Oslo

Norway

Norway, country of northern Europe that occupies the western half the Scandinavia. Nearly half the inhabitants of the country sleep within the far south, within the region around Oslo, the capital. Indo-European peoples settled Norway’s coast in antiquity, establishing a permanent settlement near this capital of Oslo some 6,000 years ago. the within was more lightly settled, due to extremes of climate and difficult land, and even today the country’s population is concentrated in coastal cities like Bergen and Trondheim. enthusiastic to fishing and farming, early Norwegians developed a marine tradition which may reach its peak within the Viking era, when Norse warriors regularly raided British Isles, the coasts of western Europe, and even the within of Russia; the Vikings also established colonies in Iceland and Greenland and explored the coast of North America (which Leif Eriksson called Vinland) quite thousand years ago. This great tradition of exploration by such explorers as Leif Erikkson and his father, Erik the Red, continued into times , demonstrated by such men as Nansen , Amundsen , and Thor Heyerdahl. Weakened by epidemic and financial failure within the late middle Ages and dominated by neighboring Denmark and Sweden, Norwegians curved to trading in fish and timber, and modern Norway, which gained its independence in 1905, emerged as a massive maritime transporter of the world’s goods also as a world leader in specialized shipbuilding. Within the 1970s the exploitation of offshore oil and gas became the foremost maritime industry, with Norway emerging within the 1990s together of the world’s leading petroleum exporters.

Oslo

Oslo, formerly (1624-1877) Christiania or (1877-1925) Kristiania, capital city of Norway. It lies at the very best of Oslo Fjord within the southeastern an area of the country. The first site of Oslo was east of the Aker River. The town was designed by King Harald Hardrade around 1050, and around 1300 the Akershus grip was built by Haakon V. After the town was destroyed by fire in 1624, Christian IV of Denmark-Norway built a replacement town farther west, under the walls of the Akershus fortress, and called it Christiania. The expansion of Christiania’s population within the 19th century was due partially to the absorption of surrounding municipalities, and also the town replaced its rival, the west-coast port of Bergen, as Norway’s largest and most influential city.

The city was renamed Oslo in 1925 and developed rapidly after war II. In 1948 Oslo incorporated the nearby township of Aker, and within the next decade’s kind of satellite towns and residential areas grew up to the east and west of the town. On July 22, 2011, town centre was the target of a huge bomb attack that damaged government buildings, including the prime minister’s office. Eight people were killed and dozens were injured within the blast.

 Oslo is that the centre of Norwegian trade, banking, industry, and shipping. Oslo Harbour is that the foremost important, also because the busiest, within the country. The leading industries are the assembly of commodity and also the electrotechnical and graphic industries. The important Norwegian fur marts are held at Okern, to the northeast. Oslo is additionally the junction of road, rail, and airway networks of the country.

 The important Norwegian cultural institutions are to be found in Oslo. The town center contains the National Theatre, the Norwegian Theatre, the Oslo New Theatre, the Oslo hall, and therefore the Norwegian Opera. Near the oldest a part of the University of Oslo are found the Historical Museum (with the Ethnographic Museum) and therefore the National Museum of Art, Architecture, and style, the latter of which contains a superb collection of paintings, especially works by Munch. At Tøyen, within the east of the town, are the botanical gardens and a number of other museums, including the Munch Museum. At Bygdoy, the Norwegian Folk Museum, the Viking Ship Museum, the Fram Museum (containing the Farm, a famous polar examination vessel employed by Nansen and Roald Amundsen), the Kon-Tiki Museum (commemorating the Pacific expedition of Thor Heyerdahl), and therefore the Norwegian shipping museum function notices of Oslo’s maritime connections. Frogner Park, located within the western division of the town, is noted for its display of works by the fashionable sculptor Gustav Vigeland.

A number of scientific institutions are attached to the University of Oslo, and therefore the university’s library is that the main library within the country. The city’s most distinguished auditorium is that the university’s Aula (Hall), decorated by Munch, and it's there that the Philharmonic Society’s concerts are held. There also are other national centres of upper education.