Population, GDP, natural resources, leaders and history of Norway: the Magna Factbook country file, with its Magna grade (MBA, ranked #9 of 195).
Norway is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Sweden. The country's capital is Oslo; it covers 323,802 sq km. Independence: 7 June 1905 (union with Sweden declared dissolved); 26 October 1905 (Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union); notable earlier dates: ca. 872 (traditional unification of Norwegian kingdoms by HARALD Fairhair); 1397 (Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden); 1524 (Denmark-Norway); 17 May 1814 (Norwegian constitution adopted); 4 November 1814 (Sweden-Norway union confirmed). Terrain: glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by fertile valleys; small, scattered pla…
| Capital | Oslo |
|---|---|
| Population | 5,509,733 (2024 est.) |
| GDP (PPP) | $507.68 billion (2024 est.) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | $91,100 (2024 est.) |
| Real GDP growth | 2.1% (2024 est.) |
| Inflation | 3.1% |
| Unemployment | 4.0% |
| Public debt | 36.5% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| Exports | $229.205 billion (2024 est.) |
| Imports | $162.467 billion (2024 est.) |
| Life expectancy | 82.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Median age | 41.0 |
| Urbanization | 84% of total population (2023) |
| Government | parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Independence | 7 June 1905 (union with Sweden declared dissolved); 26 October 1905 (Sweden agreed to the repeal of the union); notable earlier dates: ca. 872 (traditional unification of Norwegian kingdoms by HARALD Fairhair); 1397 (Kalmar Union of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden); 1524 (Denmark-Norway); 17 May 1814 (Norwegian constitution adopted); 4 November 1814 (Sweden-Norway union confirmed) |
| Languages | Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities |
MBA · 72/100 — The Magna grade is our 0–100 composite of structural national power — five dimensions, 100+ indicators. It is the Bureau's own assessment, not a mirror of World Bank or CIA figures.
Momentum 0 — Quarterly momentum: the Bureau's read on the country's trajectory over the last quarter, from −10 (deteriorating fast) to +10 (accelerating).
The world's largest sovereign wealth fund was stewarded through another steady quarter, with mainland growth holding and oil revenues flowing.
No drama, no breakthroughs — Norway's momentum is measured in decades, and Jul–Sep 2026 was a quiet one.
Oil, Natural gas, Iron ore, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Titanium, Nickel, Timber, Hydropower.
Jonas Gahr Støre — Prime Minister. King HARALD V (since 17 January 1991)
Norway maintains 74 embassies and 7 consulates abroad, hosts 68 foreign diplomatic missions, holds permanent missions to UN New York, UN Geneva, NATO Brussels, OECD Paris, UNESCO Paris, OSCE Vienna, CoE Strasbourg. The breadth of a diplomatic network is a direct measure of diplomatic power — it shows how far a country’s influence, alliances and interests reach.
| Embassies abroad | 74 |
|---|---|
| Consulates abroad | 7 |
| Foreign missions hosted | 68 |
| Multilateral missions | UN New York, UN Geneva, NATO Brussels, OECD Paris, UNESCO Paris, OSCE Vienna, CoE Strasbourg |
Source: Abroad: Lowy GDI 2024 via Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_diplomatic_missions . Hosted: Consular Affairs Center in-country ranking, Jan 2026 (Oslo 68). Multilateral rosters as for AUT.
Transport networks are economic power made physical — ports, runways, railways and pipelines decide what a country can move, sell and defend.
| Sea access | Coastal — 25148 km of coastline. |
|---|---|
| Airports (total) | 146 + 113 heliports (registration prefix LN) |
| Major seaports | Bergen, Drammen, Hammerfest, Harstad, Horten, Karsto, Mongstad, Oslo, Stavanger, Tromso, Trondheim |
| Railways | 3848 km |
| Pipelines | 8,520 km gas, 1,304 km oil/condensate (2017) |
Bergen Airport, Flesland (BGO) — Bergen; Bodø Airport (BOO) — Bodø; Harstad/Narvik Airport (EVE) — Evenes; Kristiansand Airport (KRS) — Kristiansand(Kjevik); Oslo-Gardermoen International Airport (OSL) — Oslo (Gardermoen); Sandefjord Airport, Torp (TRF) — Sandefjord(Torp); Stavanger Airport, Sola (SVG) — Stavanger; Tromsø Airport (TOS) — Tromsø; Trondheim Airport, Værnes (TRD) — Trondheim; Ålesund Airport (AES) — Ålesund.
Showing 10 of 15 major airports.
| LNG export terminals | Kamoy, Kollsnes, Melkoya Island, Tjeldbergodden |
|---|---|
| LNG import terminals | Fredrikstad, Mosjoen |
Sources: OurAirports public-domain extract (2026-10-02); per-entry Wikipedia links included; CIA World Factbook via cia_factbook snapshot (2026-09-28); theodora.com CIA mirror (CIA World Factbook Transportation section), scraped 2026-10-02
| Political system | parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
|---|---|
| Last election | 2025 — parliamentary; 2025-09-08; winner: Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour); red-green bloc 88/169 Wikipedia |
| Next election | 2029 — parliamentary (scheduled) |
Source: constitutional schedule / public election calendar
MBA · 72 Ranked #9 of 195 countries in the Magna Country Rankings. Full ranking breakdown for Norway.
