Part II. Statistics.
Population. The population of Norway on the 31st of December 1882 was 1,913,000, of whom 1,509,000 were living in the country districts, and 404,000 in the towns. Subjoined are the figures for each of the eighteen counties (amter) into which the kingdom is divided:—
| Smaalenene | 114,000 |
| Akershus | 100,000 |
| Buskerud | 104,000 |
| Jarlsberg and Laurvik | 92,000 |
| Bratsberg | 87,000 |
| Hedemark | 123,000 |
| Christian | 113,000 |
| Nedenæs | 79,000 |
| Lister and Mandal | 77,000 |
| Stavanger | 118,000 |
| Söndre Bergenhus | 121,000 |
| Nordre Bergenhus | 88,000 |
| Romsdal | 125,000 |
| Söndre Throndhjem | 123,000 |
| Nordre Throndhjem | 84,000 |
| Nordland | 116,000 |
| Tromsö | 60,000 |
| Finmark | 27,000 |
Of the towns the following seven had the largest population (Christiania and Bergen being each a separate amt) : Christiania, 119,407; Bergen, 43,026; Throndhjem (1875), 22,152; Stavanger (1879), 23,500; Drammen, 19,582; Christiansand, 12,282; and Christiansund, 9025.
Norway is the most sparsely-populated country in Europe, having an average of about eighteen persons to the square mile. The distribution is very unequal: the greatest density is in Christiania stift, which contains about seven-twentieths of the whole population in seven-hundredths of the total area of the country. The density is relatively great along the coast. The districts which lie more than 600 to 700 feet above the sea are comparatively sparsely peopled. Notwithstanding the great emigration to America and Australia which has taken place in recent years, the population of the country has steadily advanced. About 1660 it numbered only 300,000, while at the beginning of the present century it was 800,000.
Agriculture. According to the returns completed in 1875, the owners of real property in the rural districts numbered 173,183, the total value of their properties being stated at £42,390,000. 24,713 English square miles of the southern stifts are estimated to be under wood, while the whole arable land of the country in 1875 amounted to 738 square miles, with a production valued at £2,794,000. At the same date the live stock included 151,903 horses, 1,016,617 cattle, 1,686,306 sheep, 322,861 goats, 101,020 pigs, and 96,567 reindeer.
Fisheries. The fisheries form one of the most important sources of the national wealth. In 1881 they employed upwards of 120,000 men, and the aggregate profits were estimated at about £1,111,000. The principal are the cod fisheries, along the inner coasts of the Lofoten Islands, where, in 1881, 26,850 men on 6153 boats caught 28,400,000 fish, valued at £312,400. In the same year the cod fishery in Finmark yielded about 13,000,000 fish, at a value of £131,000; those on the coast of Söndmöre produced only one-fourth of this amount. Next come the herring fisheries, which in 1881 yielded 2,412,630 bushels, valued at about £277,800. 6,165,000 mackerel (£42,700) were also taken. The summer fisheries of coal-fish, ling, salmon, trout, lobsters, and oysters at the same time gave a total of £222,200.
Manufactures. Manufacturing establishments in 1878 numbered 2628, employing an aggregate of 41,391 hands. The leading place here is taken by the saw-mills, of which there were 112 driven by steam (3402 hands) and 630 by water (4274 hands). Next come 551 cotton-mills (2037 workmen), 199 brick-works (3540 workmen), 123 cod-liver-oil works (598 workmen), 112 shipbuilding yards (2388 workmen), and 27 wood-fibre factories (805 workmen).
Mines. Mines are a considerable source of wealth to the country, their production in 1879 being estimated at £202,200. To this sum must be added £11,310 for apatite, £6150 for felspar, and £24,360 as the value of hewn stone exported in that year. The most important mines are:—the silver mines at Kongsberg, which in 1879 produced 9415 ℔ of silver, and a surplus of £3750; the copper works at Röros, producing 6880 tons, valued at £17,800 ; the copper pyrite mines at Vigsnæs, with a production of 39,898 tons, and a value of £69,440; the nickel-works at Senjen in Nordland, which yielded 3828 tons, valued at £5000; the iron-works of Næs and Egeland, which produced 2400 tons, at a value of £1050; and the iron-works of Holden, with 5660 tons, worth £2500. It must, however, be mentioned that the production of the mines since 1879 has been diminishing.
Commerce. The foreign trade of Norway is steadily increasing. Its aggregate value in 1882 was estimated at £15,724,500 (imports, £8,916,700; exports, £6,807,800). The principal imports were:—corn, 1,100,000 quarters, £1,836,650; beef and pork, £202,660; butter, £310,570; colonial wares, £894,950; and manufactured goods, 1,305,560. Among the exports the leading place is taken by timber (£2,549,450), of which the greater part was sent to England. The fishery products sent abroad were valued at £1,444,450, and the metals at £117,450. The port of Christiania has the largest trade, the imports in 1882 having been worth £4,082,800, and the exports £1,409,200; next to Christiania come Bergen and Throndhjem. The mercantile marine of Norway some years ago passed through a period of stagnation, but revived somewhat in 1880 and 1881. At the close of the latter year it consisted of 7977 vessels (7618 sailing vessels and 359 steamers), with an aggregate tonnage of 1,520,407. The gross freight earned was £5,021,200, of which not less than £3,969,500 were derived from the carrying trade. The largest shipping ports are those of Stavanger (669 vessels, 120,017 tons), Arendal (412 vessels, 171,858 tons), Bergen (348 vessels, 84,870 tons), Christiania (318 vessels, 105,193 tons), and Drammen (281 vessels, 85,028 tons).
Railways. The Norwegian railways have a total length of 973 English miles. (1) From Christiania along the eastern coast of Christiania Fjord to the Swedish frontier (Smaalensbanen), including the inner or eastern line between the station of Ski and the town of Sarpsborg, 156 miles. (2) The Trunk Railway (Hovedbanen), between Christiania and Eidsvold by Lake Mjösen, 42 miles. (3) From Lilleström on the Trunk Railway to the Swedish frontier (Kongsvingerbanen), 71 miles. (4) From Eidsvold to Hamar (Hedemarksbanen), 36 miles. (5) From Hamar to Throndhjem (Rörosbanen), consisting of four administratively separate sections—Hamar to Grundset, 24 miles; Grundset to Rena, 16 miles; Rena to Stören, 199 miles; and Stören to Throndhjem, 31 miles. (6) From Throndhjem to the Swedish frontier (Merakerbanen), 63 miles. (7) From Christiania to Drammen, 33 miles. (8) From Drammen along the western coast of Christiania Fjord to Skien (Grevskabsbanen), with a branch line from Skopum, 98 miles. (9) From Drammen to Randsfjord Lake (including branch lines from Hougsund to Kongsberg and from Vikersund to Lake Kröderen), 89 miles. (10) From Stavanger to Egersund (Jæderbanen), 47 miles. (11) From Bergen to Vossevangen, 67 miles. The first three are commonly called the eastern railways (Östbanerne), (5) and (6) the northern (Nordbanerne), and the last three the western (Vestbanerne).
Post-Office. With improved means of communication the Norwegian post-office has made corresponding advances. In 1882 there were forwarded a total of 13,990,100 letters, of which 11,749,600 were inland, and 2,240,400 were sent abroad; 2,728,800 letters were in the same period received from foreign countries. The Government telegraphs had at the close of 1882 a line length of 47,065 miles, with a wire length of 85,485 miles. The telegrams transmitted in that year reached a total of 880,876.
Education. As regards primary education Norway takes a leading place among the states of Europe. In the country districts 207,922 children were instructed in 6408 schools by 3374 teachers and 108 preceptresses in 1878; in the same year 40,826 children in the towns were instructed by 372 teachers and 367 preceptresses in 144 schools. There are, besides, 147 citizen-schools, middle-schools, and higher-schools, with a staff in 1878 of 824 teachers and 466 preceptresses; the scholars numbered 16,800 (9150 boys and 7650 girls). The university, that of Christiania, has 50 professors and 1000 students.
Army and navy. Service in the army or navy, without the right of providing a substitute, is obligatory on all males who have completed their twenty-third year; the only exemptions are in favour of ecclesiastical functionaries, pilots, and the inhabitants of Finmark. To the navy are drafted all conscripts who have made a voyage to foreign parts of at least twelve months, all conscripts from Nordland and Tromsö, and a certain number of those from southern Norway who are accustomed to the sea. The army is made up of the troops of the line, the landværn, and the landstorm; the term of service is seven years in the line, and three in the landværn. The landstorm consists of every man capable of bearing arms, under fifty years of age, who docs not belong to the line or the landværn. The troops of the line in continuous service number 1850 noncommissioned officers and men, and consist partly of volunteers; the other troops of the line in time of peace are called out for drill only in summer. For infantry recruits the minimum period of drill is forty-two days, for cavalry and artillery ninety days; for those who have passed out of that category it is only twenty-four days. The military schools are at Christiania. The average annual conscription is 6300 men. The total establishment of the army on 30th June 1878 was 68,809 men, viz., infantry 60,672 (48,275 combatants), cavalry 2735 (1343 combatants), artillery 5150 (2867 combatants). The commissioned officers numbered 703. The numbers on a peace footing were:—for the line 15,878 (war complement 3203), for the reserve 17,089, for the landværn 12,846. There were also 532 musicians.
The navy is manned in part by volunteers. The term of service is from the age of twenty-two to that of thirty-five. The schools for naval instruction are at Horten, where also is the chief royal dockyard. The fleet consists of two wooden steam frigates, two wooden steam corvettes, four monitors, two first-class gunboats, several second and third class gunboats, two training ships, and some transports. There is also a torpedo service.
Constitution. The constitution of Norway primarily rests on the “fundamental law,” or grundlov, which was promulgated at Eidsvold on the 17th of May 1814, and afterwards, on the union with Sweden, agreed to, with slight modifications, in Christiania on the 4th of November in the same year. To this must be added the Swedish succession ordinance of the 26th of September 1810, accepted by Norway in November 1814, and the rigsact, or charter of union, of 1815. By the first-mentioned Norway is a free, independent, indivisible kingdom, united with Sweden under the same king. The form of
