Norway by Oleksandr Kostiuk

# Norway

The Kingdom of Norway is located in Northern Europe, specifically the Western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The total area is 148,729 sq. mi. Norway has a very extensive coastline with many small islands by the shoreline.

## Geography

The mainland is mostly mountainous and high terrains with many natural features. Even though the country is in the Northern  part of Europe, the climate in Norway is relatively mild in the Southern and Western parts. The Northern and Eastern parts have colder winters. The regions with mild winters get more precipitations, and the colder regions get less rain. Norway is a cloudy country, and there are not many sunny days during the year.

## History

The first inhabitants of Norway were the Ahrensburg culture around 10th millennia BC. There are several historical periods of Norway throughout the centuries. They include, Prehistory, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Migration Period, Viking Age, Civil war, Kalmar Union, Unions with Denmark, and Sweden, First and Second world wars, and post war period. The Kingdom of Norway has never been a colony.

## Population

               The total population of Norway was 5,384,576 people in 2020. Norwegians are mostly ethnic North Germanic people. Most immigrants to Norway are people from Central and Southern Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia, and more. About 14% of the total population were immigrants in 2013. The median population age is 39.3 years. There are many ethnic groups living in Norway, Pakistani, Vietnamese, Somali, Iraqi, Poland, Sweden, Lithuania. Most new immigrants and young adults live in large cities.

## Language and Freedom

               Norwegian is the main and official language in Norway. It is a kind of old North German language, and has some local dialects, which are understandable in all Scandinavian countries. Norway's economy is highly developed, and its GDP is second among European countries. Norway is a progressive country, and has adopted many policies to support minority rights, women rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gender equality. Overall, Norway is a well-developed country in terms of economy and human rights. I learned a lot of new things about this country after beginning working on this research.

## Human Rights

               Norway is well developed country which grants freedoms to all people and organizations. In recent times there are some minor negative trends observed in immigration and religious beliefs of minorities. There was a surge of asylum applicants mostly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan in 2015. This caused anti-immigration right-wing politics to rise. This has affected more than 1,000 people since refoulment practice was used. In terms of religion, there is a rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim violence. To solve the problem, there was created special police unit in 2015, which had to investigate hate crimes. There is a ban on burqa in kindergarten, schools, and universities. This is also part of the discussion about civilian liberty that has to be solved.

## Works Cited

Dankertsen, Astri, “Fragments of the Future. Decolonization in Sami Everyday Life” 2016, Retrieved April 21, 2022, https://nordopen.nord.no/nord- xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2433519/Dankertsen.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

*Norway*. (2022, March 25). *Wikipedia*. Retrieved March 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway

Kakar, Aslam “Human rights in Norway”,*borgenproject.org*, August 17, 2017, Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://borgenproject.org/human-rights-in-norway/