NORWAY

Norway is situated on the northwestern part of the Scandinavian peninsula and include the islands of Jan Mayen,
Bouvet Island and Peter1st Island, Svalbard and Queen Maud's Land in the Antarctic.
Norway is the 6th largest country in Europe measured by area.
Our coastline, including the fjords, measure more than 20 000 km.
To the east Norway borders to Sweden , Finland and Russia.
To the north, west and south we are surrounded by the Barents Sea , the North Sea and Skagerrak .

Tourism and Nature

Our nature is very varied and offers high mountains, deep valleys, large glaziers,
spectacular waterfalls and deep, sometimes narrow fiords.
The eastern and middle part og Norway consist of wide forests, lakes and rivers, and the
southern and northern coasts have long beaches and a multitude of islands.
The boat trips in the fiords on the west coast have made Norway known all over the world,
with the impressive waterfalls cascading from high mountainplateaus straight down to the fiords.

During the winter in the north one can observe the Northern Lights (Aurora borealis),
and during the summer the sun is up around the clock from middle of May till end of July.

21 National Parks gives everybody the possibility to experience untouched nature.

Culunary specialities

Norway has been blessed with unique raw materials, especially from the ocean and the rivers.
Most restaurants and hotels serve both white and red fish - either fresh, marinated or smoked.
Wild game is also popular, like reindeer, elk or deer.

NORWAY - Where fantacy and reality merges!

Excerpt from His Majesty's New Year speech 2005/6:

"Norwegians have excellent possibilities of enjoying the nature.
Many families use weekends and holidays enjoying outdoor life and activities.
This is an important side of our tradition. It is important for children to experience the companionship
of a sometimes rigorous walk and maybe afterwards take part in the pleasure of resting around
an open fire together afterwards.

Most of all it is important that children and parents experience things together.
Maybe we, as grandparents, should set a good example by taking the children exploring,
find a good stone to rest on, listen to the forest, teach them to lend an ear to the ground,
and together find the pulse of nature.

When fantacy and play stop, man's creativity becomes reduced.
We must perhaps bring these qualities with us into the world of grownups?
To enjoy life to the full is to learn to handle the many challenges of life, and be happy for small things.
Norway has an abundance the people in many other countries never can imagine and hardly hope for,
and we have much to be grateful for. We live in a stable and good democracy.

A safe society is created by people living for other people."