Travel To Norway

This one should come as no surprise given the Norwegian obsession with skiing and their success at international level.

In fact, Norway was a founding member of the United Nations back in 1945, when 850 delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco. Those delegates discussed the proposals worked out by the representatives from China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States from August to October the previous year.

The pragmatic and determined Trygve Lie, who served as Norwegian Foreign Minister during the Second World War years of exile in London, took up the post as Secretary-General during the post-war years from 1946 to 1952. He passed away in 1968 at the age of 72.

Today, with the 2011 addition of South Sudan, there are 193 UN member states, including all undisputed independent states apart from the Vatican City. The current – and ninth – Secretary-General is the Portuguese politician António Guterres.

While sushi is absolutely a Japanese invention, they did not use salmon in the dish until it was suggested by a Norwegian delegation in 1980's.

This one had me scratching my head and checking a map when I first moved to Norway. Although there is just one road crossing, the Norway-Russia land border is actually 120 miles long.

The Storskog crossing on the E105 highway is the northernmost road border crossing in Europe. In September 2017, a new tunnel and bridge opened on the Norway side of the border, decreasing travel time for those crossing the border.

By the way, that's something many people do. Norwegians cross over to buy cheaper fuel for their cars, while Russians cross over to buy better quality goods in Kirkenes.

The world's most remote island is a Norwegian territory
But it may surprise you to learn that it's not in the north! It's actually on the other side of the world. Administered by Norway since 1929, Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean is Planet Earth's most remote island.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo
The Norwegian capital has been the proud venue of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony every year (with just a few exceptions) since 1901. The other Nobel prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Physics and Physiology or Medicine are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden.

That's due to the wishes of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist who bequeathed his wealth to create the awards upon his death. No-one's quite sure why he chose Norway for the Peace Prize.

At an astonishing 15 miles (24.5 km) long, the Lærdal Tunnel is the world’s longest. Costing 1 billion Norwegian kroner to build (that's about USD $110 million) the tunnel connects the small communities of Lærdal and Aurland.