1. SCANDINAVIA:
NORWAY
DENMARK
Loi Francis
MontalBo
JEREmiah SALVIO KISHA MARIE
DICEN
SWEDEN

2. WHAT IS SCANDINAVIA?
is a historical cultural-
linguistic region in northern
Europe that includes the
three kingdoms of
Denmark, Norway and Swede
n, characterized by their
common ethno-cultural
heritage and related
languages
Scandinavia is usually used
as a cultural term, but in
English usage, it is
occasionally confused with
the purely geographical
term Scandinavian Peninsula

3. Early middle Christianity was adopted
replacing NORSE
ages Numerous petty mythology– itself a subset of
kingdoms and paganism
chiefdoms were
unified into 3
kingdoms
(Norway, Sweden
and Denmark)
15th century, Scandinavia Scandinavia despite many wars
was united in the Kalmar over the years since the formation of
Union. Today, the nations the three kingdoms, been politically
cooperate mainly in the and culturally close.
European Union or
the Nordic Council

4.  The Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish languages form a dialect
continuum and are known as the Scandinavian languages—all of
which are considered mutually intelligible with each other.
 Scandinavia and Scandinavian entered usage in 18th century—terms for
3 Scandinavian countries
 Historically referred to SCANIA
 the name used by Pliny may be of West Germanic origin, originally
denoting Scania.
 the Germanic stem can be reconstructed as :
Skaðan- meaning "danger" or "damage"
(English scathing,German Schaden)
 has been restructed as *awjō, meaning "land on the water" or "island".
 The name Scandinavia would then mean "dangerous island", to refer to
the treacherous sandbanks surrounding Scania. Skanör in Scania, with its
long Falsterbo reef, which means "sandbanks".

5. NORWAY
Called "The Land of Vikings, and the Midnight Sun,―
is the northernmost country in Europe. Norway has a jagged expanse of
islands and fjords. The maritime industry sustains the economy here.

6. SWEDEN
offers numerous lakes and is the largest of the
Scandinavian countries - both in land size and population.
Volvo and Saab both originated here and are a big part of
the Swedish industry.
Swedish citizens are independently minded and highly
regard their people-oriented social programs, especially in
women's rights.

7. DENMARK
The southern-most Scandinavian country, consists of the
Jutland peninsula and over 400 islands, some of which are
linked to the mainland by bridge.
Almost all of Denmark is low and flat, but there are many low
hills as well.
Windmills and traditional thatched cottages can be seen
everywhere.
Note that the Faroe Islands
and Greenland both belong
to the Kingdom of Denmark.

8. NORWAY

9. ARTIC CIRCLE
North
ATLANTIC OCEAN
West East
South

10. Magical midnight sun
o is a natural phenomenon which means that
the sun does not set during the summer
months. In other words, given fair
weather, you can see the sun for
a continuous 24 hours.
o The duration of the midnight sun depends
on how far north you are. At the Arctic Circle in
the county of Nordland, you can see
the midnight sun from 12 June to 1 July, at the
North Cape in Finnmark you can see the sun
from 14 May to 29 July, and at the North Pole
the sun does not set for six months.
An excellent way to experience the Norwegian
coast, is to go on a cruise with Hurtigruten (The
Norwegian Coastal Voyage)

11. Fjords and Mountains
Midnight SUN
VIKINGS

12. POLITICAL
HISTORY

13. 1442-1814 ruled by
Ravaged the Danish Kings when it
Northwest Coast was united with
of Europe Sweden—although
retaining a degree of
independence and
18th- 11th
receiving
Century a new constitution—
in an uneasy
partnership.
King Olaf II Haraldson
became the first effective
king in 1015 and began
converting the Norwegians to
Christianity
A treaty with Sweden
provided that all disputes In 1905, the Norwegian
parliament arranged a
NORSEMEN/ be settled by arbitration
peaceful separation and
and that no fortifications
VIKINGS be erected on the invited a Danish prince to
common frontier the Norwegian throne

15. KING CANUTE the Great
o Danish King of England
o able to administrator
and increased English
trade
o but is best
remembered for his
futile attempt to stop
the tide from coming
in

19. The Norwegian constitution – 17 may 1814 - three
main principles:
sovereignty of the people,
separation of powers,
human rights
The Principle of the Sovereignty of the People: The
people of a nation are entitled to govern themselves.
The will of the people should determine the actions of
the governing power, and the governing power governs
on behalf of the people. The people elect
representatives to a national assembly which is
entrusted, among other things, with enacting the laws
held to be in force in that society.
The Principle of Separation of Powers: The power
of the State is divided between several branches
of government which are independent of each other
and act as checks and balances on each other. The
aim of this principle is to prevent the concentration
and abuse of power. In 1814, legislative, executive
and judicial powers were divided between the
Storting, the King and the courts.

20. The Principle of Human Rights: It is
essential to safeguard the fundamental
and inalienable rights of the people. The
Constitution establishes the rights of
freedom of speech, freedom of worship,
freedom of assembly and the rule of law,
but the implementation of these civil
rights came about only gradually. For
instance, prohibitions against lay
preachers and religious minorities existed
for many years.

22. Haakon VII (Prince Carl of Denmark)

23. World War I broke out, Norway joined
Sweden and Denmark in a decision to
remain neutral and to cooperate in the
joint interest of the three countries

24. WORLD WAR II
Norway recovered
quickly as its economy
expanded. It joined
NATO in 1949.
Norway was invaded by the
Germans on April 9, 1940. It
resisted for two months before
the Nazis took complete control.
King Haakon
Maj. Vidkun Quisling and his
who served as government
Norway's prime fled to
minister and most
London,
notorious of the Nazi
established a
collaborators. He was
executed by the
government-
Norwegians on Oct. 24, in-exile.
1945 despite severe
losses in the war

25. Late 2oth Century
Seesawed for control
each sometimes having to
lead minority governments
The country became the second-
largest oil exporter after Saudi
An important debate was over Norway's Arabia in 1995.
membership in the European Union. In an
advisory referendum held in Nov. 1994, Norway continued to experience
voters rejected seeking membership for rapid economic growth into the
their nation in the EU. new millennium.

26. POLITICS IN 21st Century
March 2000 – Prime Minister KJELL MAGNE
BONDEVIK resigned after Parliament voted to
build the country's first gas-fired power
stations. Bondevik had objected to the
project, asserting that the plants would emit
too much carbon dioxide.
Labor Party leader Jens Stoltenberg succeeded
Bondevik. Stoltenberg and the Labor Party
were defeated in Sept. 2001 elections, and no
party emerged with a clear majority.
formed a
Conservatives
coalition
Christian People’s Party
with Bondevik
Liberals
as prime
minister.

27. The governing coalition was backed
by the far-right Progress Party.
But in Sept. 2005 elections,
the center-left Red-Green coalition
gained a majority of seats, and
Jens Stoltenberg of the Labor Party
once again became prime minister.

28. In April 2008, government officials agreed to amend the 1814
Constitution to loosen the ties between church and state. The monarch
must still be Lutheran, but citizens are no longer required to raise
their children as Lutherans. In the future, the church will appoint
bishops instead of the monarch, and equal financial backing for other
faiths and atheist communities must be provided by the state.
In June 2008, Parliament voted 84–41 to pass a new
marriage act, granting homosexual couples the same
marriage and adoption rights as heterosexual couples.

29. 2011 Terrorist Attacks

30. On Friday, July 22, 2011, Norway was hit with two
related terrorist attacks.
1.) a bomb exploded in Regjeringskvartalet, the
government quarter of Oslo. The explosion
happened right outside the prime minister's office
as well as other government buildings, killing eight
people and wounding several others.
2.) Two hours later, a gunman disguised as a
policeman opened fire on campers at a camp for
young political activists on the island of Utoya in
Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. The camp was organized by
the youth organization of the Norwegian Labour
Party. The gunman killed at least 68 campers,
including personal friends of Prime Minister
Stoltenberg.
Police arrested Anders Behring Breivik who has
been charged with both attacks. Breivik, a 32-year-
old Norwegian and a right-wing fundamentalist
Christian, has been linked to an anti-Islamic group
and may be connected to other terrorist groups.

32. Out of respect for the victims, to "the facts" of the
stores in Norway removed attacks. However, he did
certain war toys and not admit criminal guilt
computer games from and claimed that he was
shelves. Breivik was a talk acting alone, which
forum regular for players of contrasted some of the
the online game, World of statements given by
Warcraft. witnesses.

33. POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS:
 Hereditary
GOVERNMENT
CONSTITUTIONAL Legislative:
MONARCHY Modified UNICAMERAL Parliament
 1905 INDEPENDENCE  Storting (169 members, elected for 4
 CONSTITUTION: May years by universal adult suffrage)
17, 1814
 BRANCHES: Judicial:
 Supreme Court (19 SC Court Judges w/
Executive: 1 Chief Justice)
 KING (Chief of State)  Appellate Courts
 PRIME MINISTER(Head  City and County Courts
of the Government) Political parties represented in the
 Coucil of parliament:
Ministers(Cabinet)  Labor, Progress
 Conservative
Suffrage: Universal over 18
 Socialist Left
 Christian Democratic
Administrative subdivisions:
 Center
19 fylker (counties) and
 Liberal.
430 municipalities, and
Svalbard.

34. Constitutional Monarchy w/ a Democratic - source
PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRATIC of political power
system of governance. and legitimacy
according to the
Parliamentary - as the Constitution lies with
Government acting the people, in that all
executive power, cannot citizens are able to
FORM OF GOVERNMENT
govern without the participate in the
Storting county and
confidence of the
municipal councils.
Storting-- the
legislative power.
Constitutiona
l monarchy
because the Both democratic governance and the
Government, monarchy were established in the
in Constitution of 1814.
accordance Parliamentarianism was introduced in
with the 1884
original
articles of
the
Constitution,
derives its

35. KING
 has little real political power, but
fills an important symbolic function
as the Head of State and official
representative of Norwegian
society and industry.
 plays a crucial unifying role that
becomes particularly evident in
times of national crisis.
 This was clearly demonstrated during WWII,
when King Haakon VII, who opposed the Nazi
invasion of Norway in 1940, fled Norway to work
functions :mainly ceremonial in London
against the occupation from exile
1814 constitution grants important executive KING HARALD V
powers to the king, these are almost always King Harald V, as a young man, entered
the Norwegian Cavalry Officers’
exercised by (King's Council) Training School and went on to finish
 Appoints the PRIME MINISTER with the vote his military education at the Military
of confidence, Majority of the STORTING Academy in 1959. Upon completion of
 The Council is appointed by the monarch in his compulsory military service, Crown
Prince Harald went to Oxford for further
accordance with the will of the Storting, to study. He attended Balliol College from
which the Council is responsible. 1960 to 1962, studying social
science, history and economics.

36. THE MONARCH
Crown Prince Princess Astrid
Princess
OLAV V Ragnhild
Crown Princess
Märtha
Crown Prince Crown
Miss Sonja Heraldsen Haakon Princess
KING HARALD V
Harald Mette-Marit

37. Sister of Crown Prince
Haakon
Princess Ingrid Alexandra
Prince Sverre
Magnus
Princess Märtha Louise was married
to author Ari Behn
Youngest -Emma Tallulah Behn
Second - Leah Isadora Behn
Eldest - Maud Angelica Behn

38. State
Power
Executive(The Legislative Judiciary
Government) (Storting) (The Courts)
public administration
designed to serve the needs of the political
bodies, is sometimes viewed as a fourth state
power, as it now takes independent action and
can exert influence on the shaping of policies.

39. King
Executive (The Government)
o Symbolic power (national
unity);ceremonial
o 1814 constitution-grants
important executive powers
excercised by the COUNCIL OF
STATE (King’s Council/Cabinet)
o Protector of Church State
o Supreme Commander of
Norwegian Armed Forces
o Formality appoints the PM w/ the
vote of confidence of
STORTING
o Will ask the Leader of
Parliamentary Block that has the
majority to form a government
Prime Minister King appoints the
• Appoints the leader of the party after PM
elections resulting to no clear
majority party/ coalition

40. The participation of the people in the
political sphere takes place both through
direct elections and through their
Average Norwegian of organizations.
membership
o Member of 4 Organizations
o 70% of the adult population member of
at least 1 Organization able to exert
influence on
the authorities
by means of
formal and
Parliamentary
Ministries Interest informal
Committees Groups contacts with
the public
administration
mean that Norwegian policies are oriented towards
segments such as the industrial segment, the
agricultural segment or the educational segment
Election turnout is usually in the vicinity of 80%.

41. GENERAL SUFFRAGE
MEN- introduced in 1898
WOMEN- introduced
in 1913
The age of majority is currently 18

42. FUNCTIONS
 to submit bills and budget proposals to the Storting (Norwegian
national assembly) and implement decisions through the
Ministries.
 The Government is derived from the Storting and is headed by
the Prime Minister.
 Formally speaking, it is the King who asks the majority party to
form a government or a viable coalition.
 Government decisions are formally taken by the King in Council
(that is, jointly approved by the King and the Council of State)
every Friday.
 All Royal Decrees must be signed by the King and countersigned
by the Prime Minister.
Both formally and in real terms, the Norwegian Government,
especially the Prime Minister, has less power than in many other
Western countries. Traditionally, the Prime Minister, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance comprise the highest-
status Government positions.

43. Prime Minister
Jens Stoltenberg
 leader of the Norwegian Labor Party
 previously served as Prime Minister from
2000 to 2001
 1st elected to Parliament in 1993
 served as State Secretary in the Ministry of
the Environment from 1990 to 1991 and
as Minister of Industry from 1993 to 1996 in
the Third Brundtland Cabinet
 appointed as Minister of Finance when
Jagland and the entire government resigned
 After poor results in the 2001
 While in parliamentary opposition, parliamentary election, and fall of his
Stoltenberg served in the standing government Stoltenberg successfully
committees on energy affairs challenged Thorbjørn Jagland for the party
 Following a motion of confidence against leadership in 2002, and led the party to
the First Bondevik Cabinet, Stoltenberg was victory in the 2005 election by forming
appointed Prime Minister 2000, despite a Red-Green coalition government with
being deputy leader of the party, and not the Centre Party (Sp) and the Socialist Left
the party leader Party (SV).
 He was re-elected in 2009 for another
term as Prime Minister of Norway.

44. FUNCTIONS of Prime
Minister
 (statsminister) is the political leader of Norway
 Head of His Majesty's Government
 The Prime Minister and Cabinet (consisting of all the most
senior government department heads) are
collectively accountable for their policies and actions to
the Sovereign, to Stortinget (Parliament), to their political party,
and ultimately the electorate
 The position of Prime Minister is the result of legislation
 Modern Prime Ministers have few statutory powers but, provided
they can command the support of their parliamentary party,
they can control both the legislature and the executive (the
Cabinet) and hence wield considerable de facto powers

45. MINISTERIAL
GOVERNMENT
Ministers
 Serving as the political head
of his or her Ministry
Close to ministers ---politically-appointed
State Secretaries, akin to deputy ministers,
and Political Advisors
State Secretary Espen
Barth Eide

46. Secretary-General
(top ranking administrative Leader)
Director
General(ekspedisjonssjef)
(departmental level) Head of Division
(byråsjef) at a
divisional level
Assistant Director
General(avdelingsdirektør)
Civil Service
Departmental or Sectional
level (advisors,executive
officers and clerical staff)
Deputy Assistant Director
General (underdirektør) at a
sectional level

47. Legislative (STORTING– GREAT COUNCIL)
members elected by popular vote for a four year term (during
which it may not be dissolved) by proportional representation in
multi-seat constituencies.
ODELSTING LAGTING
o Rarely
disagrees and
mainly rubber-
stamps the
Oldesting’s
In February 2007, the Storting passed a Decision
constitutional amendment to repeal the
division, which abolishes the Lagting for
the 2009 general election

48. Storting (Norwegian National
Assembly)  served as the
highest political
body in Norway
since the
introduction of
Parliamentarianism
in 1884
 Elections held
every fourth year,
and mandates are
distributed
 Storting majority can utilize a vote of no confidence to according to a
bring about the resignation of a Government or a specific system of
minister proportional
 A motion of no confidence can be submitted by any representation
member of the Storting or the Government itself may put
 The Government is
forth a request for a confidence vote
 In the event that a Government has broken the law or selected on behalf
acted in violation of the Constitution, it may be impeached of the King from
by the Storting. However, this has rarely happened in within the Storting
practice.

49. Formal Control over important tools of Government:
o the enactment of legislation and approval of
national budgets.
o Most bills and national budgets proposals are
introduced to the Storting by the Government.
o Normally, only minor adjustments need to be
made to the bills, as the Government either
already has a supporting majority in the Storting,
or has adapted its proposals to satisfy the Storting
majority.
 The Storting monitors the efforts of the Government.
The most important instruments of control include
 calling a vote of confidence
 invoking the court of impeachment checks by the Office of the
Auditor General
 and the system of parliamentary questions and interpellations
 During Question Time, members of the Storting can pose
questions directly to the Government which must be answered
by the appropriate minister.
 A short debate will normally ensue.

50. 169 elected
representatives(all
representing a party)
STORTING
elected by county on the
basis of proportional
representation, i.e. each
county is awarded a
specified number of
representatives based on
its population.
Standing Committees- Most work take
place– where a majority of the changes
PRESIDIUM to governmental bills are proposed
Head o Negotations and Debate play a
6 members minor role in the outcome of a
given issue
Along with the private party groups, the twelve
standing committees comprise the most
important political bodies of the Storting.

51. Supreme Court of Justice
(Høyesterett)
the Interlocutory Appeals
Committee of the Supreme Court
(Høyesteretts kjæremålsutvalg)
the Courts of Appeal
y
Judiciar
(lagmannsrettene)
Norway is divided into :
6 territorial jurisdictions
(lagdømmer) and
15 judicial districts the District Courts (tingrett)
(lagsogn)
the Conciliation Courts
(forliksrådet)
SPECIAL Courts

52. There are two components to its political role:
1.) its activities serve to implement the legislation
adopted by the Storting (Norwegian national
assembly)
y
Judiciar
2.) it monitors the legislative and executive powers
to ensure that they themselves comply with the
acts of legislation that have been previously
adopted
 able to set aside a statute passed by the Storting if it is found
to be in contravention of the Constitution
 This right to “censor” the Storting is not laid down in the
Constitution and is controversial
 It was utilized on several occasions during the period 1884–1918, when
several radical statutory reforms were halted by the Supreme Court. Since
then, the Judiciary has been reluctant to invoke this right. All levels of the
ordinary legal system are empowered to examine the validity of a statute,
but such cases will inevitably end up being presented before the Supreme
Court.

53. The Supreme Court
 the appeal body for courts of appeal
 Judgements by the Supreme Court cannot be appealed further
 Judgements by the Supreme Court are final. This means that they
are legally enforceable.

54. Courts of Appeal Punishment
 an appeal body means that a
court of appeal decides the There are many
outcome of appeals regarding different types of
judgements from district courts
 Both the defendant and the
legal sanction. These
prosecuting authority can are the most common:
appeal a case to a court of
appeal o Waiver of prosecution
 They can do this both if they o Fine
believe the punishment is too o Suspended prison sentence
strict or too lenient, or if they o Immediate prison sentence
believe the question of guilt has o Preventative detention in
not been correctly decided. an institution
o Community service
Impeachment
• may be brought against Members of the Council of State, or of the
Supreme Court or of the Storting, for criminal offenses which they
may have committed in their official capacity.
• Indictments are raised by the Storting and judged by five Supreme
Court justices and six lay judges

55. Who JUDGES?
district courts and courts of Professional judges are lawyers.
appeal Co-judges and lay judges are ordinary
people who are appointed to the
 it is the judges who position.
determine questions of guilt
and punishment.
 Judges can be professional  In serious cases a court of
judges, co-judges, or lay appeal will sit with a jury of 10
judges. civilian members(5 men and 5
women)
 The jury decides whether the
defendant is guilty or not.
 It is an important principle in
the Norwegian legal system that
questions of guilt must be
determined by a defendant’s
peers.

56. The powers of the county and municipal councils for
19 Counties self-government have been delegated from the
State, and are set out in legislation, not in the
Constitution.
The State is directly represented at a local level
through the County Governors’ offices.
County Level administered:
• Upper secondary schools
• number of technical services
Each of these levels of administration receive
part of their revenues through local taxation, fees
and local business management, and partly from
allocations from the central authorities and other
430 municipalities public institutions.
The municipalities are the most important
units of local government administration
• responsible for primary
• lower secondary education
• social services
• municipal roads
• water and sewerage
• zoning regulation

57. The counties and municipalities
 governed by elected councils
 elections are held every four years
 distributed to a system of proportional representation
 the number of mandates varies from 13 (municipal councils) and 25
(county councils) to 85
 The councils are led by an executive committee comprising a
representative selection of all the party groups from the relevant
council and a mayor
 A few exceptions, chiefly Oslo and Bergen, employ a parliamentary
form of government and thus establish a party-based local government
The 18 county administrations were established in 1975 to provide an
administrative level between the State and the municipalities. Since the
major amalgamation reform of 1967, the number of municipalities has
stabilized at a figure around 420-440.

58. Political parties (MULTIPARTY SYSTEM)
 21 parties stood for election in the 2005 general election
 7 of them had representatives elected to the Storting
 76.7% of people who were entitled to vote used their vote in this
election.
the largest parties as follows:
Socialist parties
The Red Electoral Alliance (RV)
The Socialist Left Party (SV)
The Labour Party (DNA)
Conservative parties
The Centre Party (SP)
The Christian Democratic Party (KrF)
The Liberals (V)
The Conservative Party (H)
The Progress Party (FrP)

61. NORWAY and the European Union
 Norway is one of very few western European
countries not to be a member of the
European Union.
• Norway has held a referendum on the issue of
EU membership twice, first in 1972 and then
again in 1994. On both occasions, a rather
narrow majority of the Norwegian population
rejected membership (in 1994, 52% were
against and 48% were in favour).
 As a consequence, Norway is not a Member
State of the EU, and the relationship with the
Union is therefore based on other forms and
means of close contact and co-operation. This
co-operation enables Norway to maintain a very
high level of economic integration, and political
co-operation, with the EU and its Member

62. Another area of very close co-operation
between Norway and the EU is the foreign
and security policy, where Norway as a
NATO-country has signed up to the Berlin+
accord on co-operation between EU and
NATO on deployment of resources and
development of policies.
Norway is also participating in a whole range
of EU programmes and initiatives, for
example within the fields of research,
education and culture.

63. ECONOMY Norway is 3rd world's richest countries in per capita terms. It
has an important stake in promoting a liberal environment
for foreign trade. Its large shipping fleet is one of the most
modern among maritime nations. Metals, pulp and paper
products, chemicals, shipbuilding, and fishing are the most
significant traditional industries.
first place in the whole world in
UNDP Human Development-Index
(HDI) constantly for the sixth year

64. 31-Hungary
EUROPE Human
32-Lithuania
Development Index
33-Latvia
34-Russia
1-Norway 14-France 35-Romania
2-Monaco 15-Ireland 36-Bulgaria
3-Luxembourg 16-Andorra
37-Montenegro
4-Switzerland 17-Iceland
38-Serbia
5-Sweden 18-United 39-Macedonia
6-Netherlands Kingdom
40-Bosnia
7-Liechtenstein 19-Spain
Herzegovina
8-Denmark 20-Italy 41-Turkey
9-Austria 21-Slovenia 42-Albania
10-Germany 22-Cyprus 43-Belarus
11-Finland 23-Greece 44-Ukraine
12-San Marino 24-Portugal
45-Armenia
13-Belgium 25-Czech 46-Georgia
Republic 47-Moldova
26-Malta
27-Poland
28-Slovakia
29-Croatia
30-Estonia

65.  Europe’s most diversified
maritime nation and commands
worldwide respect for its
MARITIME
shipping expertise, equipment INDUSTRY
and ability to exploit new
market niches.
 Norway’s overall maritime
economy – an expanding cluster
of industries linked to shipping
and the aquaculture industry –
encompasses an increasingly
wide variety of products and
services.
 Aquaculture Equipment
Norway’s aquaculture outfitters
have developed and are producing a

66. Capital city
Oslo, a city full of
history and tourist
spots, is the capital city
with good ambiance
Currency
official currency unit
of Norway is
Norwegian Krone or
NOK.

67. FACTS AND FIGURES

68. Norway’s
National Day
 May 17th ---The day is celebrated to
commemorate 17th May 1814 when
Norway gained its constitution.
 It is usual to dress up on the national
day. Many people wear a “bunad” or
other national costume.
 Children’s parades are held during the
morning. School children march in
parades while waving Norwegian flags
and singing songs.
 In many places marching bands play
in the parades.
 Later on in the day there are often
speeches and events at schools, in
parks and in town or city centres.
17th May is also known as the
children’s day.

69. Norwegian national flag
consists of an indigo
blue cross
with white borders on a
bright red background.
The vertical arm of the
blue Scandinavian
cross extends to the
edges of the flag pole and
is shifted to the hoist side
in the style of
Language: Norwegian the Dannebrog or
theDanish flag .
RELIGION : Protestant State Church based on the Evangelical-Lutheran
religion. Although there is no separation of Church and State, all inhabitants have the
right to exercise their religion freely in accordance with a 1964 amendment to the
Constitution. Eight out of ten ethnic Norwegians are members of the State Church of
Norway.