ABSTRACT
Norway occupies the westem half of the Scandinavian peninsula. Two-thirds of Norway is mountainous, and it has a 2000-kilometer coastline. Norway today has a population close to five million, and most of its population is concentrated in the coastal areas and the southern part of the country. In fact, as much as 81 percent of the country is completely uninhabited. The capital of Norway is Oslo, and close to one third of the total population is to be found in and around the larger metropolitan area of the city. Historically, Norway has been joined to both Denmark (from 1380 to 1814) and Sweden (from 1814 to 1905). Particularly as a result of the long union with Denmark, the Norwegian language inevitably became influenced by Danish, and although the Norwegians wanted to eradicate any remaining Danish influence after independence in 1905, the two languages are still pretty similar. Norwegians and Danes understand each other well. The same goes for Norwegians and Swedes. Unlike its two Scandinavian neighbors, Norway is not a member of the European Union. The proposal to apply for membership was rejected in two referendums, in 1972 and 1994. The reasons why Norway has decided to stay outside the Union are mixed, but it has been proposed that a high proportion of the electorate voted against joining the EU on the grounds of Norway's economic strength and a common suspicion of a union strongly influenced by Latin countries, among other reasons (Schramm-Nielsen et al., 2004).
