first church was built there. The first element is grǫn which means spruce and the last element is the form of the suffix -ungr. The coat-of-arms is from modern times, they were granted on 6 February 1987, the arms show three green triangles on a silver/gray background. The green triangles represent spruce trees, making them canting arms, the name is supposedly derived from Granungar. The number three symbolizes the three villages in the municipality, Harran, Bergsmoen, and Medjå. The Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Grong and it is part of the Namdal deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros. Grong is located along the river Namsen in the Namdalen valley, two major tributaries of the Namsen flow through Grong too, the river Sanddøla and the river Neselva. The Bangsjøene lakes lie at the southern border with Snåsa. The Blåfjella–Skjækerfjella National Park covers a part of the southeastern part of Grong. The municipality is governed by a council of elected representatives. The municipal council of Grong is made up of 17 representatives that are elected to four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows, The European route E6 highway follows the river Namsen across the municipality, the two main stations on the Nordland Line are Grong Station in Medjå and Harran Station in Harran
7.
Steinkjer
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Steinkjer is a city and municipality in the Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad region, the city is located on the inner part of the Trondheim fjord. Steinkjer is the largest city in the county, and the municipality is the countys second-most populous after it was passed by Stjørdal in 2008, the city is also the administrative place of Nord-Trøndelag County Council. Other populated areas in Steinkjer include the villages of Bartnes, Beitstad, Binde, Byafossen, Følling, Kvam, Lerkehaug, Mære, Sparbu, Sunnan, Vassaunet, Vekre, and Vellamelen. The village of Steinkjer in the municipality of Stod was declared a town in 1857, the initial population of Steinkjer was 1,150. Over time as the town grew, land was annexed from the neighboring municipalities and it started on 1 January 1902 when an unpopulated area from Ogndal was taken for future growth of Steinkjer. Then in 1941, an area was taken from Ogndal to add to Steinkjer, again in 1948, an area was transferred from Ogndal and another area was transferred from Egge. The town is named after the old Steinkjer farm, since it is built on its ground, the first element is steinn which means stone or rock. The last element is ker which means a barrier made for catching fish, the coat-of-arms is from modern times, they were granted on 8 March 1957. The arms show a star with six points on a blue background. The original meaning of the star was that six main roads crossed in Steinkjer, after the municipal reorganization, the arms were re-granted, but the meaning has slightly changed. Steinkjer now formed the centre of the municipality and the points are directed to the six districts in the municipality, Beitstad, Egge, Kvam, Ogndal, Sparbu. The Church of Norway has nine parishes within the municipality of Steinkjer and it is part of the Nord-Innherad deanery and the Diocese of Nidaros. The Steinkjer area has been populated since the Stone Age, as shown by the Bølareinen rock carving, which depicts an almost life-sized reindeer, there are other rock carvings in the area as well, as in Bardal, the oldest up to 6,000 years old. The Steinkjer area was one of the strongest powerbases in early Viking age, Mære was one of the best known Norse religious places with sacrifices and seasonal gatherings before Christianity came to Norway. Steinkjer has survived two major disasters in modern history, the first was a town-wide fire in the year 1900, which burned down much of the southern parts of the town. The second disaster happened on 21 and 22 April 1940, when the town was struck by Luftwaffe bombers during the Norwegian Campaign, most of the town was destroyed, but no lives were lost. This attack destroyed a part of Steinkjer, and many priceless historical buildings were lost
8.
Coat of arms
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A coat of arms is an heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to a person, family, state. The ancient Romans used similar insignia on their shields, but these identified military units rather than individuals, the first evidence of medieval coats of arms has been attributed to the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry in which some of the combatants carry shields painted with crosses. However, that heraldic interpretation remains controversial, coats of arms came into general use by feudal lords and knights in battle in the 12th century. By the 13th century, arms had spread beyond their initial battlefield use to become a flag or emblem for families in the social classes of Europe. Exactly who had a right to use arms, by law or social convention, in the German-speaking regions both the aristocracy and burghers used arms, while in most of the rest of Europe they were limited to the aristocracy. The use of spread to the clergy, to towns as civic identifiers. Flags developed from coats of arms, and the arts of vexillology, the coats of arms granted to commercial companies are a major source of the modern logo. Despite no widespread regulation, heraldry has remained consistent across Europe, some nations, like England and Scotland, still maintain the same heraldic authorities which have traditionally granted and regulated arms for centuries and continue to do so in the present day. In England, for example, the granting of arms is and has controlled by the College of Arms. Unlike seals and other emblems, heraldic achievements have a formal description called a blazon. Many societies exist that also aid in the design and registration of personal arms, in the heraldic traditions of England and Scotland, an individual, rather than a family, had a coat of arms. In those traditions coats of arms are legal property transmitted from father to son, wives, undifferenced arms are used only by one person at any given time. Other descendants of the bearer could bear the ancestral arms only with some difference. One such charge is the label, which in British usage is now always the mark of an apparent or an heir presumptive. Because of their importance in identification, particularly in seals on legal documents and this has been carried out by heralds and the study of coats of arms is therefore called heraldry. In time, the use of arms spread from military entities to educational institutes, the author Helen Stuart argues that some coats of arms were a form of corporate logo
9.
Labour Party (Norway)
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The Labour Party, formerly the Norwegian Labour Party, is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It was formerly the senior partner of the governing Red-Green Coalition, the party is currently led by Jonas Gahr Støre. The Labour Party is officially committed to social-democratic ideals and its slogan since the 1930s has been everyone shall take part, and the party traditionally seeks a strong welfare state, funded through taxes and duties. During the first Stoltenberg government, the policies were inspired by Tony Blairs New Labour. The party has frequently described as increasingly neoliberal since the 1980s. The Labour Party profiles itself as a party that subscribes to cooperation on a national as well as international level. Its youth wing is the Workers Youth League, the party is a full member of the Party of European Socialists and Progressive Alliance, and is an observer member of the Socialist International. The Labour Party has always been a supporter of Norways NATO membership and has supported Norwegian membership in the European Union during two referendums. Founded in 1887, the party increased in support until it became the largest party in Norway in 1927. This year also saw the consolidation of surrounding the party during the 1920s following its membership in the Comintern from 1919 to 1923. It formed its first government in 1928, and has led the government for all but 16 years since 1935, from 1945 to 1961, the party had an absolute majority in the Norwegian parliament, the only time this has ever happened in Norwegian history. The domination by the Labour Party, during the 1960s and early 1970s, was broken by competition from the left. From the end of the 1970s however, the party started to lose voters to the right, in 2001 the party achieved its worst electoral results since 1924. Between 2005 and 2013, Labour returned to power after committing to an agreement with other parties in order to form a majority government. Since losing 9 seats in the 2013 election, Labour has been in opposition, the party was founded in 1887 in Arendal and first ran in elections to the Parliament of Norway in 1894. It entered Parliament in 1904 after the 1903 election, and steadily increased its vote until 1927, the party were members of Comintern, a Communist organisation, between 1918 and 1923. From the establishment of Vort Arbeide in 1884, the party had a growing and notable organisation of newspapers, the party press system eventually resulted in Norsk Arbeiderpresse. In January 1913 the party had 24 newspapers, and 6 more newspapers were founded in 1913, the party also had the periodical Det 20de Aarhundre
10.
Overhalla
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Overhalla is a municipality in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Namdalen region, the administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ranemsletta. Other villages include Melen, Skage, Skogmo, Svalia, the population is concentrated in the relatively broad Namsen river valley at the center. Public services, agriculture, and tourism are the sources of income. Overhallahus and Pharmaq are located in the municipality, the municipality of Overhalla was established on 1 January 1838. On 1 January 1964, the Galguften and Hauknes area of Høylandet was transferred to Overhalla, the Old Norse form of the name was œfri halfa which means the upper half. Historically, the Namdalen district was divided in two parts, the half and the lower half. The municipality of Overhalla today is, however, just a fraction of the old part of œfri halfa, the coat-of-arms is from 1989, but is inspired by an old seal for the district by King Håkon Magnusson from 1344. It shows seven red greek crosses arranged in a circle on a gold background, the Church of Norway has two parishes within the municipality of Overhalla. It is part of the Namdal deanery in the Diocese of Nidaros, the municipality includes part of the lake Eidsvatnet, from which the river Bjøra flows into the river Namsen, which runs from the east to the west. By the time it reaches the border to Namsos, Namsen is already brackish, the river Nordelva also empties into the estuary here. On the south side of Namsen, there is an area of mountains, including Reinsjøfjell and mountain lakes, the western approaches to Geitfjell lies in Overhalla, while the summit lies in Grong. The southern tip of the lake Storgrønningen lies in Overhalla, while the vast majority of the lies in Høylandet. The municipality is governed by a council of elected representatives. The municipal council of Overhalla is made up of 21 representatives that are elected to four years. Currently, the party breakdown is as follows, The historic Namsos Line railway traversed the municipality on its way from Grong to Namsos, freight traffic on the line was discontinued in 2002. The Norwegian County Road 17 also crosses the municipality
Trøndelag travel guide from Wikivoyage
