Slide show of Norway's culture
See chart below to know what cultural aspect each picture represents.
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Additional Information about Norways Culture can be found on these websites:
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This map show all of the distinct cultural aspects for Europe. If you look at the the top of the map where Norway is located you get to see what the main iconic symbols of Norway's culture is. There's reindeer of course, a viking ship, the Norwegian flag, a cruise ship, one of Norway's iconic towns which are colorful and close together, and an island that is apart of Norway with its bright red homes that are built on the rocks. All of these images play a role in Norway's distinct culture.
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Income per person (GDP/capita, PPP$ inflation adjusted)
This chart above shows the increase in the income per person in Norway throughout the last 200 years. This was not an instant raise in income, however the amount stayed pretty constant for a while until it started to slowly increase until it started to rapidly grow at a constant rate.
In all three of these screenshots above on Gapminder, you can clearly see the different changes throughout the decades in Norway. Each of these charts represents a different change that happened in Norway and these charts help you to better visualize the change that happened throughout the years for Norway's income per person, CO2 emissions, and child mortality rate. In the first screenshot for income per person from 1800 to 2012 you can see how low Norway's income started at $950. The income per person in Norway then went on to stay constant for a while and then slowly start to increase throughout the years with the life expectancy (y axis) to bounce up and down (it increased and decreased). Even though Norway's income per person started off where it was with a variation of change, in 2012 it was at $47,384. In the second figure, CO2 Emissions graphed on this chart really shows the difference in the amount emitted throughout the past 200 years. In 1829 Norway started off with only .0099 tonnes per person of CO2 emissions, however as time changed and new inventions where made this significantly increased to where in 2011 it was at 9.9. This change didn't start off being a straight path, it first off would bounce around and change, making loops at times (decreasing),however, in 1950 it started to increase at a constant rate. In the last screenshot for child moralities this chart shows the decrease in the deaths throughout the ages. This is most likely due to the improvements in medical care, now being able to save children from diseases that they didn't use to have cures for; something as simple as the common cold now days could have killed a child back then. In 1800 in Norway the number of child moralities was at 336 deaths while in 2012 it drastically dropped to only 2.8 child moralities. This statistic didn't just go down over night as you can see in the chart it took a while for the number of child moralities to go down. Overall all of these charts represent the differences in change that happened throughout Norway.
Religion in Norway
Norway is a country that allows complete religious freedom, so everyone can practice whatever religion they want to. Even with this religious freedom Norway does have a religion that tops the rest, with "around 80 percent of the population" being a member of the Church of Norway (Religions). This dominant religion that is practiced in the state church is Lutheran Christianity, it is considered the official national religion, which originated when a German friar named Martin Luther departed from the Roman Catholic church. This religion made its way to Norway in "1536 when the Reformation in Europe led to the establishment of Lutheranism in Norway" and has remained Norway's official religion ever since (Hiorth).
Religion now days in Norway doesn't play as big of a role in society as it use to. Even though a majority of the Norwegians are a part of the church "only twelve percent of Norwegians go to church more than once a month and thirty-seven percent state that they never go to church" (Religions). The most important part of the church is now for special ceremonies such as "baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals, and Christmas" (Religions). Other than these special occasions not many Norwegians attend church like they used to.
There are a few sacred religious places found in Norway. One of the main ones is the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim. This church is the "largest medieval building in Scandinavia and the most important church in Norway" (Sacred). It was built in 1056 and since then its been "an important pilgrimage destination" (Sacred). Another sacred destination is Norway is the Monastery of Selja, this is the cite where Norway's first pilgrimage took place. This monastery was built by "Benedictine monks in the early 1100s, in memory of St. Sunniva" (The Monastery). Today people visit the now ruins of Selja and take in the beauty of the place.
The government of Norway does part take in the church being its financial support. The government use to have a bigger role in the church but recently Norwegians are trying to separate the church from the state. Before this the state use to be the head of the church making the Church of Norway the national church and religion. Now with the separation the government still helps finance the church and Norwegians still have to pay taxes that go to the church, however to be apart of Parliament now you don't have to be apart of the Church of Norway. Rather than having the church and state be the same Norwegians have been trying to separate them from one another, this will then change the church's name along with other aspects of the government.
It seems to be that religion in Norway used to be more important than it is today. With less people attending church and people trying to separate the church from the state it has slowly become less important and powerful. With this being said religion is still important in Norway, its just not as significant as it used to be to everybody. While some Norwegians are no longer religious others are, but only attend church for ceremonies and holidays; leaving only a few left that continue to go to church each week.
References:
Fairchild, M. (n.d.). What Do Lutherans Believe and Practice? Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://christianity.about.com /od/denominations/a/lutheran.htm
Hiorth, F. (1997, November 19). Church and State in Norway (1997). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://infidels.org/library /modern/finngeir_hiorth/norway.html
Religions and Ethics in Norway. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from History, geography and way of life
Sacred Destinations. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/norway/trondheim-nidaros- cathedral
The Monastery of Selje. (2013, June 13). Retrieved October 22, 2014, from http://www.nordfjord.no/en/ATTRACTIONS/Selje- Monastery/
Cultural Diversity in Norway
In Norway there’s is cultural diversity; however, it’s just not as diverse as other countries in Europe or throughout the world because they are a more isolated country. A main part of Norway’s culture are the “traditional costumes, folklore and folk music in Norway, and cultural foods and celebrations.”(Mapes) These cultural traditions come from their ancestors and have been cared down from many generations. Because Norway is consists of mainly Norwegians with only small percentages of other ethnic groups its easy for them to maintain their culture without have a large amount of diverse cultures. Norway does however "promote cultural sharing." (Countries) Since Norway is an open minded country they share some traits with other cultures, especially their neighboring countries.
Even though Norway is culturally diverse and does believe in culture sharing in order to promote diversity, they do experience a loss of cultural diversity. This can be a common thing found in several different countries and is sure to happen everywhere in time. Because the world is rapidly changing new customs and traditions are being created and people start to forget about the old customs and the culture starts to change. Some of this cultural loss comes from the fact that the Norwegians are trying to make it so that the church isn’t connected to the government any longer; making it so that Norway doesn’t have a main church anymore. With this Norway is sure to lose cultural aspects that have contributed to mold Norway’s culture into what it is today. However, even though Norway might be losing some of its original culture they are sure to gain more culture from surrounding countries and immigrants, making it so that Norway is a more diverse country.
Recently there have been several different changes in Norway’s culture. These are due to Norway being open to cultural sharing. Even though Norway does still keep up with most of its original traditions there are still new cultural things being woven into the culture. These aspects of the culture that are added have to do with Norway's "customs, manners, etiquette, and values."(Norway) All of these changes are adding to Norway's cultural diversity.
Work Cited
Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Norway.html
Mapes, T. (n.d.). Norway Culture 101 - The Culture of Norway Illustrated. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/scandinavianculture/ss/norwayculture.htm
Norway - Norwegian Culture and Etiquette. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/norway-country-profile.html
In Norway there’s is cultural diversity; however, it’s just not as diverse as other countries in Europe or throughout the world because they are a more isolated country. A main part of Norway’s culture are the “traditional costumes, folklore and folk music in Norway, and cultural foods and celebrations.”(Mapes) These cultural traditions come from their ancestors and have been cared down from many generations. Because Norway is consists of mainly Norwegians with only small percentages of other ethnic groups its easy for them to maintain their culture without have a large amount of diverse cultures. Norway does however "promote cultural sharing." (Countries) Since Norway is an open minded country they share some traits with other cultures, especially their neighboring countries.
Even though Norway is culturally diverse and does believe in culture sharing in order to promote diversity, they do experience a loss of cultural diversity. This can be a common thing found in several different countries and is sure to happen everywhere in time. Because the world is rapidly changing new customs and traditions are being created and people start to forget about the old customs and the culture starts to change. Some of this cultural loss comes from the fact that the Norwegians are trying to make it so that the church isn’t connected to the government any longer; making it so that Norway doesn’t have a main church anymore. With this Norway is sure to lose cultural aspects that have contributed to mold Norway’s culture into what it is today. However, even though Norway might be losing some of its original culture they are sure to gain more culture from surrounding countries and immigrants, making it so that Norway is a more diverse country.
Recently there have been several different changes in Norway’s culture. These are due to Norway being open to cultural sharing. Even though Norway does still keep up with most of its original traditions there are still new cultural things being woven into the culture. These aspects of the culture that are added have to do with Norway's "customs, manners, etiquette, and values."(Norway) All of these changes are adding to Norway's cultural diversity.
Work Cited
Countries and Their Cultures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Norway.html
Mapes, T. (n.d.). Norway Culture 101 - The Culture of Norway Illustrated. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/scandinavianculture/ss/norwayculture.htm
Norway - Norwegian Culture and Etiquette. (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2014, from http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/norway-country-profile.html
Norwegian Food
Typical Norwegian Food
Breakfast: lefse (Norwegian flat bread) with Jarlsberg cheese, butter, fruit jam, smoked fish, thinly sliced Norwegian ham or salami.
Breakfast: lefse (Norwegian flat bread) with Jarlsberg cheese, butter, fruit jam, smoked fish, thinly sliced Norwegian ham or salami.
Lunch: smoked salmon (gravlax) on lefse, meat cakes, geitost (sandwich of brown goat’s cheese), or hot dogs.
Beverages: Milk, Norwegian beer/ alcohol, water
Desserts: gomme (sweet milk dish), rømmegrøt (a sour cream porridge), bløtkaker (layered cake filled with whipped cream and jam, kransekake (pyramid of almond macaroon rings), and a Krumkake (iron-shaped cookies rolled into cones).
Christmas Dinner: headcheese, cod, halibut, lutefisk, pinnekjøtt (salted lamb ribs), fårikål (the lamb dish), pork ribs, sausages, and rice porridge.
- This is where religion and food come into play together. Different types of foods are used for a different religious holidays, Christmas being one of the biggest.
Norwegian Recipe: Lefse
Lefse is Norway's national soft flat bread, it is used in numerous dishes and is eaten throughout the day. There is no documented date of when lefse originated, however it is known that the first lefses didn't contain potatoes but were made from flour. Women used to make lefse to last the winter months and used wooden boxes covered in cloth to store them. When they were ready to eat a lefse they would dipped in water and soaked between damp cloth til softened. Potatoes were later introduced to Norway in the 1700's, which is when potatoes came the main ingredient for lefses because potatoes are easy to grow and are abundant. |
Where Norway's Food Comes From
Norwegians eat a lot of smoked fish and grilled salmon, this is caught off of Norway's shoreline, since there is an abundant amount of fish and seafood along Norway's coast they are a large exporter of fish. Since eating fish is so healthy and Norwegian's eat a large amount of fish, it's not hard to understand that Norway is one of the most healthiest countries in the world. Norway does mainly rely on it's natural resources for food. Lamb that Norwegian's eat, especially for special occasions can be found in the Norwegian mountains. Other important ingredients found in Norwegian foods are potatoes, sugar, flour, eggs, and lots of butter. All of these key ingredients are resources found in Norway.
Norwegians eat a lot of smoked fish and grilled salmon, this is caught off of Norway's shoreline, since there is an abundant amount of fish and seafood along Norway's coast they are a large exporter of fish. Since eating fish is so healthy and Norwegian's eat a large amount of fish, it's not hard to understand that Norway is one of the most healthiest countries in the world. Norway does mainly rely on it's natural resources for food. Lamb that Norwegian's eat, especially for special occasions can be found in the Norwegian mountains. Other important ingredients found in Norwegian foods are potatoes, sugar, flour, eggs, and lots of butter. All of these key ingredients are resources found in Norway.