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Although the Evangelical Lutheran Church is the state church,
Norway has complete religious freedom. Education is free
through the university level and is compulsory from ages 7 to
16. At least 12 months of military service and training are
required of every eligible male. Norway's health system
includes free hospital care, physician's compensation, cash
benefits during illness and pregnancy, and other medical and
dental plans. There is a public pension system.
Norway is in the top rank of nations in the number of books
printed per capita, even though Norwegian is one of the
world's smallest language groups. Norway's most famous writer
is the dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Artists Edvard Munch and
Christian Krogh were Ibsen's contemporaries. Munch drew part
of his inspiration from Europe and in turn exercised a strong
influence on later European expressionists. Sculptor Gustav
Vigeland has a permanent exhibition in the Vigeland Sculpture
Park in Oslo. Musical development in Norway since Edvard Grieg
has followed either native folk themes or, more recently,
international trends.
This
information, I have found at the US State Department site on
Norway. Click on the flowers, to wisit this page:
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