Geography

Norway comprises the western part of Scandinavia in Northern Europe. The rugged coastline, broken by massive fjords and thousands of islands, stretches over 25,000 km. Norway shares a 2,542 km land border with Sweden, Finland, and Russia to the east. To the west and south, Norway is bordered by the Norwegian Sea, the North Sea, and Skagerak. The Barents Sea washes on Norway's northern coasts.

At 323,802 sq km (or 385,155 sq km including Jan Mayen, Svalbard, and other overseas possessions), Norway is larger than both Italy and Great Britain, but somewhat smaller than Germany.

Norway is a very rugged and mountainous country, containing a great variety of natural features caused by prehistoric glaciers and varied topography. The most noticeable of these are the fjords, deep grooves cut into the land that flooded with water. The largest of these is Sognefjorden. Norway also contains many glaciers and waterfalls.

Norway is one of the world's most northerly countries, and one of Europe's most mountainous countries with large areas dominated by the Scandinavian Mountains; average elevation is 460 m and 32% of the mainland is located above the tree line. The country-length chain of peaks is geologically continuous with the mountains of Scotland, Ireland and, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the Appalachian Mountains of North America. Geologists hold that all these formed a single range prior to the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea.

Terrain

Glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented by fjords; arctic tundra only in the extreme northeast (largely found on the Varanger Peninsula). Frozen ground all-year can also be found in the higher mountain areas and in the interior of Finnmark county. Numerous glaciers are still found in Norway.

Physical Geography

The Scandinavian Mountains is the most defining feature of the country. Starting with Setesdalsheiene north of the southern Skagerrak coast, the mountains goes north, comprising large parts of the country, and intersected by the many fjords of Vestlandet. This part includes Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen (with Galdhøpiggen 2469 m), Sognefjell and Trollheimen in the north, with large glaciers, such as Jostedalsbreen, Folgefonna and Hardangerjøkulen. The mountain chain swings eastwards south of Trondheim, with ranges such as Dovrefjell and Rondane, and reaches to the border with Sweden, where they are mostly gently sloping plateaus. The mountains then follow the border in a northeasterly direction (known as Kjølen). The mountains are intersected by many fjords in Nordland and Troms, where they become more alpine and creates many islands as they meet the sea. The Scandinavian mountains forms the Lyngen Alps and reaches into northwestern Finnmark, gradually becoming lower from Altafjord towards Nordkapp (North Cape), where they finally ends at the shores of the Barents sea.

The Scandinavian Mountains have naturally divided the country in physical regions; valleys radiate from the mountains in all directions. The following physical regions will only partially correspond to traditional regions and counties in Norway.

Southern Coast

The southern Skagerrak and North Sea coast is the lowland south of the mountain range, from Stavanger in the west to the western reaches of the outer part of the Oslofjord in the east. In this part of the country, valleys tend to follow a north - south direction. This area is mostly a hilly area, but with some very flat areas such as Jæren and Lista.

Southeast

The land east of the mountains (corresponding to Østlandet, most of Telemark and Røros) is dominated by valleys going in a north - south direction in the eastern part, and a more northwest - southeast direction further west, and the valleys congregate on the Oslofjord. The longest valleys in the country are Østerdal and Gudbrandsdal. This part also contains larger areas of lowland surrounding the Oslofjord, as well as the Glomma river and lake Mjøsa.

Western Fjords

The land west of the mountains (corresponding to Vestlandet north of Stavanger) is more dominated by the mountain chain, as the mountains goes all the way to the coast, albeit gradually becoming lower towards the coast. This part is dominated by large fjords, the largest are Sognefjord and Hardangerfjord. Geirangerfjord is often regarded as the ultimate fjord scenery. The coast is protected by a chain of skerries (the Skjærgård) arranged to parallel the coast and provide the beginning of a protected passage almost the entire 1,600 km route from Stavanger to Nordkapp. The fjords and most valleys generally goes in a west - east direction, and further north a more northwest - southeast direction.

Trondheim Region

The land north of Dovre (corresponding to Trøndelag except Røros) comprises a more gentle landscape with more rounded shapes and mountains, and with valleys congregating on the Trondheimsfjord, where they open up and forms a larger lowland area. Further north is the valley of Namdalen, opening up in the Namsos area. However, the Fosen peninsula, and the most northern coast (Leka) is more dominated by mountains and more narrow valleys.

Northern Fjords

The land further north (corresponding to Nordland, Troms and northwestern Finnmark) is again more dominated by pointed mountains going all the way to the coast, and numerous fjords. The fjords and valleys generally lie in a west - east direction in the southern part of this area, and a more northwest - southeast direction further north. The Saltfjellet mountain range is an exception, as the valleys goes in a more north - south direction from these mountains. This long area comprises many large islands, including Lofoten, Vesterålen and Senja.

Far Northeast

The interior and the land east of Nordkapp (corresponding to Finnmarksvidda and eastern Finnmark) is less dominated by mountains, and is mostly below 400 m. The interior is dominated by the large Finnmarksvidda plateau. There are large, wide fjords going in a north - south direction. This coast lacks the small islands forming the skerries so typical of the Norwegian coast. Furthest to the east, the Varangerfjord goes in an east - west direction, and is the only large fjord in the country opening up towards the east.

Svalbard

Further north, in the Arctic ocean, lies the Svalbard archipelago, which is also dominated by mountains, but these mountains are mostly covered by large glaciers, especially the eastern part of the archipelago, where glaciers cover more than 90%; Austfonna is the largest glacier in Europe. Unlike the mainland, these glaciers calves directly in the open ocean.

Jan Mayen

To the far northwest, halfway towards Greenland, is the island Jan Mayen, where Beerenberg is found, the only active volcano in Norway.

Bouvet Island

Located in the South Atlantic Ocean at 54°S and mostly covered by glaciers, this island is one of the most remote islands in the world, only inhabited by seals and birds.

Peter I Island

This island in the South Pacific Ocean at 69°S; 90°W is dominated by glaciers and a volcano. As with Bouvet Island, this island is regarded as an external dependency, and not part of the Kingdom. However, the claim to Peter I Island is suspended by the Antarctic Treaty due to the location south of 60°S.

Queen Maud Land

Norway's claim in Antarctica. This large, sectorial area stretches to the South Pole and is completely dominated by the world's largest ice sheet, but with some impressive nunataks penetrating above the ice. The Troll Research Station manned by Norway is located on a snow free mountain slope, the only station in Antarctica not to be located on the ice.

Light, Timezone and Tide

Areas in Norway located north of the Arctic Circle will have midnight sun and corresponding winter darkness, the length of both depends on the latitude. In Longyearbyen, the upper part of the sun disc is above the horizon (provided clear view against the northern horizon) from April 19 to August 23, and the winter darkness lasts from October 27 - February 14. The corresponding dates for Nordkapp is from May 11 - July 31, and November 19 - January 22. For Tromsø, the dates are May 17 - July 25, and November 26 - January 15; and for Bodø from May 30 - July 12 and December 16 - December 27. The winter darkness is not totally dark on the mainland; there is twilight for a few hours around noon in Tromsø, but in Longyearbyen there is near total darkness in the midst of the dark period. Even the southern part of the country experiences large seasonal variations in daylight; in Oslo the sun rises at 03:54 and sets 22:54 at summer solstice, but is only above the horizon from 09:18 - 15:12 at winter solstice.

The season with long daylight, when the sun sets after 20:00 in the evening, last from about April 1 - September 10 in the whole country except eastern Finnmark. The season with short daylight, when the sun sets before 16:00 in the afternoon, lasts from November 24 - January 7 in Stavanger, November 11 - January 19 in Oslo, November 4 - January 28 in Trondheim, from the last Sunday in October - February 18 in Tromsø and from October 18 - March 2 in Vardø.

The northern part of the country is located in the aurora borealis zone; the aurora is occasionally seen in the southern part of the country.

Norway uses Central European Time, corresponding to the 15° east longitude. As the country is very elongated, this is at odds with the local daylight hours at the eastern and western parts. In Vardø the local daylight hours is 64 minutes earlier, and in Bergen it is 39 minutes later. Thus, Finnmark gains early morning daylight but loses evening daylight, and Vestlandet loses early morning light but gains more evening daylight with this timezone. Daylight saving time (GMT + 2) is observed from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in October.

The difference between low tide and high tide is small on the southern coast and large in the north; ranging from on average 0.17 m in Mandal to about 0.30 m in Oslo and Stavanger, 0.90 m in Bergen, 1.80 m in Trondheim, Bodø and Hammerfest and as much as 2.17 m in Vadsø.

Environmental Issues

Environmental concerns in Norway include how to cut greenhouse gas emissions, pollution of the air and water, loss of habitat, damage to cold water coral reefs from trawlers, and salmon fish farming threatening the wild salmon by spawning in the rivers, thereby diluting the local DNA.

Acid rain has damaged lakes, rivers and forest, especially in the southernmost part of the country, and all wild salmon populations in Sørlandet has died. Due to lower emissions in Europe, acid rain in Norway has decreased by 40% from 1980 to 2003.

Another concern is a possible increase in extreme weather. In the future, climate models predict increased precipitation, especially in the areas with current high precipitation, and also predict more episodes with heavy precipitation within a short time span, which can cause landslides and local floods. Winters will probably be significant milder, and the sea ice cover in the Arctic ocean might melt altogether in summer, threatening the survival of the polar bear on Svalbard. Both terrestrial and aquatic species are expected to shift northwards, and this is already observed for some species; migratory birds arriving earlier, trees coming into leaf earlier, Mackerel becoming common in summer off the coast of North Norway. However, the total number of species in Norway are expected to rise due to new species arriving. Norwegians are statistically among the world's most worried when it comes to global warming and its effects, even if Norway is among the countries expected to be least negatively affected by global warming, with some possible gains.