The Kingdom of Norway is located in Northern Europe and is the second largest state among the Scandinavian countries. With an area of 385,155 km2, Norway ranks 67th in the world, and with a population of 4.9 million people - 118th.
Ethnic composition
Family cohesion has been a specific feature of Norwegians since the time of the Vikings. Therefore, they are an extremely homogeneous people, and the bulk of the population is made up of indigenous Norwegians - 95%. Every hour the number of inhabitants of Norway increases due to natural increase by 6, 1 children and decreases by 5, 2 people, which generally gives a positive population growth.
The increase in the population is also due to the influx of migrants. Although national minorities make up only a few percent, their composition is quite diverse: Kvens, Swedes, Danes, Sami, Jews, Gypsies, Chechens and Russians. A special ethnic group among the national minorities of Norway is the Sami - 40 thousand. They have occupied its northern part for about 2 thousand years, and some of them still lead a nomadic lifestyle.
Employment
The bulk of the economically active population in Norway is employed in industry. The bulk of the country's GDP is the oil and gas industry. The regions for oil and gas production are the Norwegian, North and Barents Seas. Norway also occupies one of the leading places in Europe in the processing industry and is one of the world's largest suppliers of aluminum, magnesium, zinc, copper and nickel.
1/10 of the population is involved in agriculture and forestry. With the exception of forest holdings, Norway does not have large land holdings. The most common type of agricultural unit is the family farm.
Norway accounts for 15% of the fish caught in Europe. The main products are herring and cod. In the south-west of the state, salmon fish species are artificially bred, for the export of which Norway holds the world championship. Seasonal fishing is mainly family in nature.
Education
Education in Norway is divided into several stages: from first to fourth grade; from the fifth to the seventh grade; eighth through tenth grades and three years in high school.
Thus, local students study for 13 years (10 years for primary and secondary schools, 3 years for senior). Schools are divided by age and almost all are run by the state, which makes education free. In addition to urban schools, rural schools are also maintained at the proper level in the country.
In addition to general education subjects, schools also teach the basics of the Christian religion and morality, home economics and one subject of the student's choice. From childhood, children are taught to communicate and behave in society. Children learn to make decisions together and evaluate their actions. Grades for students begin to be given only from the eighth grade, and the teacher can only condemn them with the parents of the student.
Boys and girls in Norway receive in schools all the necessary skills and knowledge, which is enough for them to further enter a trade school, college or university. But, unlike school education, education at universities is paid. As a rule, loans are provided to students for these purposes. Norwegian universities train civil servants, teachers, doctors, dentists, engineers and scientists.
