Velkommen! Welcome to the land of the midnight sun and majestic fjords—Norway!

A stunning kingdom located in the western part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. There are around 6 million people living here, and the capital is Oslo, a city that perfectly balances modern green architecture with deep Viking history. The official language is Norwegian, which has two written forms: Bokmål and Nynorsk.

Norway covers about 385,207 square kilometers (148,729 square miles). The country is roughly the same size as the state of Montana in the U.S., or about the same size as Germany and Belgium combined. Despite its large land area, its incredibly rugged coastline—filled with thousands of islands and deep fjords—would stretch more than halfway around the Earth if you laid it out in a straight line.

The most popular sports are Cross-country Skiing and Football, but the nation is a dominant force in almost every Winter Olympic event. Their national animal is the Lion, which appears on the Royal Coat of Arms, though the Moose (Elg) is the undisputed “King of the Forest” in the hearts of the locals.

The flag consists of a blue cross with a white border on a red field, where the red, white, and blue colors represent the colors of liberty and the Nordic cross symbolizes the country’s ties to other Scandinavian nations.

The food is shaped by the cold climate and the surrounding seas. You must try Klippfisk (dried and salted cod) or fresh Norwegian Salmon, which is famous globally. A unique local favorite is Brunost, a brown whey cheese with a distinct caramel-like flavor. For a traditional winter meal, locals eat Fårikål, a hearty stew of mutton and cabbage that is officially the national dish.

Norway is home to the Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord, both UNESCO World Heritage sites known for their sheer mountain walls and cascading waterfalls. In the far north, the town of Tromsø is one of the best places on Earth to witness the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). You can also visit the Svalbard archipelago, where there are more polar bears than people and the sun doesn’t set for months during the summer. Interestingly, Norway is a world leader in electric vehicle adoption and is home to the Global Seed Vault, a “doomsday” bunker built into a mountain to protect the world’s crop diversity.

From the gravity-defying Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) to the colorful wooden houses of Bergen’s Bryggen, Norway is a land of raw, breathtaking nature and “friluftsliv”—the philosophy of living life outdoors. Takk! That means “Thank you!”