Country Profile:

Norway
  • Norway
  • Kingdom of Norway
  • Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: King HARALD V
  • Head of Government: Prime Minister Jens STOLTENBERG
  • Assembly: Norway has a unicameral Parliament (Storting) with 165 seats.

Description of electoral system:

  • The King is inherited N/A.
  • In the Parliament (Storting) 165 members are elected through an open-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** There are 19 multi-member districts corresponding to Norway's counties. Any party that wins more than 4% of votes nationwide but does not win enough votes in any constituency to earn a seat is eligible for compensatory "levelling" seats. The electoral system is open list proportional representation; voters may reorder or cross out candidates on a party list.

In the process of passing legislation, the Storting is divided into two chambers, the Odelsting and the Lagting. After each general election, the Storting elects one quarter of its members to serve in the Lagting, while the remaining three quarters become members of the Odelsting.

Population:

  • Population: 4,660,539 (July 2009 est.)

Past elections

Last Updated on 02/04/2010