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Most of New Zealand's recent interaction with Norway has been in the international arena, particularly in multilateral organisations such as the United Nations and WTO. Norway is similar in size and population to New Zealand, and has played a positive role in the UN on questions of international security. New Zealand supported Norway in its election to the UN Security Council in November 2000. Both New Zealand and Norway are parties to the Antarctic Treaty and cooperate in scientific research on that continent. The two countries concluded an Antarctic Cooperation Statement in December 1997. Human rights, international security, disarmament, Antarctic issues, oceans issues, and climate change are all areas where engagement with Norway has proved particularly useful. New Zealand and Norway take different approaches on the sensitive issue of the conservation of whales.
The trade relationship between New Zealand and Norway is modest. This is partly due to Norway's small population, but also to agricultural support and protection measures designed to promote food security and the maintenance of remote communities.
An Air Services Agreement was signed with the Scandinavian Airlines System countries (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) in February 2001. A Working Holiday Scheme has been operational since July 2005. This enables 18-30 year old Norwegian and New Zealand nationals to work for up to a year in the other country. The agreement does not place any upper limit on the number of Norwegians able to take advantage of this scheme in any given year. Tourist interest from Norway is not great; with around 4,000 Norwegians visiting New Zealand each year.
Land Area - 386,958 sq km, including the Svalbard, Jan Mayen, and Bouvet Islands. Population - 4.6 million (2007) - Capital City - Oslo - Language - Norwegian, known as Bokmål (influenced by Danish) and Nynorsk (based on dialects). A minority in the north uses Finnish and Sami.
Political system - Constitutional Monarchy - National government - Labour-led "red-green alliance": Labour, Socialist Left Party, Centre (green) Party - Last election - 14 September 2009 - Head of State - His Majesty King Harald V - Head of Government - Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg (Labour)
GDP - US$481.1 billion - Real GDP growth - 1.8% - Exports - US$177.6 billion - Imports - US$93.2 billion - Main exports - crude oil and natural gas, machinery and equipment, metals, chemicals, ships, fish - Current account balance - US$ 84.4 billion (surplus) - Inflation - 3.6% - Unemployment - 2.6%
New Zealand Trade (to year ended December 2008) -NZ Exports (FOB) – NZ$69.2 million – Main Exports – fishing vessels, sheepmeat, aluminium, onions, apples and pears, yachts, navigational instruments – NZ Imports (CIF) – NZ$73 million – Main Imports – fertilizers, trucks and vans, seats, medical equipment, fishing vessels, agricultural machinery.
The Safetravel website provides a travel advisory for travellers to Norway [external link].
