Independent Baptist Friends International

Norway is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with King Harald V as its head of state and Jens Stoltenberg as its prime minister. It is a unitary state with administrative subdivisions on two levels known as counties (fylker) and municipalities (kommuner). The Sami people have a certain amount of self-determination and influence over traditional territories through the Sami Parliament and the Finnmark Act. Although having rejected European Union membership in two referenda, Norway maintains close ties with the union and its member countries, as well as with the United States. Norway remains one of the biggest financial contributors to the United Nations, and participates with UN forces in international missions, notably in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and Sudan. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations, NATO, the Council of Europe, and the Nordic Council, and is a member of the European Economic Area, the WTO, and the OECD.

Norway has extensive reserves of petroleum, natural gas, minerals, forests, seafood, fresh water, and hydropower. It is the world's largest producer of oil and natural gas per capita outside of the Middle East, and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the Gross domestic product. The country maintains a Scandinavian welfare model with universal health-care, subsidized higher education, and a comprehensive social security system. From 2001 to 2007, and then again in 2009 and 2010, Norway had the highest human development in the world. In addition, it is estimated by the United Nations that Norway has had amongst the world's highest standards of living since at least the 17th century.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway
• http://www.flickr.com/places/info/23424910/
• http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=oslo,+norway