Early Norway: Terrain, Climate, and History

Early Norway: Influence of Terrain and Climate

• Early inhabitants migrated north along the coast, following the retreat of glaciers, aided by the warming Gulf Stream.
• Hunter-gatherer lifestyle focused on seafood and reindeer.
• Early agricultural settlements appeared around the Oslofjord by 5000-4000 BC and spread southwards.

Neolithic Period to the Viking Age

• Neolithic period began in 4000 BC, leading to chieftain control and hilltop fort construction.
• 8th to 11th Centuries saw Norse expansion across seas to Britain, Iceland, and Greenland.
• Viking Age also saw Norwegian unification.
• Christianization completed in the 11th century, Nidaros becoming an archdiocese.
• Population growth until the Black Death halved the population in 1349. (Oslo: 3,000; Bergen: 7,000; Trondheim: 4,000)
• Bergen became a major trading port controlled by the Hanseatic League.
• Norway joined the Kalmar Union with Denmark and Sweden in 1397.

Union with Denmark & Sweden

• After Sweden's departure in 1523, Norway became a junior partner in Denmark–Norway.
• Reformation introduced in 1537, and absolute monarchy imposed in 1661.
• In 1814, following the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was ceded to the Swedish king by the Treaty of Kiel.
• Norway declared independence, adopted a constitution, but faced Swedish opposition.
• Norway and Sweden subsequently concluded the Convention of Moss, establishing a personal union with Sweden where Norway retained its constitution and institutions, excluding foreign service.
• Union formally ratified and Charles XIII of Sweden became king of Norway.

19th and 20th Centuries

• Industrialization started in the 1840s, followed by large-scale emigration to North America from the 1860s.
• Parliamentarism established in 1884 with Johan Sverdrup appointed prime minister.
• The union with Sweden dissolved in 1905.
• Polar expeditions by figures like Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen (1880s-1920s).
• Shipping and hydroelectricity were key income sources.
• Fluctuating economy and labor movement growth.
• German occupation (1940-1945), followed by NATO membership and reconstruction under public planning.
• Oil discovery in 1969 made Norway a major exporter, contributing to economic growth.

Modern Norway

• 1980s deregulation, encountering a banking crisis in 1989-1990. • Oil and gas production accounted for 20% of Norway's economy by the 21st century, fostering a large sovereign wealth fund by 2017.