The northern road Norway

There are some 50,000 small and large islands in Norway. And the whole country feels as though it lies closer to the sky than anywhere else in the world. You feel as though you could stretch out your hands and touch the clouds here. The puffy clouds go on seemingly forever over the horizon.

Norway prospects for both oil and natural gas in its open seas and has many giant platforms built specifically for this purpose. There are people working every day on these platforms, with places for workers to sleep and eat built right onto the platforms. There are helicopter pads, too, for easy transport. And of course, all this oil and natural gas being retrieved from the open waters off Norway provides the economic backbone of the nation. Life, as a result, has taken shape around this.

Just because Norway has access to vast oil and natural gas resources doesn’t make these products cheap. In fact, Norwegians pay some of the highest prices in the world for gas. Instead, Norway has set up a fund where profits from petroleum products are continually added, with the idea that it will be useful when the petroleum and natural gas eventually run out.

Fishing is also an extremely important part of the Norwegian economy. A full 90 percent of the fish caught in Norway are exported to other countries.

Some people believe that Norway is one of the world’s most serene countries. Despite this though, suicide rates are very high here; in 2005, 533 people were recorded as having committed suicide in Norway. This is an extremely high number for a nation with a population of only 4.6 million people. In addition, Norway has one of the highest per capita incomes of any country in the world, at about $59,500 (2008 figure); this is one sign that economic prosperity alone is not enough to guarantee happiness. Interestingly, there is no reflection of the high suicide rates in Norwegian television news programs or newspapers.

[QUICK FACTS] Capital: Oslo Official language: Norwegian Government: Constitutional monarchy Chief of state: King Harald V Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg Area: 323,802 square kilometers Population: 4,660,539* Gross domestic product (PPP): $276.5 billion ** Main religions: Church of Norway (85.7 percent), Pentecostal (1 percent), Roman Catholic (1 percent) *July 2009 estimate **2008 estimate

Other interesting facts about Norway are that, with a population of only 4.6 million, it has a full 5 million cell phone subscribers. Also, there are no private pharmacies in Norway.

Fairly well off on average, Norwegians often head to other countries for their summer holidays. They generally choose sunny, warm countries. Every year, there are more and more Norwegians who choose to visit Turkey, with the current annual average being around 200,000.

Norway is ruled by a constitutional monarchy. Napoleon sent Carl Johan (1763-1844) to be the king of both Sweden and Norway, and for a long time, he ruled the two nations. Even now, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Norwegian capital of Oslo is the royal palace, with its daily changing of the guard ceremonies. Although they were ruled for a time under one flag, Sweden and Norway separated from each other in 1905, each becoming its own kingdom.

Interestingly, Norway is the nation in Europe where life is the most expensive, and Oslo is the world’s second most expensive city. Oslo has around 500,000 residents, one in four of whom is foreign, and is the city where the Nobel prizes are awarded annually. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel.

One of the most revered Norwegian figures is poet Henrik Wergeland. His statue occupies an important spot in Oslo, and in fact, he was a crucial figure in Norway’s independence. Norway declared 2008 the official year of this important poet and writer.

Cars entering Oslo are charged in order to reduce traffic rates. It is a successful system. Smaller vehicles are charged the equivalent of TL 6, while larger vehicles pay around TL 10. This same system applies in other cities in Norway, too.

In Norway, it is forbidden to consume alcohol in the streets, boulevards and other public spaces such as parks. Police have the right to act when they see this law being broken, but they seldom do so. Those who wish to drink are free to do so at home or at restaurants and bars that hold liquor licenses.

The fjords of Norway are one of this nation’s most beautiful aspects. The city of Bergen is particularly famous for its fjords and draws many tourists for this reason. Another famous Norwegian city is Stavanger, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2008.

At points where the land has been carved by the waters of the ocean, the fjords of Norway entrance visitors who see them. Oslo’s own fjord is one of the largest in Norway, and one way to see the city is on a one or two hour boat ride. It is an incredible experience to actually tour a fjord. These are very deep and very long carved inlets, so large that cargo and passenger ships can easily fit into them. The Oslo Fjord alone is 100 kilometers long. The town and cities built along the sides of the fjords have, over history, benefitted economically from their ports. One of these cities is, of course, Oslo. There are lots of small and large islands in the Oslo Fjord, many of which are now settled, and quite strikingly so, dotted with multicolored roofs.

The city of Drammen lies around 40 kilometers from Oslo. It is quite famous for the spiral tunnel that the Germans had the Norwegians build during World War II when Germany occupied Norway. Germans who parachuted into Drammen at the time decided to take over a hill overlooking the city and decided they needed a spiral tunnel up which they could transport cannonballs and weapons to the top of the hill. Neither the city of Drammen nor the Norwegians in general have forgotten the German occupation and the difficulties it brought.

Interestingly, Drammen was also the first Norwegian city to which Turks came, to work at a paper factory. As Drammen was founded in the middle of a forest, it was a natural spot for a paper factory. Since that time, many more Turks have come to live in Norway, and the Turkish population currently numbers around 16,000. There are approximately 79,068 Muslims who live in this cold but strikingly beautiful and memorable country.