Προφίλ συναλλασσόμενης χώρας Νορβηγία

Political outline | Living conditions | Useful resources | Communications

Political outline

Executive Power

The constitution grants executive powers to the King (the head of state), but these are exercised by the cabinet. King serves a ceremonial role with some reserve powers. After elections the majority leader is usually appointed Prime minister (the head of the cabinet) by the monarch with the approval of the parliament.

Legislative Power

A modified unicameral parliament or Storting. For certain purposes the parliament divides itself into two chambers called Lagting and Odelsting, but the practice will be abolished after the general elections in 2009 making Storting fully unicameral. Members are elected for four-year terms according to a system of proportional representation.

Main political parties

- DNA (Norwegian Labour Party) - Social democrats
- FrP (Progress Party) – Libertarian right-wing party
- Høyre (Conservative Party) - Conservatives
- Venstre (Liberal Party) – Social liberals
- KrF (Christian Democratic Party)
- SV(Socialist Left Party) - Socialists.
- SP (Centre Party) - Centrist and agrarian party.

Labour Party, Socialist Left and the Centre Party form the current cabinet. Coalition governments of several parties are typical in Norway.

Current political leaders

King: HARALD V (since January 1991) - hereditary
Prime Minister: Jens STOLTENBERG (since October 2005) – DNA

Next election dates

Parliamentary: September 2009

Living conditions

Health and safety

Health precautions: No.
International hospitals: No.
For further information on sanitary conditions: The World Health Organization webpages devoted to Norway
Ministry of Health and Care Services
For further information on safety conditions: US Travelling information about Norway
Official info website.
Contact your Embassy: Embassy of Greece in Norway
Nobels Gate 45
0244 Oslo, Norway
Phone: (0047) 22442728, 22431221
Fax: 22560072
gremb@online.no

Emergency numbers

Fire Department	110
Police	112
Ambulance	113

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference: It is %T:%M %A in Oslo (GMT+1 in the winter, GMT+2 in the summer)
Summer time period: Summer time (Daylight Savings Time) is from March until October.

Map of the time zone

Type of climate

Warmer and damper climate than might be expected because of the North Atlantic Current and the Westerlies. Norway spans 13 degrees of latitude and its climate shows great variations. Even local differences in weather can be large due to the rugged topography.

Summers are generally hot and winters cold. Inlands and the northern parts are cooler than coastal areas, which experience more rain. The northernmost part has a maritime subarctic climate. The Svalbard archipelago has an arctic thundra climate. The hottest month is usually July with average temperature 17,3°C in Oslo. The coldest month is January, when the average falls to −4.7°C.

From Novermber to late January, the sun never rises above the horizon in the northern areas, and daylight hours are short in the rest of the country. Conversely, during the summertime there can be 20 hours of daylight per day, except in the north where the sun never descends beneath the horizon.

The best time to visit is from May to September. The winter is cold and dark, but offers possibilities for skiing and watching the aurora borealis.

For further information: The Norwegian Meteorological Institute

Average annual temperatures and rainfall

Useful resources

To find an accommodation: Visit Norway - Hotels Visit Norway - Bed & Breakfast Visit Norway - Youth Hostels Visit Norway - Camping Visit Norway Visit Norway
To find an apartment: Oslo Apartments

Finn.no (in Norwegian)
Craigslist Oslo
To find a job: The Public Employment Service
Manpower Norway
Finn.no jobb
Monster Norway
Adecco Norway
Norges Vikar
Corridor

Communications

Telephone codes: To make a call from Norway to Greece: dial 00 (or +) 30
To make a call to in Norway from Greece: dial 00 (or +) +47
Mobile telephone standards: GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS and HSDPA.
Internet suffix: .no

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General Information