Country · Europe
Norway
Kingdom of Norway
Norway is a country in Northern Europe. About 5.3 million people live there, in an area of 323 802 square kilometres. Its capital city is Oslo.
Picture credit: Ximonic (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ximonic (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ryan Hodnett (CC BY-SA 4.0) · George Chernilevsky (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Norway?
Norway lies in Northern Europe, on the continent of Europe.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 6 902 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 25 148 km long.
It shares a border with 3 countries: Finland, Russia and Sweden.
How big is Norway?
Norway covers 323 802 square kilometres.
That is about 7.8 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 68th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 16.4 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Norway?
About 5.3 million people live in Norway.
That is the 117th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Norwegian Nynorsk, Norwegian Bokmål and Sami.
They pay with the Norwegian krone (kr).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 79 years.
The land of Norway
The land of Norway sits on average 460 metres above sea level.
Its coast runs for about 25 148 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 1 257 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Norway different?
A dish the country is known for: Fårikål.
Websites from here often end in .no.
Norway and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about one lives in Norway.
It takes up about 0.24 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Europe the country ranks 8th of 45 by size, and 25th by population.
Norway and its neighbours
Russia, its largest neighbour, is about 52.8 times bigger.
Russia has more people: 144.5 million against 5.3 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 32 live wild in Norway: Brown bear, Polar bear, Arctic fox, Eurasian otter, Eurasian beaver, Moose and more. The highest mountain in the country is Galdhøpiggen, at 2 469 metres. The longest river in the country is the Glomma. The largest lake in the country is Mjøsa.
Brown bear
Polar bear
Arctic fox
Eurasian otter
Eurasian beaver
Moose
Reindeer
Eurasian lynx
Snowy owl
Atlantic puffin
Humpback whale
Orca
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Norway compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 29 times as big as Norway: 9 372 610 km² against 323 802 km². See both on one map
- Norway is about 1.3 times as big as the United Kingdom: 323 802 km² against 242 900 km². See both on one map
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Norway?
The capital of Norway is Oslo. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Norway?
About 5.3 million people live in Norway, which makes it the 117th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
How big is Norway?
Norway covers 323 802 square kilometres, making it the 68th largest country in the world. That is about 7.8 times the size of Switzerland.
What is the highest mountain in Norway?
The highest mountain in Norway is Galdhøpiggen, 2 469 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Norway?
The longest river in Norway is the Glomma, about 621 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Norway?
The largest lake in Norway is Mjøsa. It covers about 369 km².
Which continent is Norway in?
Norway is in Europe, in the part called Northern Europe.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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