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Norway Research Paper

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Norway is a country located in northern Europe in a region called Scandinavia. Norway is situated on the western part of the Scandinavian peninsula. Norway’s broad coastline is bathed on three sides by the seas. To the north lies the Barents Sea, an extension of the Arctic Ocean. To the south sits the Skagerrak, a strait separating Norway from Denmark and the North Sea. To the west is the Norwegian Sea, an arm of the North Atlantic Ocean. Aside from Norway’s geographic intrigue, the country has had a long resounding history. The migratory patterns of the earliest inhabitants were primarily dictated by practical logistics and environmental constraints, whereas, political shifts and foreign affairs are the current defining factors. The chronicles …show more content…

It is here where for many centuries fishermen and traders survived and from these very shores the Vikings organized a vast maritime trading network. The Vikings ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and ultimately North America in the late 10th century to establish colonies throughout. To this day, Norway retains a robust fishing industry boasting one of the world’s largest merchant marine fleets. During the late 20th century, vast reserves of natural gas and petroleum were discovered in Norway’s North Sea bringing a new source of prosperity to the country according to Sager, R. D. et al. (1997).
The first unified Norwegian kingdom occurred in the 9th century. By the late 14th century, Norway became a province of Denmark and was controlled by that country until 1814, when Denmark ceded Norway to Sweden. Norway. (n.d.) explains how Norway became an independent nation in 1905 establishing a constitutional monarch as head of state with a democratically elected government when a surge of Norwegian nationalism in the late 19th century led to the dissolution of the union with Sweden, officially making Norway once again a sovereignty and imposing the name the Kingdom of …show more content…

Wright, E. (2006) gives an historical account based on the archaeological records which indicate that the earliest peoples migrated there over the extensive glaciers that once buried the region. At the end of the last ice age, the glaciers receded exposing more of the landmass freeing additional resources. This allowed for rapid settlement of Germanic, Gaul, and Roman tribes. These tribes migrated throughout the region into the mountains and fjords which formed natural boundaries for those settled areas. By the 8th century there were some 29 small kingdoms that existed in Norway. Because of Norway’s rugged terrain, transportation by water is still vitally important. However, Norway continues to expand its road network and railways to permit greater access into the country’s interior granting more efficient transportation methods. This has allowed the citizens of Norway to spread or migrate to areas that were previously inaccessible.
Because Norway has an extensive border neighboring Sweden, Finland, and Russia, immigration has long been an issue for the Norwegian government. BBC News. (n.d.) reports on how xenophobic attitudes and political pressure coupled with nationalistic sentiment creates distressing rhetoric resulting in fear for many Norwegians. Norway has devised plans to deport migrants back to their country of origin given the country is deemed safe. These policies have come under the

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