Conference turris::scandia

    For a start, I invite you to comb this conference for tidbits of
    information.  Try doing a "DIR/TITL=NORW" to begin your browsing.
    If time until the report deadline allows, you might consider contacting
    some off the information agencies listed in Note 2 of this conference.
    The later replies (.16, .17) have the most current contact information.

    From: jonnya@ifi.uio.no (Jonny Axelsson)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: News from Gnoreway
    Date: 27 Oct 90 16:39:51 GMT
    Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University in Oslo, Norway
 
    Indirectly I've been asked to provide some news from Norway. I don't
    think I'll keep this up, though. 
 
    Oslo
 
    The mayor of Oslo, Albert Nordengen (from the conservative party),
    resigned a few days ago. This was after a scathing report on several
    major politicians (mostly from the conservative party, but also from
    the social democrats and the right wing party) in the top hierarchy
    commisioned by the city council itself. The commision came after heavy
    media and public pressure. The current government has long been
    considered incompetent, the last year they have also been considered
    corrupt. Nordengen is the first one on the political level to leave,
    but there are several people on bureaucratic and top bureaucratic level
    under arrest or convicted. Oslo has moved from being a showcase of
    conservative politics to being an continous embarrassment for the party
    (who hasn't been doing that bad on a national level). The socialist
    block look forward to a comfortable victory in this previously blue
    bastion in the local election next year.
 
    One intriguing consequence of this is that the vice-mayor, Petter N.
    Myhre (of the right wing party) automatically becomes mayor, to the
    dismay of every political party apart from the right wing party itself,
    and the communists that gleefully expect further disasters for the
    conservative coalition (the Oslo constituency must be one of the few
    communist groups in the world that has a good prospect of a healthy
    growth in an upcoming election). But though an overwhelming majority
    doesn't want mr. Myhre as major, that is the rule of the game. It has
    never happened before that a mayor has resigned (they had to find a
    loophole to make it at all possible), and the provisions make it clear
    that the vice mayor becomes mayor if the mayor withdraws. The labor
    organ, Arbeiderbladet, called Myhre "the Dan Quayle of Oslo". According
    to a poll of Aftenposten 31% had no confidence in Myhre, 40% had little
    confidence. 1% had great confidence. Myhre was among the politicians
    criticized in the report for acting in violation of Norwegian law.
 
 
    Other things are as usual. All life in the Aker river has been killed
    once more by industrial waste. This happens regularily (this is almost
    the 50th time there has been a major leakage to the river). Personally,
    I'm happy they are satisfied with polluting the river, as I live nearby
    all the major polluting industries.
 
 
    Norway
 
    The conservative coalition government is again in trouble. This time it
    is doubtful they'll make it. Most likely candidates: A pure
    conservative government or a social democrat government supported by
    the socialists and the farmers party. 
 
 
    Heard on a popular science programme: FAO is planning a world gene bank
    backup. They want a cold and dry place with a stable political
    structure (so that whatever government wouldn't nationalize the bank).
    They were considering abandoned mine shafts Svalbard islands to the
    north of Norwegian mainland (I would have thought that Antarctica would
    have been a more natural choice). 
 
    The Russians have by the way a few months backdeclared that they will
    close down their mining operation in the same islands.
 
    Speaking of northern islands and the Russians. The nuclear test
    explosion in Novaja Selmja has made several Norwegians unhappy,
    especially in the northernmost part, as the islands are only some 600
    km away from Norwegian mainland (how come the Nevada population doesn't
    protest more than they do?), and will make the reception of Gorbachev
    as a peace price recipient in Oslo several degrees cooler.
 
 
    Europeean Community
 
    Two things last week has made Norway closer to the EC. One, Norway
    "technically" joined the Europeean Monetary Union, tying several
    economical parametres like inflation rates closer to EC. Brittain
    joined the EMU a few weeks ago. I still don't know what "technically"
    means.
 
    Two, the Swedish declaration of intent to join the EC. This may show if
    the domino theory holds. If Sweden joins, Norway and Finland is
    supposed to join. If Norway joins, Iceland is supposed to join. Austria
    has already applied for membership, and Switzerland is not very likely
    to keep out alone.
 
    Jonny
    4th floor
    Norway

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    From: Stein J�rgen Rypern <steinry@ifi.uio.no>
    Sender: steinry@ifi.uio.no (Stein J�rgen Rypern)
    Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
    Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1992 13:20:02 GMT                           
 
    Lets take a short walk through Norways system of government and
    administration:
 
    Norway is divided into 18 (19 ? No flames please, it is almost too hot
    over here today. Norway is _very_ nice this time of year :-) fylker.
    The fylke take care of hospitals, roads and high schools, plus some
    odds and ends. Governed by a elected fylkesstyre, and also have a
    'fylkesmann' which is the representative of the national government in
    the fylke (perhaps something like a governour general in Canada ?) Am
    unsure about the division of power between elected council and
    appointed fylkesmann.
 
    Next administrative level is kommune, which deals with the public
    services you use every day : fire brigades, schools, libraries, sewers
    (a suitable job for a politician isn't it :-) etc. Kommuner comes in
    several sizes from Oslo, which is pretty big, down to small kommuner on
    the coast with 2-3000 people. Oslo is big enough to subdivide further
    into 'bydeler' (litterally 'city parts' :-). Some kommuner contains
    towns, some don't, some consists of just a (larger) town plus a little
    land close to the town. 
 
    Voting for the national storting (our parliament) is by fylke, with a
    number of representatives according to number of people living in
    fylke, slightly misbalanced in favour of the rural fylker. Voting for
    fylkesstyre is by fylke, and voting for kommunestyre is by kommune. In
    all cases a party list gets a number of representatives propotional to
    the number of votes received in the area.
 
    There is a plan underway to start another large 'reform', combining
    kommuner with less than 5000 (or was it 10000 ?) people, and also
    combining some of the smaller fylker. Very unpopular with just about
    anyone in local government and with most local voters, but probably
    going to happen anyway. Proponents cite 'economy of scale' and 'more
    efficient government' as they have done every time this has come up.
    Can't recall ever seeing this happen, but who knows - miracles may
    happen :-) Probably won't happen this side of the election though,
    politicians aren't quite _that_ stupid :-)
 
    /Stein, confused by the heat and our system of government :-)
 
 
  ==========================================================================
  Stein Rypern, student      ! "The behaviour of computer users in cyberspace
  Institute of informatics   ! <..> confounds the carefully honed skills of
  University of Oslo, Norway ! lawyers to make sense ..."
  steinry@ifi.uio.no         !  Anne Branscombe, Scientific American (Sep90)

  Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
  From: jkp@cs.HUT.FI (Jyrki Kuoppala)
  Subject: CIA World Factbook 1991 on nordic countries
  Sender: usenet@nntp.hut.fi (Usenet pseudouser id)
  Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
  Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1992 14:41:44 GMT
 
    Copied from the gopher server tree, definitions for terms available
    there.
 
 
Norway
------------ Geography
Total area: 324,220 km2; land area: 307,860 km2
 
Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico
 
Land boundaries: 2,544 km total; Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km,
USSR 196 km
 
Coastline: 21,925 km (3,419 km mainland; 2,413 km large islands;
16,093 km long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations)
 
Maritime claims:
 Contiguous zone: 10 nm;
 Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation;
 Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
 Territorial sea: 4 nm
 
    Disputes: maritime boundary dispute with USSR; territorial claim in
    Antarctica (Queen Maud Land); Denmark has challenged Norway's maritime
    claims beween Greenland and Jan Mayen
 
    Climate: temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current;
    colder interior; rainy year-round on west coast
 
    Terrain: glaciated; 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
 
    Land use: arable land 3%; permanent crops 0%; meadows and pastures
    NEGL%; forest and woodland 27%; other 70%; includes irrigated NEGL%
 
    Environment: air and water pollution; acid rain
 
    Note: strategic location adjacent to sea lanes and air routes in North
    Atlantic; one of most rugged and longest coastlines in world; Norway
    and Turkey only NATO members having a land boundary with the USSR
 
------------ People
Population: 4,273,442 (July 1991), growth rate 0.5% (1991)
 
Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1991)
 
Death rate: 11 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
 
Net migration rate: 2 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
 
Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
 
Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1991)
 
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
 
Nationality: noun--Norwegian(s); adjective--Norwegian
 
Ethnic divisions: Germanic (Nordic, Alpine, Baltic) and
racial-cultural minority of 20,000 Lapps
 
Religion: Evangelical Lutheran (state church) 87.8%, other
Protestant and Roman Catholic 3.8%, none 3.2%, unknown 5.2% (1980)
 
Language: Norwegian (official); small Lapp- and Finnish-speaking
minorities
 
Literacy: 99% age 15 and over can read and write (1976 est.)
 
Labor force: 2,167,000 (September 1990); services 34.7%, commerce
18%, mining and manufacturing 16.6%, banking and financial services 7.5%,
transportation and communications 7.2%, construction 7.2%,
agriculture, forestry, and fishing 6.4% (1989)
 
Organized labor: 66% of labor force (1985)
 
------------ Government
Long-form name: Kingdom of Norway
 
Type: constitutional monarchy
 
Capital: Oslo
 
Administrative divisions: 19 provinces (fylker, singular--fylke);
Akershus, Aust-Agder, Buskerud, Finnmark, Hedmark, Hordaland, More
og Romsdal, Nordland, Nord-Trondelag, Oppland, Oslo, Ostfold,
Rogaland, Sogn og Fjordane, Sor-Trondelag, Telemark, Troms,
Vest-Agder, Vestfold
 
Independence: 26 October 1905 (from Sweden)
 
Constitution: 17 May 1814, modified in 1884
 
Dependent areas: Bouvet Island, Jan Mayen, Svalbard
 
    Legal system: mixture of customary law, civil law system, and common
    law traditions; Supreme Court renders advisory opinions to legislature
    when asked; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
 
National holiday: Constitution Day, 17 May (1814)
 
Executive branch: monarch, prime minister, State Council (cabinet)
 
Legislative branch: unicameral Parliament (Stortinget)
with an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting)
 
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Hoiesterett)
 
Leaders:
 
Chief of State--King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991); Heir
Apparent Crown Prince HAAKON MAGNUS (born 20 July 1973);
 
Head of Government--Prime Minister Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND
(since 3 November 1990)
 
Political parties and leaders:
Labor, Gro Harlem BRUNDTLAND;
Conservative, Kaci Kullmann FIVE;
Center Party, Anne Enger LAHNSTEIN;
Christian People's, Kjell Magne BONDEVIK;
Socialist Left, Eric SOLHEIM;
Norwegian Communist, Kare Andre NILSEN;
Progress, Carl I. HAGEN; Liberal, Arne FJORTOFT;
Finnmark List, leader NA
 
Suffrage: universal at age 18
 
Elections:
 
Storting--last held on 11 September 1989 (next to be held
6 September 1993);
results--Labor 34.3%, Conservative 22.2%, Progress 13.0%, Socialist Left
10.1%, Christian People's 8.5%, Center Party 6.6%, Finnmark List 0.3%,
other 5%;
seats--(165 total) Labor 63, Conservative 37, Progress 22, Socialist
Left 17, Christian People's 14, Center Party 11, Finnmark List 1
 
Communists: 15,500 est.; 5,500 Norwegian Communist Party (NKP);
10,000 Workers Communist Party Marxist-Leninist (AKP-ML, pro-Chinese)
 
Member of: AfDB, AsDB, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, COCOM, CSCE, EBRD,
ECE, EFTA, ESA, FAO, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, IDA,
IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INMARSAT, INTELSAT, INTERPOL,
IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LORCS, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, OECD, PCA, UN, UNAVEM,
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIIMOG, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO
 
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Kjeld VIBE; Chancery at
2720 34th Street NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 333-6000;
there are Norwegian Consulates General in Houston, Los Angeles,
Minneapolis, New York, and San Francisco, and Consulates in Miami and New
Orleans;
 
US--Ambassador Loret Miller RUPPE; Embassy at Drammensveien 18,
0244 Oslo 2 (mailing address is APO New York 09085); telephone [47]
(2) 44-85-50
 
Flag: red with a blue cross outlined in white that extends to the
edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist
side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
 
------------ Economy
    
    Overview: Norway is a prosperous capitalist nation with the resources
    to finance extensive welfare measures. Since 1975 exploitation of large
    crude oil and natural gas reserves has helped maintain high growth; for
    the past five years growth has averaged 4.1%, the fourth-highest among
    OECD countries. Growth slackened in 1987-88 partially because of the
    sharp drop in world oil prices, but picked up again in 1989. The
    Brundtland government plans to push hard on environmental issues, as
    well as cutting unemployment, improving child care, upgrading major
    industries, and negotiating an EC - European Free Trade Association
    (EFTA) agreement on an Economic European Area.
 
GDP: $74.2 billion, per capita $17,400; real growth rate 3.1%
(1990)
 
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.1% (1990)
 
Unemployment rate: 5.2% (1990, excluding people in
job-training programs)
 
Budget: revenues $47.9 billion; expenditures $48.7 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (1990)
 
Exports: $33.8 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
 commodities--petroleum and petroleum products 25%, natural gas
 11%, fish 7%, aluminum 6%, ships 3.5%, pulp and paper;
 partners--EC 64.9%, Nordic countries 19.5%, developing countries
 6.9%, US 6.2%, Japan 1.7% (1990)
 
Imports: $26.8 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
 commodities--machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation
 equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships;
 partners--EC 46.3%, Nordic countries 25.7%, developing countries
 14.3%, US 8.1%, Japan 4.7% (1990)
 
External debt: $15 billion (December 1990)
 
Industrial production: growth rate 3.6% (1990)
 
Electricity: 26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced,
28,950 kWh per capita (1989)
 
Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp
and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing
 
Agriculture: accounts for 2.8% of GNP and 6.4% of labor force;
among world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value
of crops; over half of food needs imported; fish catch of 1.76 million
metric tons in 1989
 
Economic aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-89), $4.4
billion
 
Currency: Norwegian krone (plural--kroner);
1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 ore
 
Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1--5.9060 (January
1991), 6.2597 (1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988), 6.7375 (1987), 7.3947
(1986), 8.5972 (1985)
 
Fiscal year: calendar year
 
------------ Communications
Railroads: 4,223 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Norwegian State
Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double
track); 4 km other
 
Highways: 79,540 km total; 18,600 km concrete, bituminous, stone
block; 19,980 km bituminous treated; 40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and
earth
 
Inland waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; 1.5-2.4 m draft
vessels maximum
 
Pipelines: refined products, 53 km
 
Ports: Oslo, Bergen, Fredrikstad, Kristiansand, Stavanger,
Trondheim
 
Merchant marine: 867 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 23,270,845
GRT/41,199,182 DWT; includes 11 passenger, 23 short-sea passenger,
121 cargo, 3 passenger-cargo, 24 refrigerated cargo, 14 container, 50
roll-on/roll-off cargo, 18 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 186
petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 98 chemical tanker, 69
liquefied gas, 1 specialized tanker, 35 combination ore/oil, 204 bulk, 9
combination bulk; note--the government has created a captive register,
the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS), as a subset of the
Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of
convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians; the majority of
ships (777) under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS
 
Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft
 
Airports: 104 total, 103 usable; 64 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m;
16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
 
Telecommunications: high-quality domestic and international
telephone, telegraph, and telex services; 3,102,000 telephones;
stations--8 AM, 46 (1,400 relays) FM, 55 (2,100 relays) TV; 4 coaxial
submarine cables; communications satellite earth stations operating in
the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems
 
------------ Defense Forces
Branches: Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air
Force, Home Guard
 
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 1,124,201; 942,158 fit for
military service; 31,813 reach military age (20) annually
 
Defense expenditures: $3.3 billion, 3.3% of GDP (1990)
 

    From: clarinews@clarinet.com (UPI)
    Newsgroups: clari.news.gov.international,clari.news.europe,
	clari.news.law.crime,clari.news.hot.east_europe,clari.news.hot.ussr
    Subject: King pardons KGB spy Arne Treholt
    Date: Fri, 3 Jul 92 6:08:08 PDT
 
	COPENHAGEN, Denmark (UPI) -- Norway's King Harald Friday issued a
royal pardon for Arne Treholt, a former high ranking foreign ministry
official sentenced in 1985 to 20 years in prison for giving highly
sensitive NATO secrets to the Soviet KGB.
	"Arne Treholt has been pardoned and is already out of prison," said
a foreign ministry spokesman.
	He added the royal pardon had "no strings attached."
	Treholt was arrested by Norway's intelligence police Jan. 20, 1984 at
Oslo's international Fornebu Airport. At the time a high ranking foreign
ministry official, Treholt was on his way to Vienna and was carrying
sensitive documents in his attache case.
	During his trial, at which 71 witnesses and 20,000 documents were
produced in evidence, the court heard how the former junior minister,
who was a close confidant of high-ranking Labor Party ministers and was
privy to NATO defense secrets, had for years passed material on to his
KGB controller, Gen. Gennadi Titov.
	The former diplomat also was sentenced for receiving money from the
Iraqi intelligence service.
	Treholt has consistently denied having spied for the Soviet Union and
said he had only held meetings with Titov in an attempt to improve East-
West relations at the height of the Cold War.
	An appeal of the sentence to Norway's High Court was rejected, as
were previous applications for a royal pardon.
	Treholt's pardon came months after his second wife, whom he married
in prison, died of a drug overdose.
	Norwegian Justice Minister Kari Gjesteby said Friday that the
decision had been taken to pardon Treholt after new reports about his
health. An attorney for Treholt said that while he was in good physical
condition he was suffering from deep depression.
	Friday's pardon ends 8 1/2 years of bitter controversy in Norway over
the case against Treholt, a successful, soft-spoken, well-groomed man
described as "every mother-in-law's dream."
	Evidence produced during the court case, including pictures of
surreptitious meetings between Treholt and Titov and surveillance
reports, left no doubt in the judges' minds that Treholt was guilty, but
his sentence to Norway's severest punishment has repeatedly been
criticized.
	Treholt's consistent argument, both at his trial and during
interviews following his imprisonment, that he had met foreign
intelligence officers in the course of duty and in the interests of
East-West detente won some sympathy.
	But the Norwegian authorities, who for years tried to track down a
high-ranking spy in their midst, have hitherto been uncompromising in
refusing Treholt a pardon.
	Treholt's name as the deep-throat KGB mole in Norway's administration
is believed to have been passed on to British intelligence by Oleg
Gordievsky, the KGB London controller and British double agent who was
smuggled out of Moscow and who was a Scandinavia specialist.

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic                                   
    From: OPALONEVA@FINABO.ABO.FI (Olli-Jukka Paloneva Tkkk)
    Subject: Interesting Norway
    Sender: usenet@abo.fi (Usenet NEWS)
    Organization: ABO AKADEMI UNIVERSITY, FINLAND
    Date: Mon, 3 Jan 1994 02:37:11 GMT
 
    Norway is a well organised Lutheran and Social-Democratic wealth-fare
    state with very national(istic) small bourgeous regionalism and strong
    central government. Public expenditure is heavily based on oil and gas
    industry, the state oil administration and the state-owned oil company
    Statoil. The tax imposed on oil/gas profits is 78% but the drilling
    rights can be achieved without floor-price.
 
    Because of their regionalistic sentiments and occupation (1940-45) they
    are suspicious of bigger European entities just like the Swiss. Norway
    produces 15% of European energy and harmonisation of the energy market
    would make it impossible to fullfill regional policies though cheap
    DOMESTIC energy prices. Norwegian electricity consumption is heavy
    because of aluminium industries and fertilizer production. Among other
    threats are agricultural imports and German monetary disciplines
    carried out by ECU, which would make economy more vulnerable. NOK is
    partly dependent on SEK and thus Swedish monetary policieses affects to
    Norway.
 
    The threat visions of [EC] integration are probably best known and
    loudly said by MP John Dale, who is one of the critics and who thinks
    that Norway would probably be best of even without EEA agreement.
 
    NORWAY
 
	*	ruthless Vikings
 
	*	Det Norske Veritas / Shipping
 
	*	nice pullovers
 
	*	brown cheese
 
	*	regional patriots
 
	*	Jordan toothbrush
 
	*	fjords
 
	*	people hiking on mountains with a leather ryggsack...
 
	*	Thor Heyerdal
 
	*	Stoltenberg (peace negotiantions)
 
	*	HHenrik Ibsen
 
	*	E. Grieg (Bergen)
 
	*	high tech (Kongsberg)
 
	*	nature loving, peaceful life-style, without brassing.
 
 
Olli-Jukka Paloneva

    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic         
    From: elster@cs.cornell.edu (Anne C. Elster)
    Subject: Re: More about Norway
    Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
    Date: Tue, 4 Jan 1994 07:28:00 GMT
 
    -  Famous Norwegians (both past and current):
 
	Kristian Birkeland (physics -- "founder" of modern auroral research,
	   inventor of the electromagnetic furnace for the production of
	   nitrogen fertilizer) Together w/ businessman Sam Eyde founded
	   Norsk Hydro -- Norway's largest company and a world-scale producer
	   of among other things, chemical fertilizers and magnesium.
 
	Edvard Grieg	(composer -- celebrated his 150th b-day in 1993)
	
	Kirsten Flagstad	(soprano)
 
	Henrik Ibsen	(literature -- e.g. "Doll House" & "Peer Gynt")
 
	Edvard Munch	(painter -- e.g "The Scream")
 
	Gustav Vigeland	(sculpturer -- visit the Vigeland Park in Oslo!!!)
 
	Sofus Lie	(mathematics -- e.g. Lie Groups)
 
	Niels Henrik Abel	(mathematics -- e.g. abelian groups)
 
	Armauer Hansen	(medicine -- discovered cause of leprosy,
			 now known as Hansen's disease)
 
	Bjerknes and others 	(weather forcasting (meteorology) --
			    discoveedr idea of warm/cold frontal systems, etc)
 
	Rjukan gjengen (the heroic group that blew up Norway's heavy water
	  plant during WWII and presumably set back German nuclear efforts
	  at least 6 month (at least psychologically))
 
	The Norwegian Royal family (past and current)
 
	Tor Heyerdahl (world explorer)
	
	Roald Amundsen (Artic and antarctic explorer)
	
	Fritjof Nansen (Artic and antarctic explorer; first human to reach 90S)
	
	Monica	Kristensen (Antarctic explorer -- attempted to be the first
	   person to reach the South Pole alone (w/ dogs); recently involved
           in controversial attempt to retrieve Nansen's tent on Antarctica)
	
	Arne Naess (business man, Mont Everest climber and Diana Ross' husband)
 
	A-ha members	(pop musicians -- e.g. hit "Take On Me")
 
	Arve Tellefsen 	(violinist -- ex-1st violinist of Vienna Symph)
 
	Grete Waitz and Ingrid Kristiansen (long distance runners)
 
	
    - Uniquely Norwegian customs or social habits:
 
	Open-face sandwiches with "brun-ost" (brown chese made of
	goat&cow milk mix) rather than "peanut-butter-and-jelly)
 
	Norwegians tend to spend more time and money on housing and
	gardening than restaurant visits.
 
	Very fond of hiking and the out doors
 
	All federal documents must be written in both our written standards 
	Nynorsk and Bokmaal.
 
	Inventors of the cheese slicer and  paper clip;
	patent holder on hole-punched "disposable" keys (Trioving)
 
	World-famous sturdy tooth and dish brushes (Jordan)
 
	Developed one of the best milk-producing cows (Norsk Roedt Fe)
 
	Jarlsberg cheese
 
	Shipping (4th or 5th? largest merchant fleet)
 
	Strong Computer privacy laws, including phone company not allowed
	to keep lists of private individual calls -- phone bill instead
	determined by "ticks".
 
	Has the most no. of Internet addresses per capita
	(5 per 1000 compared with 4 per 1000 in the US)
 
	Similar statistic for no. of supercomputers/capita.
	(lots of seismic processing)
	
	Unlike the rest of the world, introducing, together with the other
	Scandinavian countries + Finland, their own HDTV standard
	called HD-Divine to be demonstrated at the Winter Olympics	
	(The "Grand Alliance" (US/EC/Japan)  will not make their final
	 recommendation to the US's FCC until early 1995 -- see pp 30-34
	IEEE Spectrum, January 1994)
 
 
    What is happening to the old Nordic notions of social protections, and
    where can one best observe that change?
 
	Taxes: 20% sales tax on everything except tobacco, alcohol, cars
		and certain other "luxury items" than may have several
		hundred % sale tax! Lots of income tax
		Everyone bitches about taxes!
		Having to file income tax forms by Jan 31, but not seeing
		tax returns (if you're only so lucky) until fall.
 
		Gasoline prices above $4/gallon despite being a major oil
		exporting country.
 
	Our taxes include %1 of GNP ear-marked for foreign aide, mostly
	hand-out to Third World Countries -- together with voluntary
	contributions Norwegians give more than any other nation per capita.
 
 
	National health plan (compare it';s feasibility to a US one) :-)
		some private clinics emerging.
 
	Unlike US patent laws, Norwegian patent law prohibits patents
	of human genomes or any other human or animal parts.
 
	How the environmentalist party became the second largest beating
	the conservatives in the last election due to their strong
	anti-EC stance.
 
	A recent attempt by one of the more conservative parties (Fremskrits-
	partiet) to bring up the issue of gays in the military was quickly
	dismissed in our parliament as a non-issue.
 
	Worried about the new Russian developments and impact on natianal
	security and costal boarder issues (fishing rights etc) w/ Russia
 
 
					Anne C. Elster
					elster@tc.cornell.edu

Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
From: tor@netcom.com (Tor Slettnes)
Subject: Re: ASCII-map of Norway, based on a map posted by
	Kimmo.Ketolainen@nic.funet.fi
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 1994 09:22:32 GMT
 
 
                                                       Hammerfest   ~-_   
      Product of Norway  ---------------------+      _/                >  
                                              |  __--             ___-~   
                                              | /            _,-_ `---_,  
                                          _--\|/            /    `--\ /   
                                         /    *            |        ,'    
                                     /'\ \  TROMS0        (        (      
             Atlantic ocean        /'   \/      _/\___    /        /      
                                 /'_,-Narvik___/ \_   `\/         |       
             Norwegian Sea     /'/'  _/  . /       ~~\             \_     
                              /`'   /    _/           |              \   
                                   /.  _/              \              |   
                                 _/ Bodoe               )            (    
                               _/    /                  \             |   
                              /     /                   /             |   
                            _/     /                    \             \   
                           /      |                 ,----+-.           (  
                          /      /                .'        )           \_
                        _/      |                 |         \            (
                       /       /                  |        /~             
                     _/       |                   >       / FINLAND       
                  __/         _)                 /       /                
              ___/    .    /~~  SWEDEN          /      /                  
           __/  Trondheim/                    _/      /                   
         ,/             <                    /      .'                    
        /                |                  /       |                     
       |      NORWAY     |                 /        |                     
       \____             |                /         |                     
       ,----'        .   /               (          |               ___---
       |       Lillehammer                \          \        __,--~~     
       |.                \                 \      _   ~-_  _*~Helsinki    
      Bergen        Oslo /                  \    <_>     ~---~~           
       |             *  |                    >                      ______
       `\           | | |         Stockholm*/                _-*~~~~      
        `.         /   \|                 /~              <><             
      Stavanger ,-'     \               _/     __          <__>\   ESTONIA
          `\___/         .Gothenburg   /      < /               ~-,_______
 

    Hello,
    
    Does anyone of you know the phone number of "Hansa brewery" located
    in Bergen Norway? Thanks.
    
    Ohh BTW, congratulations with a very successfull winter olympics in
    Lillehammer, a sure spot for me now to visit one day. I wish I could
    have been there during the olympics.
    
    Jan.

  From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuter/Alister Doyle)
  Newsgroups: clari.world.europe.northern,clari.biz.industry.banking,
	clari.world.europe.western,clari.biz.finance.services
  Subject: Norway wants to control top two banks until 1997
  Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 13:10:05 PDT
 
	 OSLO, April 27 (Reuter) - Norway's Labour government said on
Wednesday it wants to extend state control of the country's top
two commercial banks until 1997, rejecting calls for a faster
reprivatisation after a state bailout.
	 Den norske Bank and Christiania Bank og Kreditkasse returned
to profit last year after gigantic losses on lending forced the
state to take them over in the early 1990s.
	 "The central proposal is that the state in the current
parliamentary period will have an ownership share in our two
biggest commercial banks...of more than 50 percent," Finance
Minister Sigbjoern Johnsen told NRK public television.
	 The parliament elected last year lasts until 1997.
	 The state, which has pumped 22 billion crowns ($3 billion)
into the banking sector to keep it afloat, now owns 69 percent
of Christiania and 87 percent of Den norske Bank (DnB).
	 DnB is planning a share issue of about 2.0 billion crowns 
($290 million) in the second quarter of 1994, which will cut the
stake to about 70 percent, DnB spokesman Jarl Veggan said.
Christiania had a similar issue late last year.
	 Johnsen said that after 1997 he wants the state to retain at
least a third of the shares in the two banks -- enough to block
any changes in the banks' statutes. The proposals have to be
approved by parliament.
	 He said that the main opposition Conservative party wanted a
"fast privatisation of our banks and ours is no such plan". A
Conservative spokesman said it was unnecessary for the state to
keep steering the banks.
	 "We must base ourselves on the idea that the state...shall
contribute to ensuring national ownership of these two banks and
that important decisions are made in Norway," Johnsen said.
	 "As an illustration, ownership share of down towards a third
will be enough to block any proposal, for instance, to move the
decision-making of the bank out of the country's borders."
	 Norway's banks ran up massive losses from the late 1980s,
prompted by deregulation, lax lending and a slowdown in the
economy after North Sea oil prices crashed in 1986.
	 Christiania, once one of the brightest stars of the Oslo
bourse, set off a near crash of the financial sector by
declaring itself technically bankrupt in October 1991.
	 The proposal does not cover Fokus Bank, the third largest
commercial bank, which has faced even deeper problems and is 97
percent state owned.
	 Johnsen said that any sales of state shares would take place
at market rates.
	 "We have no practical problems with the state as an owner,
but there is no tradition in Norway that the state should own
banks," DnB's Veggan said.

  From: clarinews@clarinet.com (Reuter/Stella Bugge)
  Newsgroups: clari.biz.market.news,clari.biz.market,
	clari.world.europe.northern,clari.world.europe.western,
	clari.biz.world_trade,clari.biz.economy.world
  Subject: Norway stock market soon fully open to foreigners
 Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 8:20:04 PDT
 
	 OSLO, April 27 (Reuter) - Norwegian limits on foreign
investors are to be abolished from January 1 next year, but
analysts don't expect an avalanche of pent-up demand to hit the
Oslo bourse.
	 The European Economic Area, which links the European Free
Trade Association and the European Union, means Oslo can no
longer impose a 33 percent foreign ownership restriction in most
Norwegian firms, which are now preparing to merge their
restricted and free share classes.
	 "A gradual adaption is taking place. There will be no raid,"
said Gunnar Holen, chief analyst with Handelsbanken Equities.
	 Foreigners have for years priced Norwegian shares higher
than domestic investors due to limited supply, pushing up the
price of the free A shares compared with the ordinary A shares.
But the gap is being wiped out as the January 1 deadline nears.
	 "The price of the free shares has fallen," said Jan Petter
Sissener, a partner with brokerage house Sirius Securities.
	 In August 1993, there was for instance a 10 crown ($1.3)
difference between Aker's ordinary A shares and its free A
shares -- a gap which has now narrowed to just three crowns
($0.41).
	 In Elkem, which has proposed to merge its two share classes,
the A shares trade at 95 crowns ($13.07) and the free A shares
at 96 ($13.20)
	 The scrapped ownership restrictions apply to investors from
all EFTA and European Union countries.
	 "The move is positive and means improved liquidity," said
Handelsbanken's Holen, adding that it would also make Norwegian
shares weigh more heavily on stock market indices abroad.
	 Parliament will later this year vote on a proposal which
scraps foreign ownership restrictions, but where any purchase of
more than a third of a firm -- whether by a foreigner or a
Norwegian -- has to be cleared by the authorities.
	 But figures from the Oslo bourse show foreigners have often
not filled their current quota, except for the insurance sector.
	 Marius Ryel, a senior vice president with the Oslo bourse
legal department, said most industrial firms would probably
decide to merge their share classes at shareholders meetings
held in May-June, with the change taking effect from January 1.
	 "But on average, foreigners have not filled the current
quota they can hold of Norwegian shares, so this is not a kettle
under pressure. There is no reason to expect a massive raid into
the Norwegian share market," Ryel said.

    From: uharhan@mcl.ucsb.edu (Hans J. Haraldsen)
    Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
    Subject: Re: Norwegian Red Letter Days
    Date: 2 Jun 1994 20:49:04 GMT
    Organization: University of California, Santa Barbara
 
   Offisielle flaggdager / Official flag-flying days (1994):
   January 1st	    Nyttaarsdag / New Year's Day
   February 21nd    Kong Harald V's foedselsdag / King Harald V's birthday
   April 3rd	    Paaskedag / Easter Sunday
   May 1st	    Off. hoeytidsdag / Labour Day
   May 8th	    Frigjoeringsdag 1945 / Liberation Day 1945
   May 17th	    Grunnlovsdag 1814 / Constitution Day 1814
   May 22nd	    Pinsedag / Whit Sunday
   June 7th	    Unionsopploesningen 1905 / Union Dissolution 1905
   July 4th  	    Dronning Sonjas foedselsdag / Queen Sonja's birthday
   July 20th	    Kronprins Haakons foedselsdag / Prince Haakon's birthday
   July 29th	    Olsok / St. Olave's Day
   September 22nd   Prinsesse Martha Louises foedselsdag / Princess Martha 
  		    Louises birthday
   Desember 25th    Juledag / Christmas day
 
And also:
Valgdager ved stortingsvalg / Election days to the Storting
 
And also:
July 30th	Min foedselsdag / My birthday
 
--
Sincerely,
Hans