Religion and government

Religion

The dominant religion is Christianity, and the majority of Norwegians are member of the Lutheran state church (Church of Norway). Many other religious communities are represented in Norway. A complete list can be found in the telephone directory for the district ("Yellow pages")

System of state government

Norway is a constitutional monarchy,, which means that the constitution decrees that the country shall be ruled by a monarch. The king and his family have no real political power, but are an important symbol and mean a great deal to the people.

The Storting is Norway's national assembly and consists of 169 representatives.General elections are held every 4 years. The Storting passes laws and decides how the national income should be spent. The Government is led by a Prime Minister who has 19 ministers to assist governing the country.

Although the Storting is the most powerful body in the country, each of the 19 counties and the 435 municipalities has its own local government which is responsible for the building and running of schools, hospitals, kindergartens, roads, etc.

Every Norwegian has the right to vote from the age of 18.