comes of age at eighteen. His authority is exercised through, and responsibility for his official acts rests with, a council of state consisting of a minister and councillors, who are the heads of finance, public accounts, church and education, defence, public works, agriculture, commerce, navigation and industry and foreign affairs. The king appoints these councillors and high officials generally in the state, church, army, navy, &c. He can issue provisional ordinances pending a meeting of parliament, can declare war (if a war of offence, only with the consent of parliament) and conclude peace, and has supreme command of the army and navy. The legislative body is the parliament (storthing), the members of which are elected directly by the people divided into electoral divisions, each returning one member. Until the election of 1906 the members were chosen by electors nominated by the voters. Elections take place every three years. The franchise is extended to every Norwegian male who has passed his twenty-fifth year, has resided five years in the country, and fulfils the legal conditions of citizenship. Under the same conditions, and if they or their husbands have paid taxes for the past year, the franchise is extended to women under a measure adopted by the Storthing in June 1907. Members of parliament must possess the franchise in their constituency, and must have resided ten years in the country; their age must not be less than thirty. The Storthing meets at Christiania, normally for two months in each year; it must receive royal assent to the prolongation of a session. After the opening of parliament the assembly divides itself into two sections, the upper (lagthing) consisting of one-quarter of the total number of members, and the lower (odelsthing) of the remainder. Every bill must be introduced in the Odelsthing; if passed there it is sent to the Lagthing, and if carried there also the royal assent gives it the force of law. If a measure is twice passed by the Odelsthing and rejected by the Lagthing, it is decided by a majority of two-thirds of the combined sections. The king has a veto, but if a measure once or twice vetoed is passed by three successive parliaments it becomes law ipso facto. This occurred when in 1899 the Norwegians insisted on removing the sign of union with Sweden from the flag of the mercantile marine. Members of parliament are paid 13s. 4d. a day during session and their travelling expenses. Parliament fixes taxation, and has control of the members of the council of state, who are not allowed to vote in either house, though they may speak.
Finance, &c.—The annual revenue and expenditure are each about 512 millions sterling. Considerable sums, however, have been raised by loans, principally for railways. These amounted, between 1900 and 1906 (the financial year ending the 31st of March) to nearly £4,500,000. The principal sources of revenue are customs, railways, post office and telegraphs, the income tax (which is graduated and not levied on incomes below 1000 kroner or £55, 6s. 8d.), and excise. The principal items of expenditure are railways, defence (principally the army), the post office, interest on debt, the church and education, and justice. The Bank of Norway is a private joint-stock corporation, in which the state has large interests. It is governed by special acts of parliament, and its chief officials are publicly appointed. It alone has the right to issue notes, which are in wide circulation. The Mortgage Bank (Norges Hypothekbank) was established by the state to grant loans on real estate. The currency of Norway is based on a gold standard; but the monetary unit is the krone (crown), of 1s. 113d. value, divided into 100 öre. The metric system is in use.
Army and Navy.—The army consists of the line, the militia or reserve (landværn), and the second reserve (landstorm). All capable men of twenty-two years of age and upwards are liable for conscription (except the clergy and pilots), and when called they serve 6 years in the line, 6 years with the reserve and 4 years with the second reserve. In war, men are liable to service from the 18th to the 50th year of age. Only the line can be sent out of the country. The men only meet for military training from 18 to 102 days in each year. The peace establishment of the line is 12,000 men, with 750 officers; its war footing 26,000, or more, but may not exceed 18,000 without the authority of parliament. Of enlisted troops there are only fortress garrisons, and the Christiania garrison of Norwegian Guards; The principal fortresses are Oscarsborg on Christiania Fjord, Agdenes (Trondhjem Fjord), Bergen, Tönsberg and Christiansand. A number of Norwegian forts along the S. Swedish frontier were dismantled under the convention with Sweden of 1905, when a neutral zone was established on either side of the frontier southward from 61° N. The navy consists of about 1200 officers and men on permanent service; but all seafaring men between twenty-two and thirty-eight are liable for maritime conscription, and are put through some preliminary training. The war vessels include four battleships of 3500 to 4000 tons each, and about 16 other vessels, besides a torpedo flotilla—intended for coast defence only. The chief naval station is at Karljohansværn (Horten).
Justice.—Civil cases are usually brought first before a commission of mediation (forligelseskommission), from which an appeal lies to the local inferior courts, which are also tribunals of first instance, and are worked by judges on circuit and assessors. There are three superior courts of appeal (overretter), at Christiania, Bergen and Trondhjem, and one supreme court (höiesteret). Criminal cases are tried either in jury courts (lagmandsret) or courts of assize (meddomsret). The first is for more serious offences; the second deals with minor offences and is a court of first instance. Military crimes are dealt with by a military judicial organization. Finally there is a high court of impeachment (rigsret), before which members of parliament, the government, &c., are tried for misdemeanours committed in their public capacity.
Local Government.—The country is divided into twenty counties (amter) (see population), the cities of Christiania and Bergen being included in these. Other towns are formed into communes, governed by representatives, from whom a council (formænd) is elected by themselves. Rural communes (herreder) are similarly administered, and their chairmen form a county council (amtsthing) for each county. At the head is the amtmand, the county governor. The electoral franchise for local council election is for men the same as the parliamentary franchise, and, like it, is extended in a limited degree to women.
Religion and Education.—The state religion, to which the king must conform, is Evangelical Lutheran. Only about 2·4% of the population are dissenters. All Christian sects except Jesuits are tolerated. The king nominates the clergy of the established church. Norway is divided into six bishoprics (stifter), Christiania, Hamar, Christiansand, Bergen, Trondhjem, Tromsö; and these into deaneries (provstier), with subdivisions into clerical districts (præstegjeld), parishes and sub-parishes. The clergy take a leading part in primary education, which, in spite of the difficulties arising in a sparsely populated country, reaches a high standard. Education is compulsory, the school-going age being from 612 to 14 years in towns and 7 to 14 years in the country. About 94% of the children of school-going age attend the primary schools, which are administered by school boards in the municipalities and the counties. Teachers must belong to the established church. Their training colleges include one free public college in each diocese. The municipalities and counties bear the cost of primary education with a state grant. There are continuation schools, evening schools, &c., and for secondary education, communal middle schools, and state gymnasier. There is a state-aided university at Christiania.
Authorities.—See Norway (official publication for the Paris Exhibition) (Eng. trans., Christiania, 1900, dealing with the land and its inhabitants in every aspect, and giving Norwegian bibliographies for each subject); A. N. Kiær and others, Norges Land og Folk (Christiania, 1884 seq.); N. Rolfsen, Norge i det Nittende Aarhundrede (Christiania, 1900 seq.); Y. Nielsen, Reisehaandbog over Norge (10th ed., Christiania, 1903); various guidebooks in English; P. B. du Chaillu, The Land of the Midnight Sun (London, 1881); and The Land of the Long Night (London, 1900); C. F. Keary, Norway and the Norwegians (London, 1892); A. F. Mockler-Ferryman, In the Northman’s Land (London, 1896); J. Bradshaw, Norway, its Fjords, Fields and Fosses (London, 1896); A. Chapman, Wild Norway (London, 1897); E. B. Kennedy, Thirty Seasons in Scandinavia (London, 1903); E. C. Oppenheim, New Climbs in Norway (London, 1898); W. C. Slingsby, Norway, The Northern Playground (on mountaineering) (Edinburgh, 1904); H. H. Reusch, Det Nordlige Norges Geologi (Christiania, 1892); T. Kjerulf, Udsigt over det sydlige Norges geologi (Christiania, 1879; a German translation was published at Bonn, 1880); W. C. Brögger, Die Silurischen Etagen 2 und 3 (Christiania, 1882); see also a series of memoirs on the eruptive rocks of the Christiania region in Videnskabsselskabets Skrifter (Christiania); A. E. Törnebohm, Grunddragen af det centrala Skandinaviensbergbyggnad, Kongl. Svenska Vetensk. Akad. Handl. vol. xxvii. No. 5 (1896); Jahrbuch des Norwegischen Meteorologischen Instituts (Christiania); H. Mohn, “Klima Tabeller for Norge,” in Videnskabsselsk. Skrifter (1895 seq.); M. N. and A. Blytt, Norges Flora (Christiania, 1861–1877); C. Hartman, Handbok i Scandinaviens Flora (Stockholm, 1879); J. M. Norman, Norges Arktiske Flora (Christiania, 1894 seq.); Statistisk Aarbog for Kongeriget Norge (Christiania, annual); H. L. Brækstad, Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway (London, 1905); F. Nansen, Norway and the Union with Sweden, and Supplementary Chapter, separate (London, 1905). On the licensing system in Norway—Foreign Office Report, Misc. series, 279 (London, 1893); Board of Trade Rep. on Production and Consumption of Alcoholic Liquors (London, 1899); H. E. Berner, “Braendevinsbolagene i Norge,” in Nordisk Tidskrift (1891). (O. J. R. H.)
History.
Early History.—Archaeological and geological researches have revealed a fishing and hunting population in Norway, possibly
