In Norway, there was a tremendous potential. Average precipitation is 1,500 mm a year, twice the European average. In addition, there is a big drop between the sources of the water and its outlets. Furthermore, there is no conflict as regards national ownership. The entire course of most Norwegian rivers lies within national boundaries.
Water is thus a national resource.
Nevertheless, the devel-opment of hydro power in Norway would not have been possible without help from abroad. Around 1900, Norway was still a poor country. Farming and fishing were the chief means of subsistence even though there was some moderate sized industry in the towns. But from the end of the 1800s, wealthy tourists from England and the Continent started to visit Norway. They travelled to remote outposts to view the fjords and waterfalls and to climb the mountains.