Something about Norway The literally meaning of Norway is “the way to the North”. Norway is a country in North Europe and part of Scandinavia. Sweden, Finland and Russia are bordering Norway. The polity in Norway is a constitutional monarchy with a parliament. Norway is amongst other things a member of the UN, EFTA and NATO. Norway is one of the largest countries in size in Europe. With only 5,3 million inhabitants it is sparsely populated. A big part of the population is concentrated in the south of the country with the capital Oslo. Other big cities are Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger. No European country has such a long longitudinal stretching. Kristiansand in the south is about 1500 km away from Hammerfest in the north, approximately the same distance as between Kristiansand and Florence. The West- East- expansion on the other hand varies only between 470 km in the south and 7 km near Narvik. The landscape is characterized by the Scandinavian mountain range with sparse plateaus and the fjords at the coast. The highest mountain is the Galdhøppigen in Jotunheimen with 2469 m. A fjord is a deep, incised valley surrounded by steep mountains arose by ice masses during ice age. The longest fjord is the Sognefjord with 204 km, it is 1308 m deep. It is the longest and deepest fjord in Europe. The Nærøyfjord and the Geirangerfjord are listed in the UNESCO`s world heritage list.