Important facts about Norway

Norwegians love outdoor activities

With its magnificent landscape, Norway offers great possibilities for outdoor activities – all around the country and during the entire year. People have a very positive attitude, saying that “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.”

During the winter, you will see people going cross-country skiing in the outskirts of Oslo. It is common to join outdoor activities in all kinds of weather. For Norwegian children, it is never too cold or too rainy to play outdoors.

A large proportion of Norwegians have their own family cabin, called hytte, where they go for weekends and holidays. For hiking in the mountains, The Norwegian Trekking Association (Dnt) has hiking routes and cabins where you can eat and sleep. You can also join one of their local departments to participate in activities close to where you live.

17 May – Constitution Day – is just as important as Christmas

17 May is celebrated everywhere in Norway, by virtually everyone. On 17 May 1814, the Norwegian Constitution was ready, marking the end of 400 years of Danish rule. This important event is remembered every year all around the country, and also among Norwegians elsewhere in the world. It is a purely peaceful celebration without any military presence, and the most important part of it is the children’s parade. The largest parade is in Oslo, where the royal family greets all the school children passing by the royal palace, but smaller parades also take place in every village in the country.

Norway is a constitutional monarchy

King Harald 5 is the head of state of Norway, but like in other monarchies in Europe, the role of the King is merely representative and ceremonial. Members of the royal family – it could also be the Crown Prince and/or the Crown Princess – are present on many public occasions and celebrations. They also show their presence after a tragic event like a natural disaster or a major accident. At state visits, the King and the Queen are accompanied by government representatives to promote trade relations with other countries. Members of the Royal Family also travel around the country to show that they represent the entire country.

The King opens the parliament (Stortinget) formally every autumn. He represents the government and leads a government meeting once a week. However, his ability to exercise any power is limited. The actual political leader of the country is the Prime Minister, currently (March 2025) Jonas Gahr Støre from the Labour Party.

The King has promised to stay in office until he passes away. He is now an aging man, and on some occasions, Crown Prince Haakon has to take over the King’s duties. The future king takes his role seriously, and so does his wife. However, Crown Princess Mette Marit already had a son, Marius, before she met the Crown Prince.

Marius has been in trouble recently, and there is also discussion around Princess Märtha (Haakon’s sister) and her new husband Durek Verrett. Although the monarchy still has strong support among Norwegians, its position is weaker now than a few years ago.

There are two ways of writing Norwegian

The official language of Norway at a national level is Norwegian. However, there are two official versions of it: Bokmål and Nynorsk. This can be seen in relation to the history of Norway and the development of a stronger national identity after 1814 (the year of the Constitution). However, if you ask Norwegians which language they speak, they will all say Norwegian. Bokmål and Nynorsk are just two different ways of writing it, and they are not too different. If you sign up for a Norwegian language course, it will almost certainly be a Bokmål course. The way people speak in the Oslo area is also similar to Bokmål.

The extended use of dialects is probably a greater challenge to anyone learning Norwegian, especially when you go far from Oslo. However, according to my experience, most foreigners learn to understand the dialect of the area in which they live.

Norway is a member of NATO, but not of the EU

Norway is not a member of the European Union. The first referendum about membership was organized in 1972, and a second in 1994. In both cases, a narrow majority voted no. However, Norway is a small country, and it wants a good relationship with other European countries. For many years, Norway has been part of the economic agreement called EEA – European Economic Area. This agreement means that it is part of the internal market of the EU for goods, services and people. If you are a citizen of an EU country, you can move to Norway the same way as you can move to another EU country. But do remember that you will still have to do a lot of paperwork when settling in Norway, even when coming from an EU country.

Norway is outside the EU, but has a good relationship with most other countries in Europe – but not with all of them. There is a common border with Russia, and for many years, there used to be much traffic across that border. However, after the war in Ukraine broke out, crossing that border has become almost impossible. The Norwegian government and all 9 political parties in the parliament strongly oppose Putin’s regime. The relationship with the USA has also become more complicated recently, Donald Trump has very little support in Norway.

Norway is a wealthy country

Thanks to the presence of oil and natural gas at the bottom of the sea, Norway is one of the richest countries in the world. Money earned from oil and gas has been put into a fund, and the Norwegian oil fund is one of the largest funds in the world. The money is invested worldwide, but they are still committed to following some ethical rules. There is also a rule for how much of the fund can be spent in the national budget. Therefore, there is no reason to worry that the fund will be empty in the coming years.

If you move to Norway, you can benefit from a welfare system that is granted to all residents. However, it is not possible for everyone to register as a resident, this is subject to many rules and there are many restrictions.   

Norway now appears less attractive to many foreigners than it was a few years ago. The value of the Norwegian currency has fallen, meaning that the salary paid in Norwegian kroner is worth less abroad than it used to be. However, when visiting Norway as a foreigner, you will find it less expensive now than a few years ago.

Learning Norwegian helps a lot to integrate in Norway

How do you make friends in Norway? The best advice is probably to join an organization and participate in organized activities. Everywhere in Norway, there are loads of clubs and associations that you can join, like the Trekking Association.

Knowing facts about Norway is of course important to understand the country. However, to integrate into Norwegian society, you will need to learn the language. Most people in Norway speak at least some English, but many foreigners soon discover that not knowing the language, they stay in a bubble and have more limited contact with the Norwegians.

Learning the language certainly makes a difference when moving to Norway. On this site, you will find more information about my private Norwegian courses. You are also welcome to contact me for more information or to request a trial lesson.