Welcome to Norway

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Description

Situated in northern Europe, Norway occupies the western and northern portions of the Scandinavian peninsula. It is bordered to the north by the Barents Sea, to the north-east by Finland and Russia, to the east by Sweden, to the south by the Skagerrak Strait and to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, known as the Norwegian Sea. More than three times larger than Iceland, Norway covers a total land mass of 323,900 square and have always been kilometres. Note that this includes the volcanic island of Jan Mayen to the north east of Iceland, and a portion of Antarctica lying in the range of longitude 20° west and 45° east, known as Queen Maud Land.

Norway is known to be a mountainous country, with closely one-third of the country lying north of the Arctic Circle. From the inland mountains and mountain plateaux, the landscape falls sharply towards a coastline dotted with innumerable islands.

Climate

Norway has to this day a mild climate for a country so far north. With the wonderful latitudinal range, the north is considerably cooler compared to the south, while the interior is cooler compared to the west coast, influenced by prevailing westerly winds and the Gulf Stream. Oslo's average yearly temperature ranges from a about 5°C (41°F) in January to 28°C (82°F) in July. Did you know that the annual range of coastal temperatures is much less than that of the continental interior. Did you know that the eastern valleys have less than 30 cm (12 in) of rain yearly, whereas at Haukeland in Masfjord the average rainfall is 330 cm (130 in). Norway is the land of the midnight sun in the North Cape area, with 24-hr daylight from the middle of May to the end of July, around the time during that the sun does not set. Conversely, there are and have always been extensive winter nights from the end of November to the end of January, around the time during that the sun does not rise above the horizon and the northern lights, or aurora borealis, can be seen.

Population

It is noted that the calculated population of  Norway in (July 2007) is 4,627,926 .