Population and Demographics

Ethnicities

Ethnically, the residents of Norway are predominantly ethnic Norwegians who are of North Germanic / Nordic descent, although in the far north there are communities of the Scandanivian native people Sami who settled the area around 8,000 years ago, probably from continental Europe trough the Norwegian coast and trough Finland along the inland glaciers. The Sami are considered an indigenous people and traditionally live in the central and northern parts of Norway and Sweden, as well as in northern Finland and in Russia on the Kola Peninsula. The largest concentration of Sami people is, however, found in Norway's capital and main city, Oslo.

Norway has a small Finnish community originally from Finland, like the Sami the Finns speak a native Finno-Ugric language in addition to Norwegian, but Finland is culturally a Scandinavian country like Norway.

The national minorities of Norway include Scandinavian Romani, Roma ("Gypsy"), Jews, and Kvener, as well as a small Finnish community. In recent years, Norway has become home to increasing numbers of immigrants, foreign workers, and asylum-seekers from various parts of the world (mostly from Europe and Asia). Norway had a steady influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe (i.e. Russians from Russia), Southern Europe (i.e. Greeks, Albanians or Kosovars, and former Yugoslavians), and Middle East countries (Arabs, especially Iraqis and Palestinians), as well as Turks. After ten Eastern European countries joined the EU in 2004, there has also been an influx of workers from Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

In recent years, immigration has accounted for more than half of Norway's population growth. As of 2005, 7.9% of the population were immigrants. The largest immigrant groups by country of origin are Pakistanis, Swedes, Iraqis, Danes, Vietnamese and Somalis. (Here, immigrants are defined as persons with two foreign-born parents.) At the beginning of 2006, there were 387 000 persons in Norway with an immigrant background, comprising 8.3 per cent of the total population. The Iraqi immigrant population has shown a large increase over the last years, and is now the third largest immigrant group in Norway after Pakistanis and Swedes. Norway experienced a steady influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe (mostly Russians), Southern Europe (mostly Albanians from Albania or Kosovo) and the Middle East (mostly Turks from Turkey).

Religion

Though just under 86% of Norwegians are members of the state Church of Norway, the country is highly secularized. Many remain in the Church solely to avail themselves of rites of passage such as baptism, confirmation, marriage and burial. These rites have a strong cultural standing in Norway.

Other Christian denominations total about 4.4% (the Evangelical Lutheran Free Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Pentecostal congregations, the Methodist Church, the Latter Day Saints Church, Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses and others). Among non-Christian religions, Islam is the largest with around 1.8% represented in the Arab, Kosovar, Pakistani, Somalian and Turkish communities, and other religions comprise less than 1% each, (including Judaism). Indian immigrants introduced Hinduism in Norway, but are only 0.50% of the population. There are eleven Buddhist organisations, grouped under the Buddhistforbundet organisation, which make up 0.42% of the population. Around 1.5% adhere to the secular Human Ethical Union.

In common with other Scandinavian peoples, Norway's ancestral inhabitants - the Vikings - followed pre-Christian pantheist/polytheist religions. By the end of the tenth century, when Norway had been Christianized, the Norse religion and practices associated with the ancient worship of the Aesir gods were prohibited. Anti-heathenry laws, however, were removed early in the twentieth century.

In 2005, a survey conducted by Gallup International in sixty-five countries indicated that Norway was the least religious country in Western Europe, with 36% counting themselves as being religious, 9% as being atheists, and 46% neither.

Population and Demographics

Ethnicities

Religion

Facts and Figures