Friday, July 8, 2011

Great vacation in Norway

Norway is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and a beautiful place. Following is a summary of background information you should know before taking a trip.

The official name of Norway is the Kingdom of Norway. The country covers an area of mainland and accompanying island territories. The total size of Norway is approximately 150,000 square miles. For comparison purposes, this makes the country slightly larger than the State of New Mexico in the United States.

The capital of the Kingdom of Norway is Oslo, which is also the biggest population center with over 520,000 residents. Other major cities of note include Bergen with just under a quarter of a million residents, Trondheim with 150,000 residents and Stavanger with roughly 110,000 residents.

The terrain of Norway can be described as extreme with high plateaus, steep fjords, mountains, and fertile valleys. The climate is temperate along the coast, but much colder inland. With its far north location, Norway experiences very long days during summer months and equally long nights during winter. During summer, it can stay light until close to midnight.

Citizens of Norway are known as Norwegians. The most recent estimate of the total population for Norway was 4,593,000 in 2006. The population is not exactly expanding with annual growth rate just above zero at.41 percent. To provide perspective, there is approximately one Norwegian for every 15 square miles of land.

Ethnicity in Norway is primarily a blend of peoples from the Scandinavian countries in antiquity. The dominant majority is a mix of Nordic, Alpine and Baltic peoples intermixed over time. Norway does not have a strong immigrant movement with only 300,000 immigrants as of 2005.

The Kingdom of Norway has two official languages - Bokmaal Norwegian and Nynorsk Norwegian. English is also widely spoken by most and taught in the school system. Small pockets of Sami and Finish speaking minorities also exist.

Why Norway Is Such A Great Vacation Destination?

There is much that can be said about traveling in Norway and what you are going to discover along the way. There is always room for more to be found in Norway, and it is a country with a rich history that is often overlooked in tourist books because of the often cold climate. Yes, it is a fact that some of the year is cold in Norway. However, this leads to much of the country's attractions, the outdoor sports in winter.

Whether you want to downhill ski, cross country ski, snowboard or learn to race a dog team, there are many experiences and opportunities that might await you on a visit to Norway. There are many different ski resorts and mountains that you can visit, each one giving you a different take on the outdoor sport, and each one giving you a different place to exhibit your skills and to learn new ones.
 There is never an end to the beauty of the places that you can travel to in Norway. You should always be prepared to be outdoors and to enjoy the climates, because when it comes to outdoor temperature, they are actually quite bearable and livable.
The snow is beautiful and breathtaking in the winter, and the flower gardens are also beautiful in the summer. There is hardly a more beautiful country on earth that you could visit than Norway.
The natural attractions are the best. There are hundreds of beautiful and unique things to see in nature in Norway. Most of best include the fjords that dot the country side, as well as the mountain farms on the west coast.

The capital in Eastern Norway offers you historical sites as well as contemporary life, and the midnight sun in the north is something you should not pass by if you are there art the right time.
If you are planning your first visit to Norway, you should be sure to include some time to spend in Oslo. This city is the forefront of technology and modern life in Norway. You can see multitudes of museums and cultural hot spots by taking a visit to Norway, and there are many affordable hotels where you can stay and where you can enjoy the country to the fullest.
Besides for the outdoor activities and the indoor museums in Oslo, there re also many monuments that you can discover, as well as simply going through the city as a normal person. Some of the best experiences in Norway can be found in the small coffee shops and book stores in any town. Simply sitting down to talk to someone who has lived there for their whole lives can teach you lessons that you have never even dreamt of learning.

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