List of possessions of Norway

Norwegian kingdom and some of its current overseas territories

This is a list of current and former territorial possessions of Norway.

Current overseas territories

Integral areas of Norway which are unincorporated as counties:

• Svalbard (including Bear Island), in the Arctic, part of Norway since 1920.
• Jan Mayen, in the Arctic, part of Norway since 1929.

Svalbard with Bear Island are subject to the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are grouped together for some categorization purposes.

Current dependencies of Norway are all in the southern polar region:

• Peter I Island, in the Antarctic, possession since 1929.
• Bouvet Island, in the Subantarctic and South Atlantic, possession since 1930.
• Queen Maud Land, in the Antarctic, possession since 1939.

Map

Location of Norway and its overseas territories

Former dependencies and homelands

Norwegian kingdom at its greatest extent about 1265

Kingdom of Norway (872–1397) with its homeland, dependencies and possessions

Norwegian kingdom and its former homeland before 1645

The so-called Greater Norway^[1] includes these entities:

Suzerainties - Dublin and Mann

• Mann and the Isles, under Norwegian suzerainty.^[20]
• Kingdom of Dublin, nominally under Norwegian suzerainty.^[20]

Former territorial claims

• The Kingdom of England, now part of United Kingdom, claimed by several Norwegian kings (Hardrada dynasty) in the 11th century.^[21][22]
• The Kingdom of Denmark, claimed by several Norwegian kings (Hardrada dynasty) in the 11th century.
• South Georgia, now part of the British Overseas Territories of United Kingdom.

The spread of Norwegian whaling industry to Antarctica in the early 20th century motivated Norway, right after its independence from Sweden in 1905, to pursue territorial expansion not only in the Arctic claiming Jan Mayen and Sverdrup Islands, but also in Antarctica. Norway claimed Bouvet Island and looked further south, formally inquiring with Foreign Office about the international status of the area between 45° and 65° south latitude and 35° and 80° west longitude. Following a second such diplomatic démarche by the Norwegian Government dated 4 March 1907, Britain replied that the areas were British based on discoveries made in the first half of the 19th century, and issued the 1908 Letters Patent incorporating the British Falkland Islands Dependencies with a permanent local administration in Grytviken established in 1909.^[23][24]

• Fridtjof Nansen Land, now part of Russia, claimed from 1926 to around 1929, rejecting a claim of the Soviet Union.^[25]
• Sverdrup Islands, now part of Canada, claimed from 1928 (1902?), Canadian sovereignty recognised in 1930, as part of an agreement with the British Empire, for the British to recognise Svalbard as Norwegian territory.^[26]
• Erik the Red's Land, northeast coast of Greenland, claimed and annexed from 1931 until awarded to Denmark by a court decision in 1933.^[12]
• Inari and Petsamo, now part of Finland and Russia, claimed from Finland from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime during the Nazi occupation of Norway.^[27][28]
• Murmansk and Arkhangelsk as Bjarmland, now part of Russia, claimed from the Soviet Union from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime, and was earlier also claimed by Norway in the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages.^[29] Quisling designated the area reserved for Norwegian colonization as Bjarmeland, a reference to the name featured in the Norse sagas for Northern Russia.^[30][31]

See also

• Danish colonial empire for Dano–Norwegian colonies
• Irredentism
• Earldom of Orkney
• Icelandic Commonwealth^[32]

References