Short answers, pulled from the story.
Norway had a population of about 5.6 million, recorded as 5,618,354 people in the third quarter of 2025. Its capital and largest city is Oslo, which is considered both a county and a municipality.
Norway holds the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, valued at US$2.1 trillion. The government created the Government Pension Fund Global in 1995, funded by petroleum revenues, and the petroleum industry accounts for around a quarter of the country's gross domestic product. Per capita, Norway is the largest producer of oil and natural gas outside the Middle East.
Norway adopted a constitution based on American and French models on the 17th of May 1814, now celebrated as the Syttende mai holiday. The Treaty of Kiel had forced Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden, and Norway then entered a personal union with Sweden that lasted until peaceful separation on the 7th of June 1905.
By tradition, Harald Fairhair unified Norway into one realm in 872 after the Battle of Hafrsfjord at Stavanger, becoming the first king of a united Norway. The unified kingdom was a merger of petty kingdoms and has existed continuously since then.
Norway proclaimed neutrality but was invaded by German forces on the 9th of April 1940, and military resistance lasted about two months. King Haakon VII and the government escaped to London, while the resistance destroyed Norsk Hydro's heavy water plant at Vemork, crippling the German nuclear programme.
Norway's coastline is broken by huge fjords and thousands of islands, with Sognefjorden the world's longest fjord at 204 km and the second deepest. Including all fjords and islands, the coastline has been estimated at 100,915 km, and the country has about 400,000 lakes and 239,057 registered islands.