Norway - About the Country

Norway is a Scandinavian country in the northern part of Europe, which means it has long and rather dark winters. In January the sun rises in the northern part of the country only for a few hours. In Summer around June it’s the opposite, the night is only a few hours long. The length actually depends on how far north you are. The Polar Circle runs through the country, which is the border to the area where the sun does not rise at all in winter and not set in summer. Those are called the polar night and the polar day. Another interesting feature are the polar lights, northern lights or aurora in winter, where energy from the sun is redirected by the Earth’s magnetosphere and makes the air glow in different colours. Most common is green but there are also purple and blueish colours.

The country is mountainous, has high plateaus, has Fjords, which are narrow and deep valleys reaching far into the country. The country is very rich in hydroelectric power and additionally has gas and oil on the floor of the Northern Sea off the coast. It is sold to other countries in Europe. In other words the country is quite rich, the prices are high. This is probably the reason why they refused to join the Euro zone. Alcohol is even more expensive than the general price level, which is due to a prohibitionist attitude. Alcohol such as beer, wine and spirits is only sold in state-owned shops at a high price, to reduce alcoholism. We are not sure if this actually works.

The country is a quite popular travel destination, for its nature, its animals, and the landscape. People go there for hiking or fishing, for skiing in winter. However, the country is not really well known for its caves, as the mostly crystalline rocks only have tectonic caves which are rare and small. There are a few patches of limestone or marble and there are some caves, even show caves, but going there for caving requires preparation. A pretty good compilation of Norwegian karst and caves was written by Vidar Lund, and we have linked it below. Unfortunately the page is gone and only accessible with the web archive.

Most norwegian caves are found in the northern are, the most important karst is near Mo-i-Rana. The deepest cave is Råggejávrrerájgge with a depth of 580 m.