Strange And Interesting Facts About Life In Norway You Probably Didn’t Know

It is common for members of royal families to be required to only marry people of royal descent. However, King Harald of Norway vowed to never marry at all, if he wasn’t allowed to marry the love of his life, the daughter of a cloth merchant, Sonja Haraldsen. They later married with help of the Government of Norway and she became the Queen of Norway.

There's a king penguin, named Nils Olav residing in Edinburgh's Zoo who was presented the title of Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian King's Guard by the king of Norway.

The world's most expensive gas is found in Norway. Norwegians pay $7.82 for a gallon of gas. In comparison, US citizens pay around $2.99. Norway has significant oil reserves but instead of subsidizing vehicle fuel, the country uses the money elsewhere. For example, to fund free college for its residents.

During the oil crisis in 1973, Norway's King Olav had no problem taking public transport to a ski resort on the car-free weekend and even paid for a ticket. Back then car-free weekends were introduced by the Norwegian government in an effort to make people save gas.

Every year since 1947 Norway's capital city Oslo, has donated a Christmas tree to the people of Britain as a token of gratitude for British support to Norway during the Second World War. The tree is prominently displayed in Trafalgar Square.

While sushi was invented by the Japanese, we only have salmon sushi thanks to Norwegians. In 1980, during an attempt to expand seafood exports, the Norwegian delegation suggested Japanese use salmon in preparing sushi. While it took some time for them to get used to eating raw salmon, the idea eventually stuck and turned into a popular sushi variation.

Norwegians are among the happiest nations in the world. In 2017 Norway took first place in World Happiness report and the second place in 2018.

It's common for Norwegians to leave their babies sleeping outside even if temperatures are as low as 23F (-5C). Parents often leave sleeping children in prams outside cafes as they drink coffee, or balconies because they believe that it's much healthier for them to sleep in the fresh air.

Norway may not have a lot of luck in the summer Olympics, but they definitely rock the winter games. They have the most winter Olympic medals, 329 to be exact.

In Norway, you can get a harsher penalty for speeding than, for getting caught with drugs. Norway is probably the only European country where you can go to jail for speeding. 150km/h on a motor road can land you in jail for 18 days.

It is forbidden to die in the small town of Longyearbyen. The town hasn't buried any dead people for 80 years, because bodies can’t decompose in the permafrost. Terminally ill people are flown out of the town to die elsewhere.

Since 1901 the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony has been held in Oslo, Norway.

Norway is one of the world's biggest consumers of coffee. Annually, Norwegians consume 9.9 kg coffee per person.

Furniture retailer Ikea names its beds, wardrobes and hall furniture with the names of places in Norway.

Famous Voss bottled water comes from the municipal water supply in Iveland, Norway.

Norway's supermarkets only sell beer and cider. To get any other alcoholic beverage you have to visit a specialized store called a Vinmonopolet.
While major cities in Norway have several of these stores, you can only find one in smaller towns, and none in the countryside.

In 1971 Norway abolished life imprisonment. Now the longest possible term in jail they have is 21 years.

Norway's unofficial national dish - Gransiosa frozen pizza. Apparently, Norwegians are huge fans of frozen pizza, they consume around 24 million pans each year.

It probably comes as no surprise that modern skiing was invented by a Norwegian. During the late 19th century Sondre Norheim created a ski design that allowed him to swing and jump with a lower risk of falling. His design inspired the modern skis we use today.

Every Norwegian who owns a TV set has to pay a TV license fee of 2680,56 kr ($318) each year.