Industry

With the national average income in Norway at $53,300 or 266,500 kroners per capita, Norway has a strong industry. This is easy to see when you look at Norway's top industries which include: Petroleum and gas, food processing, ship building, pulp and paper prouducts, metals,hydro electric power, timber mining, textiles, fishing, transport equipment and electronics. UK, Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany and U.S. are the major countries that Norway exports its goods to. What also helps in Norways strong economy is it balances its exports with an almost equal ammount of imports from countries like Sweden,Germany, China, Denmark, UK and the U.S.. Other things that aid in its strong economy is its strong agriculture which make a big part of Norways industry. With an unemployment rate of only 3.2% and a work force of 3.6 million people we deffinitely stay busy.

Religion

There is of course freedom of religion in Norway, meaning that everyone is entitled to follow their own faith. No one is to be  discriminated against because of his or her religious faith.
The two biggest religions in Norway are roman catholic and evangelical Lutheran christian.

Roman Catholic:

Distinctive Roman Catholic beliefs include the special authority of the pope, the ability of saints to intercede on behalf of believers, the concept of Purgatory as a place of afterlife purification before entering Heaven, and the doctrine of transubstantiation - that is, that the bread used in the Eucharist becomes the true body of Christ when blessed by a priest.
Evangelical Lutheran Christian: Christians who believed what Martin Luther, a German reformer said. Also very similar to roman catholic.


The largest non-Christian religion in Norway is Islam. Other active Christian communities in Norway are the Roman Catholics, the Pentecostal society, Baptists, Methodists and many others.
Like in most country's, many people do not have a religion at all, and the number of members in the Norwegian Humanist Association is about equal of the numbers with the Islam faith.

Close to 83% of people in Norway are part of the church of Norway but only 3% of people attend church regularly on Sunday. The church bells ring at 10:00 am every Sunday morning and again at 11 pm at night. I never attended church other than when i was baptised and for my mom's wedding.

Gun Laws in Norway

Gun ownership or usage is one of the most controversal topics throughout the world. With that being said this is a good topic to talk about, and explain Norway's stand point on this controversal issue. The gun regulation in Norway is restricted. Norway has enacted a gun control called the Firearms and Ammunition act of 1961. This act is the law that guides the gun control in Norway. For you to own, possess or transfer a fire arm or ammuntion you must have a license. To obtain a firearm license you must take what we would call a hunters safety course and have a valid reason for owning a firearm. Once the license is obtained you are able to possess rifles, hand guns, semi and fully automatic assault weapons. While dealers are not required to keep a record of the firearms sold, the citzen is required to register in a public registry the firearms or ammunition acquired, transferred or possessed.In Norway to sell a firearm in Norway you must possess a valid dealer license, and the private sale of firearms or amunition is against the law. In Norway the government dictates how citizens or state agencies must store firearms and ammunition. Also the possession of a fire arm in public prohibited. All of these laws apply to air power guns such as paintball guns and airsoft guns as well. While Norway does have strict gun laws, shooting sports is a major hobby in Norway.

Education System

To compare the Norweigan school system with the American school system, norwegians look like geniuses. To lay out an out line from first grade to second grade it would look a little something like this:

School subjects at primary level

• Christian knowledge and religious and ethical education
• Norwegian
• Mathematics
• Social Studies
• Art and Crafts
• Science and the Environment
• English (is compulsory from the primary level)
• Music
• Home Economics
• Physical Education
• Compulsory additional subjects

When you have completed first grade it is mandatory that you know norwegian and english fluently.

You are then given an option to choose another language to learn i.e french, german, spanish or any other foreign language that is widely spoken across the world. You also have to the option to further learn in depth, a language that you are already familiar with or have basic knowledge of.

As for grade levels, it is mandatory to complete 10 years of school. During the time i was there it was 7 then in 1997 it increased to 9. However for guys, when they turn nineteen they are drafted into the military and have to serve for nineteen months.

overall i am very pleased with the system that they have in Norway. Their education is amazing and people are incredibly smart.

Agriculture

Most of Norway is made up of farmland. Especially in the southern part of the country. Lots of corn fields and wheat farms.  Before the industrial recolution, norway's economy was laregly based on agriculture but since the expansion and growing of services and oil related industries there has been a major decline in Norway's agriculture.

Agriculture in Norway accounts for about 2 percent of annual GDP, and only 3 percent of the land is cultivated,which seems natural, since it can get pretty cold, the thin soils, Grains are grown only in the south while western Norway has some livestock raising and dairy farming. The leading crops in 1998 were cereal, particularly barley, wheat, and oats (total output of 1.3 million metric tons),and potatoes (400,320 tons). In 1998, there were 2.5 million sheep, 998,400 cattle, and 768,400 hogs in the country. Norway is still a major fishing nation and is self-sufficient in many agricultural products, but fruits, vegetables, and most grains are all imported. Agriculture and fishing remain protected by the Norwegian government

Pest forecasting of Norwegian agriculture:

A network of 52 weather stations in Norway is operated by the Norwegian Crop Research Institute. The main goal of the network is to reduce the use of pesticides, resulting in better crops at lower costs in a better environment. information from the stations is used in forecasting models that look to provide early warning of conditions such as apple scab, potato late blight, cabbage moth, cereal diseases and turnip moth. The stations measure air temperature, humidity, wind speed, leaf wetness, and global radiation. Some stations also measure rainfall, soil temperature, and sunshine.

 

Nightlife

Norway seems to come alive at night. legal drinking age there is 18 so you will be seeing a lot more teenagers out, the wild party kind. You have clubs and bars here in america and of course all over the world. However, unlike in America, they are geared more towards dancing than drinking. You see a lot less of these drugs you see in the clubs here, even though the main music played in Norway is "dubstep" or techno which are both often associated with ecstacy. As stated before the bars are more geared towards dancing, and where you see a lot of "clubs" have a large bar, a lot of seating and a small dance floor; in Norway you see a small bar, very little seating around the edges of the club and the rest is a dance floor. The clubs in Norway are typically a lot bigger as well. While there is a lot of alcohol consumed when they go out, due to the fact that alcohol is an everyday drink much like juice in America , typically they dont drink until the pass out, and little with focus on drugs, you dont see very many people at work hung over or even call in sick. Another huge differenece is that Norwegians for the most part party everynight, and even if the party is simply at someones house they always get dressed up 'to go out." Needless to say, if you're down to party, come to Norway!

Favorite pastime and Hobbies

Skiing, once a means of transportation, is now the national sport. Children learn to ski at an early age. Downhill, cross-country, and slalom skiing are all popular. Other winter sports include iceskating and bandy, a game similar to hockey. Soccer (called "football") and tennis are popular summer sports.
Norway has some of the biggest ski resorts in europe and are usually up on the tops of moountains as there is snow year round.     

Norwegians enjoy many outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing (including ice fishing), hiking, boating, and white-water rafting. Watching televised competitive skiing and speed skating events is a favorite pastime. Many people take skiing vacations in the mountains during Easter week. Summer vacations are often spent either in cabins in the mountains or in the area between the cities of Stavanger and Krageroe in the south. The fjords there are sheltered from the wind and sea, and vacationers enjoy swimming, sailing, relaxing on the sandy beaches, and viewing waterfalls.     

Norwegian craftspeople turn out knitted and woven goods, and wood products including utensils, bowls, and furniture. Another leading craft is the production of traditional Norwegian costumes. Folk dancing and singing are enjoying a revival and are practiced at festivals throughout the country