Most of the 4 million people live in towns, a quarter of them around Oslo fjord, TRONDHElM, the old capital, and BERGEN. The oil boomtown of STAVANCER has also drawn people from the countryside. In the last century there was also large-scale migration from the harsh conditions of the countryside.
Only 3 per cent of the land is cultivated and the average holding is fairly small, though many farmers also own forestland, which provides additional income. About a third of all farms are dairy farms and cattle are reared in all parts of the country, even the far north. Sheep farming is widespread - there are 2 million sheep in Norway - and pig and poultry rearing are also important. Some goats are kept in hilly areas and reindeer are herded in the north above the timberline. The most productive agricultural areas are around Oslo fjord and Lake MJOSA in the southeast, where the main crops are hay, potatoes, grain, roots for fodder and vegetables. Along the western coasts apples, cherries and soft fruits are grown.
Up to 150 years ago, Norway was a poverty stricken country, and at the beginning of this century was still one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today, Norway has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. Much of this new wealth comes from the oil and gas discovered in the North Sea. Mineral fuels - oil and gas - account for 51 per cent of Norway's exports. Norway is also rich in hydroelectric power produced by rivers flowing from the high plateaus. There are important coalmines in Arctic Spitsbergen and a major iron and steel plant at MO I RANA in the north.
The government has also invested in building good roads (which are costly because of the need to tunnel through so many mountains), in providing airfields and airstrips, and in subsidizing some 200 car-ferry services and the coastal express steamers.
The growth of Norway's industry started long before the recent energy boom. Aluminium smelting based on hydroelectric power and imported bauxite was first developed in the 1920s. In 1906, Norway's biggest industrial concern, Norsk Hydro, became the first company in the world to make nitrate fertilizers from atmospheric nitrogen, using hydroelectricity, and has expanded into a wider range of products.
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