The first settlers to Norway were hunters and gatherers who arrived near the end of the Ice Age. Of course, the country is best known for it's Viking Age, a period that many believe started with the plundering of England's Lindisfarne monastery by Nordic pirates in 793 AD. The Vikings were amazing sailors and strong and intimidating warriors and they claimed and conquered many places. Harold Hårfagre unified Norway around 900 in the town of Haugesund, which I visited in 2017. About 100 years later King Olav converted the Viking people to Christianity. The main Viking Age is believed to have ended in 1066 when King Harold Hardråda was killed at the battle of Stamford Bridge, after claiming the crown of England.

Oslo eventually became the center of power in the 13th century and Norway thrived up to the mid-14th century when the bubonic plague devastated its population centers. At various points in history, Norway was part of Denmark  and Sweden. But, eventually nationalism led to Norway's independence when it peacefully seceded from Sweden in 1905.

Norway tried to stay neutral during the world wars but was attacked and occupied by the Nazis in 1940. The Germans rampaged through many Norwegen towns and villages until they were soundly defeated by the Allies in May of 1945. 

In 1960 Norway joined the Schengen Agreement and the European Free Trade Association and over the next two decades, instituted policies that make it among the strongest of Europe's Social Democracies.  When I visited in 2017, it had the highest standard of living in the world.