The Vikings , who lived in the lands now called Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, were seafaring adventurers. They built amazing dragon-headed longboats , which they sailed westward as far as the northeast coast of America. However, they were also settlers and traders . Norwegians today still depend on the sea. Many make their living fishing .
Seafood is Norway's second largest export.
For hundreds of years, most Norwegians earned their living as fishermen or in the lumbering industry. But since World War II, mining and manufacturing have become very important, too, and many Norwegians now work in the oil and natural-gas fields in the North Sea. The Sami people , who at one time lived all over Norway, now mostly live in this region north of the Arctic Circle. They were the earliest known peoples to settle in Norway. For thousands of years, until very recently, they lived by shepherding herds of reindeer .