I)Ltenial Aduiinistration 325 



lu foreign affairs only does Norway not act as an 

 independent nation. There is a single foreign minister 

 for the two countries, and he is usually a Swede. 



For the purposes of internal administration, Norway 

 is divided into twenty districts, called Amter — which 

 we may best translate ' Prefectures.' Of these, the two 

 chief towuis of the country, Christiania (with its popula- 

 tion of 150,000) and Bergen (population about 50,000) 

 form each a separate Amt. The remaining eighteen 

 prefectures include both towns and rural districts ; all, 

 that is, except one, Sondre-Bergenhus, which is entirely 

 rural. These eighteen prefectures are divided into fifty- 

 six Fogderier (arrondissemcnts), which among them con- 

 tain twenty-two ports ; and into thirty-nine towns, each 

 of which has its own sous-jpHfet, who is also a magis- 

 trate. 



The thirty-nine townships and eighteen of the ports 

 before mentioned constitute together fiftv-seven urban 

 communities. 



On their side, the rural districts throughout the 

 country are sub-divided into four hundred and fifty- 

 nine rural communities, or Hcereder ; and in these are 

 included the four remaining small ports. The boun- 

 daries of the Heereder are very generally coincident 

 with those of the rural parishes. 



We have thus five hundred and sixteen communities, 

 or, as we may fairly call them in the English sense, 

 townships, each one ha^-ing its own electoral body and 

 two representative bodies. The larger of these two is 

 the j\Iunicipal or Parish Council {Reiyrwsentantskah), 

 which consists of from nine to thirty-six members; and 



