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GEOGRAPHY
Location:
Northern Europe, bordering the North Sea and the North Atlantic
Ocean, west of Sweden
total
area: 324,220 sq km
comparative
area: slightly larger than New Mexico
Land
boundaries: total 2,515 km, Finland 729 km, Sweden 1,619 km,
Russia 167 km
Coastline:
21,925 km (includes mainland 3,419 km, large islands 2,413 km,
long fjords, numerous small islands, and minor indentations 16,093
km)
continental
shelf: 200 nm
exclusive
economic zone: 200 nm
International
disputes: territorial claim in Antarctica (Queen Maud Land);
maritime boundary dispute with Russia over portion of Barents
Sea
Climate:
temperate along coast, modified by North Atlantic Current; colder
interior; rainy year-round on west coast
Terrain:
glaciated; mostly high plateaus and rugged mountains broken by
fertile valleys; small, scattered plains; coastline deeply indented
by fjords; arctic tundra in north
Natural
resources: petroleum, copper, natural gas, pyrites, nickel,
iron ore, zinc, lead, fish, timber, hydropower
Irrigated
land: 950 sq km (1989)
current
issues: water pollution; acid rain damaging forests and adversely
affecting lakes, threatening fish stocks; air pollution from vehicle
emissions
international
agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen
Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic
Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban,
Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Wetlands,
Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air Pollution-Sulphur 94,
Desertification, Law of the Sea, Tropical Timber 94
Note: About two-thirds mountains; some 50,000 islands off
its much indented coastline; strategic location adjacent to sea
lanes and air routes in North Atlantic; one of most rugged and
longest coastlines in world; Norway and Turkey only NATO members
having a land boundary with Russia.
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