northernfever

Your Daily 5 Nordic Facts : Norway

On the island of Svalbard, carrying a gun outside populated areas is required by law because of the high chances you might find yourself face to face with a polar bear. If you don’t have a gun license, you’re not permitted to leave the settlement areas alone.
Norway is just a bit bigger than the US state of New Mexico.
If you publish a book in Norway, the government will buy 1000 copies (1,500 if it is a children’s book) and dole out them to libraries throughout the country.
Linje Akvavit is a Norwegian flavoured liquor, and it’s production is a bit bloody weird. It’s shipped in oak barrels from Norway to Australia and back before being bottled. Apparently the constant movement and fluctuating temperatures give the liquor it’s special taste as well as accelerating its maturity.
The US has more people of Norwegian descent than Norway.

Sources that helped me find this stuff: Sysselmannen.no, FactRepublic.com, Quora

In Denmark it’s illegal to burn any foreign flag, but you CAN burn the Danish flag.
Students have it good in Denmark. They receive about $900 per month and get free tuition. Oh yeah, and they never have to repay ANY of it. EVER.
Denmark’s highest mountain is a meagre 170 m.
Until recently, you could walk in from the street and listen to a debate in parliament, without being stopped or having your bag searched.
In Denmark everybody calls everybody by their first name, even when addressing the Prime Minister.

Sources that helped me find out this stuff: FactRepublic.com, Quora

Every year on the 13th of October, Finland celebrates an ‘International Day of Failure.’ The purpose of the day is to learn from your mistakes.
Finland is called ‘The Land of the 1,000 lakes,’ but it actually has more than 188,000 lakes and 98,000 islands.
In Finland, it’s normal for children read to dogs and cows to improve their self-confidence in reading and because these animals actually like listening and are extremely attentive.
In Finland, speeding tickets are calculated on a percentage of a person’s wage. This means some Finnish millionaires face fines of over $100,000.
The Finnish word ‘kalsarikännit’ means to get drunk at home, by yourself, in your underwear.

Sources that helped me find out this stuff: FactRepublic.com, Quora

In Iceland’s capital city Reykjavik, sidewalks are heated by geothermal heat during winter.
In 2012 a woman changed clothes while on a tour of Iceland. People thought she went missing because they didn’t recognize her. The woman then joined a search party looking for herself.
Iceland is the only country in the world where 100% of the population has the internet.
Iceland is the only country that’s mosquito free.
Iceland’s population is so tiny that there’s an anti-incest app so you don’t end up getting it on with a family member on a night out.

Sources that helped me find out this stuff: FactRepublic.com, Quora

In Stockholm they tested a ‘Speed Camera Lottery.’ If you didn’t drive like a dickhead, you were automatically entered into a lottery funded by the fines of drivers who did drive like dickheads.
Thousands of ‘moose-crossing’ warning signs are nicked every year.
If you donate blood in Sweden, you receive a text message every time it’s used to save someone’s life.
The late Swedish badass Göran Kropp rode his bike from Stockholm to Nepal, climbed Mount Everest alone without Sherpas or oxygen, then cycled back to Sweden.
In Älvdalen, a locality in Dalarna, the people still speak an ancient dialect of Old Norse called Elfdalian. These also used runes up until the 1900s.

Sources that helped me find out this stuff: FactRepublic.com, Quora