Europe

Norway is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by Finland, the Russian Federation and Sweden, to the south by the Skagerrak (which separates it from Denmark) and to the west by the North Sea. The coastline is more than 20,000km (12,400 miles) long, its most outstanding feature being the fjords. Most of them are between 80- to 160km- (50 to 100 miles) long, and are often very deep and surrounded by towering mountains. Much of northern Norway lies beyond the Arctic Circle and the landscape is stark. In the south, the landscape consists of forests with many lakes, rivers and mountains.

The country's three main political parties, Labour, Liberal and Christian Democrat, were formed in the 1880s. The early 20th century was dominated by the rivalry between the Labour and Liberal parties. 1935 was the start of a period of continuous Labour government, excepting the period of German occupation during WWII.

The Germans occupied the country in 1940 and a puppet government was installed under Vidkun Quisling and remained in power until the German defeat in 1945.

After the war, Norway dispensed with its traditional neutrality to join NATO. In 1965, a centre-right coalition finally unseated Labour. Since then, Norway has been governed alternately by Labour and the centre-right, usually in coalition with smaller parties.

The most divisive issue in contemporary Norwegian politics has been the country's relationship with the rest of Europe. Norwegians are fiercely protective of their independence and concerns about the effect of European Union membership on the country's major industries have meant that the electorate has consistently voted in national referendums (1994 and 1998) to stay outside the EU. Norway did join the European Free Trade Area, the bloc representing most of the European nations which are not members of the EU.

The minority centre-right coalition (Christian Democrats, Conservatives and Liberals), which took office after the 2001 election, was led by Prime Minister Magne Bondevik, and lost the general election in 2005. A new majority centre-left 'red-green' coalition made up of the Labour Party, Centre Party and Socialist Left was formed, led by Labour Party leader Jens Stoltenberg. He was re-elected for a second mandate in September 2009.Type in the content of your page here. Brittany