Glossary box
Eroded Worn away very slowly.
Fjord Long, narrow arm of the sea.
Glaciated Shaped by the action of ice.
1a ‘The way to the north’
Plateau An area of flat ground in the
mountains.
Norway means ‘the way to the north’. It is one of the most northerly countries in the world.
North of mainland Norway are the islands known as Svalbard which are part of Norway.
Figure A Oslo, the capital of Norway, has a population of
nearly 508 000
Figure B High plateau in the Rondane mountains
Space to breathe
Norway covers an area of 387 000 km2, which is
larger than the United Kingdom (241 800 km2).
However, it has a population of only 4.5 million,
compared to the UK’s 58 million. This means that
most of Norway is very sparsely populated. About
77% of the people live in towns and cities (Figure A).
An independent, modern country
Norway became an independent country in 1905.
Like the United Kingdom, Norway has a royal family
and is a parliamentary democracy. Its present king,
Harald V, is second cousin to Queen Elizabeth II. The
Royal Family is popular among the people.
Elections to Parliament, which is known as the
Storting, are held every four years. There is also a
well-developed system of local and regional
government.
Figure C The Lofoten Islands in northern Norway. There are
about 50 000 islands along the Norwegian coast
A mountainous land
About two-thirds of Norway consists of mountains.
The land rises to nearly 2500 m, but many of the
highest mountains do not have sharp peaks such as
those in the Alps. Much of the mountain area is
high plateau, known as ‘vidde’ (Figure B). The
Norwegian mountains are made of very old, hard
rocks which were formed hundreds of millions of
years ago. Since then, the mountains have been
eroded a great deal by water and ice.
Four regions
The country can be divided into four regions based
on landscape (see Card 1c). Eastern Norway is an
area of forest, valleys and farmland. Western
Norway has deep fjords and glaciated valleys. They
reach far into the high mountains where snow and
ice lie all the year round. Middle Norway, to the
north of Trondheim, is more gentle, mostly
lowlands. Northern Norway is an area of
mountains, though less high than in western
Norway. It is cut by many fjords, river valleys and
waterways and has thousands of islands off the
coast (Figure C).
Glossary box
1b Glaciers and fjords
Erode Wear away very slowly.
Erosion The action of wearing away
very slowly.
Fjord Long, narrow arm of the sea.
Glacier Large, thick sheet of ice.
The Norwegian coastline has huge inlets known as fjords which were formed by glaciers
thousands of years ago.
Forming the glaciers
During the Ice Age, from about 90 000 years BC to
about 10 000 years BC, temperatures were much
lower than they are today. Very heavy snow fell on
the mountains, and moist winds blew over them.
Most of the snow which fell in the winter did not
melt in the summer. It built up to an enormous
thickness.
The sheer weight of the snow caused it to
compress and form ice. At the height of the Ice Age,
Norway was covered by an ice sheet perhaps 3–4
kilometres thick. The ice was not stable. It gradually
moved towards lower areas and became thinner as
it spread out. Much of the ice moved along river
valleys, creating valley glaciers.
Glaciated valleys and fjords
Though the glaciers moved very slowly, they eroded
the floors and sides of the valleys very powerfully.
This was because the glaciers were tremendously
heavy. Also, the rocks and boulders frozen into the
glaciers gave them enormous power to erode, like a
huge sheet of sandpaper. This erosion deepened
the valleys dramatically and changed the V-shape of
the old river valleys into a U-shape (Figure A). The
valleys also became straighter, because ice cannot
twist and turn in the same way as water can.
Unlike rivers, glaciers can erode below sea level.
So, when a glacier melts, the valley is flooded by
the rising sea and forms a long, deep, narrow inlet.
This is called a fjord. A fjord usually becomes
shallower near the sea, possibly because the
Figure A A typical U-shaped valley. When flooded by sea water, the
valley becomes a fjord
melting glacier could not erode so deeply. The
shallowest point is called the lip or threshold.
Sognefjord
Sognefjord (Figure B) is the longest and deepest
fjord in the world. It has very steep sides rising to
about 1000 m above sea level. It is 1300 m deep
near the head of the fjord but only 20 m deep at its
mouth.
The challenge of communications
Fjords and mountains make transport by car and
train difficult. In the past, most transport in Norway
was by boat along the coast, and on lakes and
rivers. Good transport is very important, so many
road tunnels and bridges have now
been built. Ferries are still in
common use along the coast and
link many islands to the mainland.
Figure B The Sognefjord, north of
Bergen, is about 200 km long
1c
‘The way to the north’
NORTHERN
NORWAY
1 Using an atlas to help you, on Figure 1:
Figure 1 Norway:
main features
a name in the correct place:
• Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Stavanger (the four
major cities)
• North Sea, Norwegian Sea, Arctic Ocean
• Sognefjord, Lofoten Islands
• River Glomma, Norway’s longest river
• 60°N, 661⁄2°N (Arctic Circle), 70°N, 10°E
• Mt Galdhøpiggen (2469 m), the tallest peak in
Norway
MIDDLE
NORWAY
0
b shade in brown or orange the land which is more
than 1000 metres above sea level.
2 Calculate the distance from:
• Stavanger to Bergen
• Oslo to Trondheim.
kilometres
N
Town or city with
over 100000 people
Mountain peak
Land over 1000
metres
WESTERN
NORWAY
Line of latitude
or longitude
EASTERN
NORWAY
3 What is the direction from Oslo to:
• Bergen?
• Trondheim?
4 The squares below represent the surface area of
Norway and the United Kingdom. Norway’s
population of about 4.5 million is shown by four
dots.
38 mm
60 120 180 240 300
Norway 1c.1
F
Figure 2 Norway:
population distribution
30 mm
38 mm
•
•
•
•
30 mm
Tr
0
Population per sq. km
kilometres
51–100
20–50
UK
a Use the same scale to show a population of 58
million in the United Kingdom square.
No
11–20
Norway
Oslo is already shaded
black, to show over
1000 people per km2
N-T
b Compare the densities of population in each
country.
N
S-T
MoR
a Using the table and the key to help you, shade
Figure 2 to show the population densities of each
county.
SoF
b What do you notice about the distribution of
population? Explain the variations by referring to
latitude and relief.
Ho
Op
Bu
Te
Ro
V-A
A-A
Norway: population
distribution 2001
County
10 or less
5 The population of Norway is not evenly spread.
60 120 180 240 300
He
O
Ak
Øs
Ve
Population
per sq.km
Østfold (Øs)
Akershus (Ak)
Oslo (O)
Hedmark (He)
Oppland (Op)
Buskerud (Bu)
Vestfold (Ve)
Telemark (Te)
Aust-Agder (A-A)
Vest-Agder (V-A)
Rogaland (Ro)
Hordaland (Ho)
Sogn og Fjordane (SoF)
Møre og Romsdal (MoR)
Sør-Trøndelag (S-T)
Nord-Trøndelag (N-T)
Nordland (No)
Troms (Tr)
Finnmark (F)
65
103
1191
7
8
17
100
12
12
23
44
28
6
17
14
6
7
6
2
1d
Glaciers and fjords
1a Give two reasons for the huge thickness of snow
and ice over Norway during the Ice Age.
Tributary
b Why did the snow turn into ice?
2 Add these labels to Figure 1 in the correct places:
A Before glaciation
A Winding V-shaped valley
Narrow valley floor
Steep valley sides
B Rocks and boulders frozen into the ice
Movement
of glacier
C Flat, wide valley floor
Very steep valley sides
Straight U-shaped valley
3a What are the main differences between the
original river valley and the glaciated valley?
b Explain how these changes happened.
B During glaciation
4a What is a fjord?
b On Figure 2, draw a long profile from the head of
the fjord to the mouth. Use the information about
Sognefjord on Card 1b.
5 Why do you think Norwegians:
• use ferries a great deal?
• are experts at building tunnels and bridges?
Hanging valley
Previous level
of valley floor
Depth/height (in metres)
C After glaciation
1500
Figure 1 Effect of glacial action on a river valley
1000
Norway 1d.1
500
Sea level
0
–500
Head of fjord
Mouth of fjord
–1000
–1500
0
40
80
120
Distance from head of fjord (in kilometres)
Figure 2 Long profile of Sognefjord
Norway 1d.2
160
200