NORWAY 



529 



port towns. The density of the population over 

 the entire surface is 15'6 per square mile, much 

 the lowest of any country in Europe ; but then 

 fully 70 per cent, of the total area is wholly un- 

 cuhivable, being barren mountain and waste (2 per 

 cent, under glaciers); in addition 24 per cent, is 

 covered with forest. The table shows the area and 

 population of the districts. 



Pop. 1S7. Pop 18B1. 



107.S04 



1 1>;. :>:. 



7B.054 

 110,618 



115,814 

 102, Ib6 

 87,506 

 83,171 

 73,415 

 75,121 

 llii,:ta 

 ll'.I.SOS 

 33,830 



Smaalcnene 1, 599 



Ake rohus 2,054 



Christian!* (town) 7 



Hedemark 10,435 



Christ ians 9,076 



Busker-nil 5,7:6 



Jarlalirrg and Larvik 895 



Bratsherg 6.SUS 



Neilenes 3,608 



Lister and Maudal 2,804 



Stavanger. 3,580 



South Bergenhtu ,024 



Bergen (town) 4 



North Bergenhus 7,145 



Rom.-cla! 5 785 



South Trnnilhjem 7.18S 



North Tromlhjem 8,782 



Nordland 14,854 



Trnmo 10,131 



Finniark 1S.295 



117.220 



K-'.L'7L 

 104,151 



. 

 24.U75 



I,OOT 



100,431 

 148,319 

 120,356 

 108,44* 



10.i,22'J 

 87,rt51 

 91,408 

 77,510 

 7,lfl5 

 114,305 

 1 --'7.77 1 

 W,7'.'i 



87,867 



127,00 

 123.C.20 

 61,571 

 US.BM 

 64,827 

 29,332 



Total 124,495 1,808,900 1,988,997 



Finniark, which is inhabited chiefly by Lapps, 

 about 18,000 in number, whom the Norwegians 

 call Finns, whilst the true Finns they call Kv;i-ns, 

 is a monotonous undulating plateau ( 1000 to 2000 

 feet). The coast is deeply indented with large 

 fjords (Varanger, Tana, Laxe, Poi-sanger, Alien), 

 and east of the North Cape (q. v. ) is low, bare, and 

 bleak, though the hank* of Pasvig, the frontier 

 river with Russian Lapland, are green with patches 

 of firs, pines, and birches. Vegetables, barley, and 

 peas ripen on the shores of the fjords, thanks to 

 the Gulf Stream and the eight weeks of uninter- 

 rupted sunlight that prevails in summer. At that 

 season too gnats are a terrible plague to man 

 and IxMst. The cliffs and inlands swarm with 

 wild-fowl, and the sea- waters with fish. The wolf 

 and glutton are common, the former being a 

 dangerous enemy to the Lapps' reindeer herds. 

 West of ~2Z' E. long, the coast breaks rooky, wild, 

 and precipitous, its outline being irregular in the 

 extreme ; and these characteristics it preserves 

 right down to below 59 N. lat., to the point 

 nearest Scotland (280 miles distant). From this 

 point up to the North Cape the entire coast is pro- 

 teeted from the Atlantic waves by a belt of rocky 

 islands, called the Skj.-vrgoard or ' Skerry Fence,' IK?. 

 tween which and the coast there are connected navi- 



f"vble roads, sh> 'Itered and safe at nearly all reasons, 

 he outermost islands of this belt are the Lofoten 

 and Vesteraalen chains; in both groups the moun- 

 tains (2000 to 3000 feet) rise in extremely fantastic 

 pinnacles and turrets, with razor-backed saddles 

 and gabled roofs. But wherever, on these and all 

 the oilier islands of the Skjn-rgaard, there are level 

 patches and ledges of soil touched by the motlify- 

 ing climatic in 11 nonces grass grows abundantly. 

 The climate of the Lofotens is indeed .so mil. I that 

 rye and barley easily ripen, and large flocks of 

 sheep are left out all winter, whilst from 27,000 to 

 31, (MM! fishermen congregate here in the winter to 

 jiioseoute the herring and cod fisheries. All the 

 islands of the Skju-rgaard are frequented by 

 enormous quantities of sea-birds, chiefly of the 

 duck and gull varieties; they are 'fowled' for the 

 sake of their down (from the eider duck), feathers, 

 II. -li. and oil. On some of the islands the red .leer 

 still lingers. On the mainland the mountains in 

 the north have the same bare, angular outlines as 

 in the Lofotens, but support in many parts hi rue 

 forests of lir and pine ; in southern Norway they 



Ma 



have rounded, dome-shaped summits, and are, next 

 the sea, only sparsely covered with fir (no pine) 

 and other trees. The peninsular rampart is 

 crowned with several gigantic glaciers e.g. the 

 shores (6000 feet) of Lyngen Fjord in the north are 

 lined with them ; from Jokel Fjeld, on an arm of 

 Kvenang Fjord, large masses of ice drop oft' the 

 glaciers into the sea and float away as icebergs ; 

 just north of 67 N. lat. is the enormous snowfield 

 of Sulitjelma (6168 feet), and just south of the 

 same parallel Svartisen (3600 feet), the second 

 largest glacier in Norway, measuring 44 miles by 

 12 to 25, and sending down glacier curtains to 

 within a few hundred feet of the sea ; south Nor- 

 way possesses the second largest glacier in Europe 

 (Vatnajiikull in Iceland being the largest), the 

 roof-shaped Justedal ( 4600 to 5400 feet ), which has 

 an area of 580 so. m. ( 87 miles long by 6 to 22 miles 

 wide), and reaches down its icy polypous arms to 

 within 150 feet of the sea ; to the south of it lies 

 the snowtield of Folgefond, 40 miles long and 7 to 

 15 wide (108 sq. m.), and 3000 to 5000 feet in 

 altitude. Throughout Norway the limit of per- 

 petual snow ranges from 3100 feet on Justedal to 

 5150 on the Dovre Fjeld. 



The lofty west coast region is everywhere cleft 

 by gigantic fissures, very narrow and winding, into 

 which the sea-water flows the fjords. In some 

 cases they are of great depth, much deeper than 

 the sea outside (200 fathoms): Sogne Fjord, for 

 instance, is 2820 feet deeper ; Hardanger fjord, 930 

 feet ; and Vest and Nord Fjords, 840 feet. Some 

 of them penetrate great distances inland and send 

 oil' numerous branching arms. Sogne Fjord cuts its 

 way to the foot of the .lotun Fjeld, 106 miles from 

 the ocean, ami Hanlanger Fjord, which encircles 

 the Folgefond, is 68 miles long. Nord and Sognc 

 Fjords clasp the Justedal l>etween them. The>e 

 three fjords offer some of the grandest and most 

 accessible scenery in Norway. Their landward con- 

 tiniiiit ions either rise rapidly to the plateau region 

 almvc or form narrow valleys at a slightly higher 

 elevation, and in that case generally contain a deep 

 lake separated from the fjord by a moraine or 

 barrier of glacial deposits. The finest of tlii^e 

 valleys is Komsdal, where the rounded, pure gneiss 

 mountains tower np to 6000 feet with ajmost per- 

 pendicular walls. The steep sides and extremities 

 (2000 to 4000 feet) of these fjords and valleys are 

 braided with waterfalls, varying in character from 

 trickling ribbons and veils of white foam to full- 

 volumed streams like Skjieggedal (530 feet), 

 Voring (475 feet), and Vetti (900 feet). The inner 

 reaches of the fjords have as a rule warm summers 

 and mild winters ; all the ordinary cereals and 

 hardy fruits ripen easily, and such trees as fir, 

 birch, hazel, elm, mountain ash, aspen, bird-cherry, 

 oak, ash, lime, and alder grow according to the 

 elevation. The only considerable break in the 

 lofty coast-wall is the basin of Trondhjem, a little 

 north of 63 N. lat. This district was the centre 

 of the ancient national life of the country, and in 

 the cathedral of Trondhjem city (called Mdaros to 

 the middle of the 16th century) the kings of Nor- 

 way are still crowned. The southern coast-lands, 

 bordering the Skagerrack and the wide Christiania 

 Fjord, are comparatively low and tame. 



On the eastern side of the peninsular rampart 

 the valleys trend south and south-east, and con- 

 verge upon Christiania Fjord. At their upper 

 extremities they are generally narrow and deep ; 

 and many are filled with chains of lakes, which 

 make fine waterfalls (Rjukan, 800 feet, in Thele- 

 marken ) as they drop from level to level ; their 

 lower reaches get wider and shallower as they pro- 

 ceed south. Most of these valleys are traversed by 

 mountain torrents and streams, the longest being 

 the Glommen (350 miles), Drammen (163), with 



