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From: alahelma@cc.Helsinki.FI (Antti Lahelma)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic,soc.answers,news.answers
Subject: soc.culture.nordic FAQ, part 6/8 (Norway)
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Date: 15 Feb 1995 16:32:30 +0200
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Summary: This posting is a part of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
file for the newsgroup soc.culture.nordic. Its purpose is to
introduce new readers to the group, provide some general information
about the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and
Iceland) and to cover some of the topics frequently discussed in
the group.
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu soc.culture.nordic:34973 soc.answers:2557 news.answers:35137
Archive-name: nordic-faq/norway
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Version: 1.0
A Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) -file for the newsgroup
S O C . C U L T U R E . N O R D I C
*** PART 6: NORWAY ***
------------------------------
Subject: 6.1 Fact Sheet
Name: Kongeriket Norge (Bokmaal) / Kongeriket Noreg (Nynorsk)
Telephone country code: 47
Area: 323,878 km2 / 125,065 sq mi.
Overseas territories:
Svalbard 62 700,0 km2
Jan Mayen 380,0 km2
Bouvet Island 58,5 km2
Peter I Island 249,2 km2
Land boundaries: Sweden, Finland, Russia
Terrain: mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile
valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented
by fjords; arctic tundra in north
Natural resources: crude oil, copper, natural gas, pyrites,
nickel, iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber,
hydropower
Population: 4,273,442 (1991)
Life expectancy: males: 74, females: 80 (1991)
Capital: Oslo (pop. 455,000)
Other major towns: Bergen (209,000), Trondheim (135,000),
Stavanger (90,000)
Flag: a blue Nordic cross outlined in white on a red background.
Type: Constitutional monarchy
Head of state: King Harald V
Languages: Norwegian (two written forms: Bokmaal and Nynorsk). Small
Finnish- and Saami-speaking minorities. The North Saami
language has official status in the northern parts of the
country.
Currency: krone (Norwegian crown, NOK). 1 USD = 6.88 NOK (July 1994)
Climate: temperate along coast, warmed by the Gulf stream; colder
interior. Rainy year-round on west coast. Average temp. in
Oslo -7C - 2C in Jan., 13C - 22C in July.
Religion: Evangelic-Lutheran (88%) (official state-religion)
Exports: petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, fish, alumi-
nium, ships, pulp and paper.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.2 General information
(concerning language, from R.G)
Norway has hundreds of dialects of spoken Norwegian (corresponding
to different geographical regions or locales) and two official
written norms, Bokmaal and Nynorsk. Bokmaal, which has its basis
in large part in the Danish spoken during the period of Danish rule,
serves as the written norm for most of the dialects of the larger
urban centers. Nynorsk, which has its basis in dialects that preserve
Norwegian as it descended from Old Norse, serves as the written norm
for most of the dialects of rural areas and some smaller urban centers.
[totally unfinished; would there be someone out there willing to finish
this section?>
------------------------------
Subject: 6.3 History
A chronology of important dates:
890's Harald Haarfagre ("fair-hair") unites Norway to a single
kingdom. Ireland falls under Norwegian rule. Iceland colonized.
995 King Olav Tryggvason converts to Christianity.
1030 The battle of Stiklestad, in which Olav Haraldsson (canoni-
zed as St. Olav) is killed. The pilgrimages to his grave in
Nidaros (Trondheim) begin.
1066 Harald Haardraade killed in the battle of Stamford Bridge
while attempting to conquer England. Viking raids come to an
end.
1261-2 Greenland and Iceland are subjected to Norwegian rule.
1349-50 Black plague, "Svartedauen", kills one third of Norways
inhabitants.
1380 Norway becomes united to Denmark
1536 Norway becomes a subject of the Danish crown. Reformation
makes Norway Lutheran. Danish becomes the written language
of Norway.
1645 The provinces of Ja"mtland and Ha"rjedalen are ceded to Sweden.
In 1658, Bohusla"n is lost to Sweden, too.
1716-18 Sweden attacks Norway, but has to retreat when king Karl XII
is killed at Fredrikshald.
1814 The peace treaty of Kiel gives Norway to Sweden. Norway
declares independence at Eidsvoll, but after a short war
against Sweden Norway agrees to a personal union with Sweden.
The Norwegian constitution was written.
1905 The union with Sweden falls apart and Norway becomes an
independent kingdom. The Danish prince Karl becomes king
Haakon VII of Norway.
1940 Germany attacks Norway on 9th of April, and after two months
of resistance completes the occupation. The Norwegian king and
government flee to England. The leader of Norways National
Socialist party, Vidkun Quisling, forms a new government.
1941-42 The Norwegian resistance, "Hjemmefronten", is organized. With
it's 50,000 members it caused considerable damage to the Nazi
occupiers.
1945 Germany surrenders to the Allies and the Nazi-occupation ends
in Norway.
1949 Norway joins NATO.
1970's Large oil finds in the North Sea make Norway prosperous.
1972 Norway holds a referendum about joining the EEC; the people
vote "NO".
1994 A referendum about joining the EU will was held November
27-28th. Again, the Norwegians voted "NO" by a clear majority
and thus remained outside the union while Sweden and Finland
joined.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.4 Main tourist attractions
(These articles were picked from s.c.n)
6.4.1 Bergen
~~~~~~
[From: Daniel R. Juliano>
I am not sure how you are getting from Bergen to Oslo, but I would suggest
the beautiful scenic train that takes you between the two if you are not
flying. It stops quite often and lets you get out in the mountains and look
around. It is warm up there, yet there is tons of snow. At least there was
when I was there two years ago this month.
If you could get to Oystese and see the Hardanger fjord that is the most
beautiful one I ever saw. But, you have to take a bus or drive there. When
we were there the buses were on strike (of course) and we rented a car.
Scary. You have to drive on these huge mountains with no guard rail where
you are literally one foot from the edge and you have to go through huge
tunnels. A police man actually pulled us over for going to slow. :)
We did take a boat tour in Bergen of the fjords which we enjoyed. My
family went to see Grieg's house. They enjoyed that. They also saw the
stave church. I didn't go along to those so I don't know if I should
recommend them.
On most days in Bergen there is a fish market in the main part of town
which is quite interesting. They sell fish that they have just caught,
as well as fresh fruit, flowers, bread and handicrafts. It is closed Sunday.
Oh, we also went on a tour of some church and of the Hansa houses. That
was neat. Ok, I'll stop. Again. If you have any more specific questions,
just ask.
[From: Jan Setnan>
I always recommend taking the boat from Bergen to Balestrand in the
evening. Then the express ferry from Balestrand to Flaam. The trip from
Bergen to Flaam will give you an impressive view of the fjords. Then you
take the nighttrain flom Flaam to Oslo, arriving the next morning.
The boat from Bergen to Balestrand may be filled with tourists so you
probably should reserve tickets. But the ferry from Balestrand to
Flaam (actually it is not 'aa' but the letter 'a' with a circle over it)
should give you no problems. The train tickets you should reserve
beforehand. The luggage is another problem travelling from boat to boat
to train. If you have several items, you could send most of it with the
train from Bergen to Oslo, and only take the necessary minimum with you
on the boats. The boat ticket from Bergen to Flaam is about $65.
[From: Melvin Klasse>
When I went to Bergen, in early-July 1988, the "Tourist Information Centre"
(*very* close to the SAS Hotel in Bergen) had all sorts of accomodation
available, from a "pension" (bed & shared bathroom & NO-breakfast) to
"tourist-class" hotels.
- Get an umbrella -- if it isn't raining, you're not in Bergen!!!
- Walk around the Fish Market, of course.
- The WW II "War Resistance" museum chronicles the time of the German
presence.
- Take the Floibanen (train ride at 23 degrees "up" the hill).
- See Edward Greig's summer-house "Trollhaugen".
- Make reservations for dinner & entertainment with "Fana Folklore".
6.4.2 Oslo
~~~~
[From: Ken Ewing>
I spent a week in Oslo in July, 1989. I don't know what
you might be interested in, but here's a rundown of stuff that I did
(please forgive any misspellings...I don't have my travel info in
front of me. :-)
o City Hall. Called "Raadhuset" in Norwegian. This is a large,
twin-towered building right on the waterfront. The ground floor
is the national tourist office. Here you can arrange for tours,
find out interesting things to see, buy guidebooks, etc.
o Akershus Fortress. Easy to find. It's a genuine medieval fort
right on the waterfront. It's something of a symbol for Oslo in that
having been under siege nine times since its construction in the
1300's, it has never fallen to an enemy. Guided tours are available.
In or near the Akershus Fortress are many museums, including:
-- Resistance Museum. A "must-see" for WWII enthusiasts. It looks
very small from outside the door, but it's quite large inside.
It documents the German occupation and TONS of artifacts, photos,
etc.
-- Christiania Exhibit (I think it's called that). This is a model
and show about the history of Oslo. Oslo was originally located
a but further south, and the current site of Oslo used to be
called Christiania, named after King Christian IV.
I'm sure there are other museums and sights around Akershus, but I
just don't remember them now.
o Take a water taxi across the bay to Bygdoy (Norwegian characters in
that name....). There are several museums over there, including:
-- Maritime Museum. Pretty big place. If you're into maritime topics
(which I am) you can spend a few hours here.
-- Fram Museum. The Fram is a sailing ship built around 1897. It was
basically designed to be a wooden-hulled icebreaker. The designer
had a theory that the Arctic ice cap flowed with "currents" matching
those of the ocean underneath, and that if a ship could lodge
itself in the ice, it could ride these currents across the North Pole.
He built this ship, lodged it into the ice, and proved his theory
(coming with five degrees of the North Pole). The ship is now housed
within this museum.
-- Kon-Tiki museum. Contains Thor Heyerdahl's ships Kon-Tiki and Ra II.
You might remember Ra II from the movie made in 1973 (I think).
There is also a life-size copy of a statue from Easter Island, and
also a genuine, taxidermed, 30-foot whale shark suspended underneath
the Kon Tiki.
All three of these museums are right next to one another. A little
farther down the road (easy walking distance) you'll find:
-- Viking Ship Museum. This building looks like a church from the
outside, and is not marked very well with signs. It contains
three actual Viking ships dug up from the ground, plus a bunch of
artifacts from the Viking era.
-- Folk Museum. This is a large park that contains exhibits of the
inland culture of Norway (as opposed to the maritime culture, as
the other museums in this area display). The creators of this
park went all over Norway and collect farm houses (whole houses!),
stave churches (pronounced "stahv" -- some of these structures
date back to the 1200s and are still in active use), etc. to show
how Norwegian people lived. There are tours available. Employees
wear authentic cultural dress.
Back in Oslo:
o Vigeland Statue Park. This is a 20-acre or so park with 250 statues
by Mr. Vigeland, a famous Norwegian sculptor. It's best to get
a guidebook of some kind, as the park has a theme to its organization.
As I understand it, Vigeland statues are not found outside of Norway.
o Historical churches. Olso has been around for a long time, and there
are interesting old churches all over town.
o The Royal Palace. Norway has a royal family, although the parliament
is really the governing body. The palace has a military guard that
changes regularly.
o Downtown shopping. The downtown area of Oslo is really quite small and
easily explored by walking. I forget the name of the main street (Karl
Johans gate --AL), but the street starts right in front of the Royal
Palace and proceeds straight into the downtown area. About halfway or
so the street becomes closed to traffic, and thus turns into a large
walking mall. The street life is fascinating, with the usual contingent
of street musicians and other entertainers.
Other general tips:
o In Norway (as well as other Scandinavian countries) you can obtain
a "Tourist Card". You can get them for one, two, or three days, and
you buy them at the city hall (Raadhuset). This card gives you:
-- Free transport on busses, trams, and subways.
-- Discount admission to most museums.
-- Discounts at some restaurants.
Among other advantages. I considered it worth the expense. With the
three-day card, you can get discounts on railroad fare to other
places in Norway, but you have to purchase tickets *before coming
to Norway* (which apparently means that you can obtain a tourist card
through a travel agency or perhaps through a Norwegian consulate).
o Restaurants seem to be rather rare around Oslo. I like eating out,
and I had a rather hard time finding restaurants around town.
o Alcohol is strictly controlled. Beer costs $6-$7 for a pint glass.
Drunk driving laws are strictly enforced with heavy penalties, and
foreigners cannot claim ignorance as an excuse.
o Oslo seems to be a safe place. I never felt in danger of physical
harm at any time. Virtually everyone there (natives, that is)
speaks English (it is a requirement in the school system).
That's everything off the top of my head. I had a great time in Norway
and would definitely to back again. Let me know if you have any questions.
------------------------------
Subject: 6.5 Addresses; Internet and regular mail
INTERNET
--------
* e-mail addresses *
NORWAVES AND NORWEAVE
NORWAVES distributes weekly news about NORWAY in English. The service
was established in March 1993 by four students at the NKI College
of Computer Science; Andre Kristiansen, Jan Erik Hermansen, Rune
Oestebroed, and Per Staale Straumsheim. The news comes from various
Norwegian press sources.
NORWEAVE was established in September 1993 as a supplementary service
to NORWAVES. The purpose of NORWEAVE is to weave a network of people
in Norway and abroad who can help each other exchange information and
establish contacts across geographical boundaries. It is hoped that
NORWEAVE can help to establish contacts that will be of mutual benefit
to Norwegians and friends of Norway around the globe. The list was
initiated by Morten Flate Paulsen
Morten@NKI.NO
The NKI Department of Distance Education
P.O.B. 111, 1341 Bekkestua, Norway
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
To subscribe to the NORWAVE AND NORWEAVE lists, just e-mail the
following commands to: LISTSERV@NKI.NO. Leave the subject line empty
and type in the following message
SUBSCRIBE NORWAVES Your First & Last Names
SUBSCRIBE NORWEAVE Your First & Last Names
URL: sentralt@ansa.uio.no (ANSA, Association of Norwegian Students Abroad)
* Gopher *
URL: gopher.uio.no (Olso University)
Has many pointers to the other gophers in Norway.
Also on this gopher are a list of "Ledige stillinger" from
Arbeidsmarkedsetaten.
Select menu: Generelle datatjenester
Ledige stillinger
URL: gopher.bbb.no 72
KUF - Kirke-, undervisnings- og Forskningsdepartementet (Department
of Church, Education and Research)
* WWW *
URL: http://www.uio.no/news/ntb.html (News from NTB)
This service is available only for people connecting from within
Scandinavia.
If you understand Norwegian, there is access to some of the news from the
Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten through the ANSA WWW Home Page:
http://www.uio.no/~bflyen
ComputerWorld Norge (in Norwegian):
http://www.oslonett.no/CW/CW.html
* Telnet *
URL: amanda.bbb.no 5000 (Bergen by Byte (BBB), a Norwegian BBS)
* FTP *
REGULAR MAIL
------------
Norway - NORTRA
Langkaia 1
Postboks 499 - Sentrum
0105 Oslo, Norway
phone: +47 22 42 70 44; FAX: +47 22 33 69 98, +47 22 42 14 22
Oslo Tourist Office
City Hall
Oslo, Norway
phone: +47-22-42-71-70
Norwegian Tourist Board (Great Britain)
Charles House
5-11 Lower Regent Street
London SW1Y 4LR, England
phone: +44 71 839 6255; FAX: +44 71 839 6041
------------------------------
Subject: 6.6 Norwegian literature, language, etc.
Dictionaries and study-material:
--------------------------------
_Nynorskorboka_ (Det Norske Samlaget) and _Bokm[a*>lsordboka_ (Universitets-
forlaget) form the official standard of the the two forms of written Norwe-
gian, "nynorsk" and "bokm[a*>l". In addition, the following dictionaries
can be mentioned:
W. A. Kirkeby. _Norsk-engelsk ordbok_ (Kunnskapsforlaget). Especially
good for Norwegian-speakers looking for the idiomatic way to say
something in English.
_Aschehoug og Gyldendals Store norske orbok_ ("moderat bokm}l og riksm}l")
W. A. Kirkeby. _Engelsk-norsk ordbok_
Einar Haugen. _Norsk-engelsk ordbok_. Universitetsforlaget. OR the American
edition, _Norwegian-English Dictionary_ (not sure of publisher).
Especially useful to English-speakers learning Norwegian; includes
both Bokm}l and Nynorsk words.
The latest, most up-to-date version of Guttu's dictionary is "Norsk
illustrert ordbok. Moderat bokmål og riksmål" (Oslo 1993, 1009 pages).
The format is now almost exactly like that of "Bokmålsordboka" (17cm x
25.5cm). Both are excellent dictionaries, which can be recommended.
However, "Norsk illustrert ordbok" has a layout that makes it easier to
find what you are looking for in big articles.
Dave Golber writes:
(1) Get Einar Haugen's Norwegian-English dictionary. It's great.
(Also, it's got a introductory section that describes Nyn-Bokm.)
It's written _in_English_ in the sense that the explanations,
extended descriptions, etc, are in English, not Norwegian.
For English-Norwegian, I don't have any strong opinion. I have and use
Kirkeby's Dictionary, and it's good.
The Haugen you should be able to order from your local bookstore.
The Kirkeby might be harder. I can get you the particulars
(publisher, ISBN number, etc). You might have to order it from
Norway, but that isn't as hard as you think. Perhaps someone else
in the group here will have suggestions.
(2) I started using the tapes "Norsk for Utlendingar" (Norwegian for
Foreigners). This is used in Norway for teaching Norwegian to immigrants.
I think it's great. I wish I'd started using it long ago. It's
available in the USA from Audio Forum, with the Norwegian texts that
go with it, plus an American suppliment. For an outrageous price.
But it's worth it.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-END OF PART 6-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-