CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



warm ; at midsummer, the sun never falls beneath 

 the horizon north of Tornea ; and the crops of 

 oats and barley come to maturity in six or eight 

 weeks. In the central parts, winter lasts only 

 about four months, but is severe enough in most 

 seasons to lock up the Baltic ; and in the southern 

 level tracts, the climate is very similar to that of 

 Northern Germany. 



The vegetable productions, as might be expected 

 from the high latitude and natural poverty of the 

 soil, are by no means abundant. In the forests, 

 pines, firs, alders, and birches are prevalent in the 

 north ; these, with oak, elm, and ash in the cen- 

 tral districts ; and the beech, chestnut, mulberry, 

 &c. only in the south. Apples, pears, and other 

 garden-fruits are grown in Gothland. The culti- 

 vated products consist chiefly of rye, barley, oats, 

 wheat, potatoes, peas, hemp and flax, buckwheat, 

 madder, hops, and woad, in the south ; but as we 

 proceed northward, most of these disappear, and 

 oats, barley, maslin (a mixture of barley and oats), 

 and potatoes, are alone cultivated oats ripening 

 so far as 66 north, and a coarse variety of barley 

 even to the limits of the pine-woods in 69 30'. 

 The principal wild animals are the bear, wolf, 

 wolverine, fox, lynx, badger, otter, squirrel, lem- 

 ming, and other small rodents ; with a few scat- 

 tered members of the beaver family. Game-birds 

 are everywhere rife, from the partridge to the 

 capercailzie ; and aquatic birds appear in great 

 abundance. Seals and porpoises are found in 

 the Baltic, whose waters also furnish plentiful 

 supplies of cod, sole, turbot, pilchard, herring, 

 stremming, mackerel, oysters, &c. ; while in the 

 rivers and lakes are sturgeon, salmon, trout, pike, : 

 and perch. 



The inhabitants, with the exception of a few 

 Finns and Laplanders, belong (like the Danes) to the 

 Scandinavian branch of the great Teutonic family, 

 and speak a variety or dialect of the old Norse. 

 The religion of the state, and that to which the ' 

 whole population, with the exception of some 7000, ' 

 adhere, is the Lutheran, administered by r arch- j 

 bishop, 1 1 bishops, and over 3000 inferior clergy. 

 Education in Sweden is both free and compulsory. 

 In 1 88 1, 97 per cent of all the children between 

 eight and fifteen attended school. High schools 

 or gymnasia exist in all the provincial capitals ; 

 and there are two universities namely, those of 

 Upsala and Lund. 



Industrially, the Swedes are a busy, hardy, 

 clear-headed, and progressive people. The staple 

 exports are timber, bar-iron, and corn ; and the 

 staple imports, textile fabrics, coal, colonial mer- 

 chandise, and machinery. In 1880, the total value 

 of all Swedish exports amounted to ^12,500,000, 

 and of all Swedish imports to ^16,000,000, an 

 increase of more than 100 per cent, in ten years. 

 The manufactures are chiefly domestic, the 

 peasantry supplying themselves, as winter employ- ! 

 ment, with nearly all the coarse woollens, linens, ! 

 and cottons they require. There is now a con- 1 

 siderable network of railways in Sweden, partly j 

 belonging to the state, and partly to private com- 

 panies. 



The government is a limited monarchy, heredi- i 

 tary in the male line, and restricted to the 

 Lutheran creed. The legislative power is vested 

 in the king and representative Diet, consisting of 

 two chambers both elected by the people. The ! 

 executive is managed by the king and a state council ' 

 222 



Population in 1881, 4,572,000; revenue in 1882 

 j4,375,ooo; debt, ,12,000,000; army, 184,000; 

 navy, 130 vessels, of which 14 are iron-clads. 

 Capital, Stockholm; pop. (1881) 176,700. 



NORWAY. 



Nonvay occupies the western section of the 

 Scandinavian peninsula ; extends from lat. 58 

 to 71 10' north, and from long. 5 to 31 east; 

 and is bounded on the west and north by the 

 Northern Ocean ; east, by Russian Lapland and 

 Sweden ; and south, by the Skagerrack. Its 

 greatest length is upwards of 1100 miles, and 

 average breadth 50; area, 120,000 square miles. 



The general aspect of the country is bleak, 

 rugged, and sterile ; the shores are rocky and 

 precipitous, and, on the west, fenced by numerous 

 small islands, and indented by -fiords. The interior 

 consists chiefly of the mountain masses of the 

 Kjolen and Dovre-fjeld, rising in the north almost 

 from the water's edge, and in the south spread 

 out in plateaux, or fielle (i.e. fields), intersected by 

 narrow valleys susceptible of a scanty culture, or 

 by steep ravines, down which impetuous rivers 

 cleave their way by rapids and water-falls. The 

 lowest tracts, and those to which cultivation is 

 chiefly limited, occur round Christiania fiord, and 

 the adjoining shores of the Skagerrack, or to the 

 south and east of the Bay of Trondhjem. The 

 geology of the country is primary, and yields, like 

 the contiguous parts of Sweden, iron, copper, 

 cobalt, zinc, marble, and slate. 



The climate is milder, but more variable than 

 that of Sweden under the same parallels. The 

 cause is supposed to be the warmth of the Gulf 

 Stream. At Christiania, winter lasts from the 

 middle of September to the middle of May, and 

 summer is short and warm ; in Lapland, winter 

 endures from August till May, and for many weeks 

 the sun is invisible (the aurora borealis and stars 

 being the only natural lights) ; while summer is 

 short and fervid, the sun never sinking beneath 

 the horizon. 



The inhabitants, with the exception of the Lap- 

 landers, are members of the Teutonic race, and 

 immediately descended from the old Scandina- 

 vian Norsemen a dialect of whose language 

 they employ. According to the census of 1865, 

 the whole population, except some 5000, were 

 Lutherans in religion. In educational matters, 

 Norway occupies a high position : elementary 

 instruction is compulsory between the ages of 

 seven and fourteen, and is provided for partly by 

 stationary parish schools, partly, on account of 

 the scattered state of the population, by ambulatory 

 teachers ; and the higher departments by 13 laerd 

 skole (learned schools) in the principal towns. The 

 subjects taught in these higher schools are the- 

 ology, Latin, Greek, Norwegian, German, French, 

 English, mathematics, history, and geography. 

 There is a university at Christiania. 



The industry of Norway is chiefly limited to 

 her forests, which yield excellent timber, bark, and 

 tar ; to her fisheries of cod, lubfish, herrings, lob- 

 sters, salmon, anchovies, &c. ; to her mines and 

 foundries of iron, copper, and cobalt ; and to 

 shipping, much of which is employed in the 

 carrying-trade of other countries. Agriculture is 

 improving ; the manufactures are almost wholly 

 domestic. During the years 1877-81, the average 



