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Economy

Overview: Norway is a prosperous capitalist nation with the resources to finance extensive welfare measures. Since 1975 exploitation of large crude oil and natural gas reserves has helped achieve an average annual growth of roughly 4%, the third-highest among OECD countries. Growth slackened in 1987-88 because of the sharp drop in world oil prices and a slowdown in consumer spending, but picked up again in 1989. Future economic issues involve the aging of the population, the increased economic integration of Europe, and the balance between private and public influence in economic decisions.

GDP: $75.8 billion, per capita $17,900; real growth rate 5.7% (1989 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.5% (1989)

Unemployment rate: 3.9% (1989 est., excluding people in job-training programs)

Budget: revenues $40.6 billion; expenditures $41.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1989)

Exports: $22.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—petroleum and petroleum products 25%, natural gas 11%, fish 7%, aluminum 6%, ships 3.5%, pulp and paper; partners—UK 26%, EFTA 16.3%, less developed countries 14%, Sweden 12%, FRG 12%, US 6%, Denmark 5% (1988)

Imports: $18.7 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities—machinery, fuels and lubricants, transportation equipment, chemicals, foodstuffs, clothing, ships; partners—Sweden 18%, less developed countries 18%, FRG 14%, Denmark 8%, UK 7%, US 7%, Japan 5% (1988)

External debt: $18.3 billion (December 1989)

Industrial production: growth rate 15.8% (1989)

Electricity: 26,735,000 kW capacity; 121,685 million kWh produced, 28,950 kWh per capita (1989)

Industries: petroleum and gas, food processing, shipbuilding, pulp and paper products, metals, chemicals, timber, mining, textiles, fishing

Agriculture: accounts for 3.1% of GNP and 6.5% of labor force; among world's top 10 fishing nations; livestock output exceeds value of crops; over half of food needs imported; fish catch of 1.9 million metric tons in 1987

Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $3.7 billion

Currency: Norwegian krone (plural—kroner); 1 Norwegian krone (NKr) = 100 øre

Exchange rates: Norwegian kroner (NKr) per US$1—6.5405 (January 1990), 6.9045 (1989), 6.5170 (1988), 6.7375 (1987), 7.3947 (1986), 8.5972 (1985)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Railroads: 4,223 km 1.435-meter standard gauge; Norwegian State Railways (NSB) operates 4,219 km (2,450 km electrified and 96 km double track); 4 km other

Highways: 79,540 km total; 18,600 km concrete, bituminous, stone block; 19,980 km bituminous treated; 40,960 km gravel, crushed stone, and earth

Inland waterways: 1,577 km along west coast; 1.5-2.4 m draft vessels maximum

Pipelines: refined products, 53 km

Ports: Oslo, Bergen, Fredrikstad, Kristiansand, Stavanger, Trondheim

Merchant marine: 660 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,702,254 GRT/28,722,304 DWT; includes 11 passenger, 19 short-sea passenger, 104 cargo, 3 passenger-cargo, 19 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 40 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 6 vehicle carrier, 1 railcar carrier, 128 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 86 chemical tanker, 62 liquefied gas, 26 combination ore/oil, 142 bulk, 7 combination bulk; note—the government has created a captive register, the Norwegian International Ship Register (NIS), as a subset of the Norwegian register; ships on the NIS enjoy many benefits of flags of convenience and do not have to be crewed by Norwegians; the majority of ships under the Norwegian flag are now registered with the NIS

Civil air: 76 major transport aircraft

Airports: 104 total, 104 usable; 64 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 12 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 16 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: high-quality domestic and international telephone, telegraph, and telex services; 3,102,000 telephones; stations—8 AM, 46 (1,400 relays) FM, 55 (2,100 relays) TV; 4 coaxial submarine cables; communications satellite earth stations operating in the EUTELSAT, INTELSAT (1 Atlantic Ocean), MARISAT, and domestic systems

Defense Forces

Branches: Royal Norwegian Army, Royal Norwegian Navy, Royal Norwegian Air Force

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,115,620; 937,555 fit for military service; 32,748 reach military age (20) annually

Defense expenditures: 3.3% of GDP, or $2.5 billion (1989 est.)  Oman



Geography

Total area: 212,460 km²; land area: 212,460 km²

Comparative area: slightly smaller than Kansas

Land boundaries: 1,374 km total; Saudi Arabia 676 km, UAE 410 km, PDRY 288 km

Coastline: 2,092 km

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: to be defined;
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm;
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: Administrative Line with PDRY; no defined boundary with most of UAE, Administrative Line in far north

Climate: dry desert; hot, humid along coast; hot, dry interior; strong southwest summer monsoon (May to September) in far south

Terrain: vast central desert plain, rugged mountains in north and south

Natural resources: crude oil, copper, asbestos, some marble, limestone, chromium, gypsum, natural gas

Land use: NEGL% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 5% meadows and pastures; 0% forest and woodland; 95% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: summer winds often raise large sandstorms and duststorms in interior; sparse natural freshwater resources

Note: strategic location with small foothold on Musandam Peninsula controlling Strait of Hormuz (17% of world's oil production transits this point going from Persian Gulf to Arabian Sea)

People

Population: 1,457,064 (July 1990), growth rate 3.1% (1990)

Birth rate: 43 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 12 deaths/1,000 population (1990)  237