Norway
I wanted to find out some interesting facts about Norway before I started to decide on location and I found a good website that gave you a lot of interesting facts and the things that Norway was famous for, that I thought where interesting.
Area: 385,155 square kilometres
Population: 5,156,451 inhabitants (as of 1 October 2014)
Capital city: Oslo
Languages: Norwegian bokmål, Norwegian nynorsk and Sami
Religion: Church of Norway (Protestant Christianity)
Currency: Norwegian kroner (NOK) 1 krone = 100 øre
Time zone: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) +1 hour
National day: 17 May
Fjords
Norway is famous for its fjords, two of which, the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord, feature on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Sognefjord, the longest of them all, and the Hardangerfjord, famed for its cherry and apple trees, are among the most visited.
Northern lights
The Northern lights are a common natural phenomenon in Northern Norway, and are most commonly observed above the Arctic Circle between late autumn and early spring.
Midnight sun
The sun does not set in summer over the Arctic Circle, meaning visitors to Northern Norway enjoy 24 hours of daylight this time of year.
Weather
The weather in Norway is much milder than one would expect. Because of the Gulf Stream and warm air currents caused by the coriolis effect, temperatures along the coast of Norway are 5-8°C higher than at comparable latitudes elsewhere.
Vikings
The Vikings have a bad reputation as raiders, but they were also traders, explorers and settlers, and the legacy from the Viking Age (AD 800-1050) lives on.
The Sami people
The Sami are the indigenous people of Norway. Known for their colourful clothes and the huge herds of reindeer they look after, the Sami have been living in northern Scandinavia for over 10,000 years, and today they have their own parliament in Karasjok.
Trolls
Trolls are an important part of Norwegian folklore. They vary in size and appearance, but are invariably ugly and messy creatures, and always mischievous (if not downright nasty). They usually live in caves or deep in the forest, and only emerge from their hiding places after sunset - legend has it that they turn to stone upon contact with the sun. Several places in Western and Northern Norway have been named after them, such as Trollheimen,Trollstigen, Trollhatten and Trollveggen.
Population: 5,156,451 inhabitants (as of 1 October 2014)
Capital city: Oslo
Languages: Norwegian bokmål, Norwegian nynorsk and Sami
Religion: Church of Norway (Protestant Christianity)
Currency: Norwegian kroner (NOK) 1 krone = 100 øre
Time zone: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) +1 hour
National day: 17 May
Fjords
Norway is famous for its fjords, two of which, the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord, feature on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The Sognefjord, the longest of them all, and the Hardangerfjord, famed for its cherry and apple trees, are among the most visited.
Northern lights
The Northern lights are a common natural phenomenon in Northern Norway, and are most commonly observed above the Arctic Circle between late autumn and early spring.
Midnight sun
The sun does not set in summer over the Arctic Circle, meaning visitors to Northern Norway enjoy 24 hours of daylight this time of year.
Weather
The weather in Norway is much milder than one would expect. Because of the Gulf Stream and warm air currents caused by the coriolis effect, temperatures along the coast of Norway are 5-8°C higher than at comparable latitudes elsewhere.
Vikings
The Vikings have a bad reputation as raiders, but they were also traders, explorers and settlers, and the legacy from the Viking Age (AD 800-1050) lives on.
The Sami people
The Sami are the indigenous people of Norway. Known for their colourful clothes and the huge herds of reindeer they look after, the Sami have been living in northern Scandinavia for over 10,000 years, and today they have their own parliament in Karasjok.
Trolls
Trolls are an important part of Norwegian folklore. They vary in size and appearance, but are invariably ugly and messy creatures, and always mischievous (if not downright nasty). They usually live in caves or deep in the forest, and only emerge from their hiding places after sunset - legend has it that they turn to stone upon contact with the sun. Several places in Western and Northern Norway have been named after them, such as Trollheimen,Trollstigen, Trollhatten and Trollveggen.
Svalbard
After looking into Norway a fair bit, I noticed that there is an island that is part of Norway called Svalbard which is above it and further into the Arctic circle. This place is fantastic and after doing some research into it and gaining some fact about it from this website I found that it was the perfect place to set my game on.
After looking into Norway a fair bit, I noticed that there is an island that is part of Norway called Svalbard which is above it and further into the Arctic circle. This place is fantastic and after doing some research into it and gaining some fact about it from this website I found that it was the perfect place to set my game on.
- The name Svalbard means "cold coasts" and was
first mentioned in Icelandic texts in the 12th century.
- On Svalbard you will find wild nature, old mines and polar bears. The islands are located between 74° - 81° N and 10° - 35° E. They cover 63,000 square kilometres.
- Nearly 65 per cent of the surface of Svalbard consists of protected areas, including three nature reserves, six national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries and one geotopical protected area.
- Norway's largest glacier, Austfonna, is located on Svalbard. Austfonna is the world's third-largest icecap after Antarctic and Greenland, with a glacier front of 200 kilometres.
- The largest islands are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya and Prins Karls Forland.
- Svalbard is outside the Schengen Area, and all travellers without a Norwegian passport must therefore take their passport with them when travelling to the archipelago.
History
1596: Willem Barentsz discovers Svalbard
1600 - 1750: International whaling activities
1800 - 1900: Norwegian all-winter hunting and trapping
1906: John M. Longyear establishes the first mine on Svalbard
1920: The Svalbard Treaty is signed
1925: Norway is given sovereignty over Svalbard
Towns/settlements on Svalbard
Longyearbyen has 2,040 inhabitants. This is the seat of local government and Norway’s main administrative centre on Svalbard. The small colourful community has developed from being a typical village town into a modern community with different kinds of businesses and industries, and with a wide range of cultural activities and opportunities.
Other settlements are:
- Barentsburg (Russian mining community) 500 inhabitants
- Ny-Ålesund (Norwegian international research centre) 25 inhabitants
- Svea Gruva (Norwegian mining community) 240 commuters
- Hornsund (Polish research station) 11 inhabitants
Weather and climate
Despite of Svalbard being so close to the North Pole, the archipelago has a relatively mild climate compared to other areas at the same latitude. In Longyearbyen, the average temperature ranges from -14°C in winter to 6°C in summer. The lowest temperature was recorded in March 1986 at -46.3°C - the highest temperature was recorded in July 1979 at 21.3°C. In winter Svalbard often has long periods with temperatures between -20°C and -30°C; add to that a wind-chill factor that usually seriously compounds the cooling effect of the low temperatures. In summer fog is not uncommon. In terms of precipitation, Svalbard may be described as an "arctic desert" with annual rain- and snowfall at a mere 200 - 300 millimetres. The weather on Svalbard can shift very quickly and local variations are often considerable.
- On Svalbard you will find wild nature, old mines and polar bears. The islands are located between 74° - 81° N and 10° - 35° E. They cover 63,000 square kilometres.
- Nearly 65 per cent of the surface of Svalbard consists of protected areas, including three nature reserves, six national parks, 15 bird sanctuaries and one geotopical protected area.
- Norway's largest glacier, Austfonna, is located on Svalbard. Austfonna is the world's third-largest icecap after Antarctic and Greenland, with a glacier front of 200 kilometres.
- The largest islands are Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsøya, Edgeøya and Prins Karls Forland.
- Svalbard is outside the Schengen Area, and all travellers without a Norwegian passport must therefore take their passport with them when travelling to the archipelago.
History
1596: Willem Barentsz discovers Svalbard
1600 - 1750: International whaling activities
1800 - 1900: Norwegian all-winter hunting and trapping
1906: John M. Longyear establishes the first mine on Svalbard
1920: The Svalbard Treaty is signed
1925: Norway is given sovereignty over Svalbard
Towns/settlements on Svalbard
Longyearbyen has 2,040 inhabitants. This is the seat of local government and Norway’s main administrative centre on Svalbard. The small colourful community has developed from being a typical village town into a modern community with different kinds of businesses and industries, and with a wide range of cultural activities and opportunities.
Other settlements are:
- Barentsburg (Russian mining community) 500 inhabitants
- Ny-Ålesund (Norwegian international research centre) 25 inhabitants
- Svea Gruva (Norwegian mining community) 240 commuters
- Hornsund (Polish research station) 11 inhabitants
Weather and climate
Despite of Svalbard being so close to the North Pole, the archipelago has a relatively mild climate compared to other areas at the same latitude. In Longyearbyen, the average temperature ranges from -14°C in winter to 6°C in summer. The lowest temperature was recorded in March 1986 at -46.3°C - the highest temperature was recorded in July 1979 at 21.3°C. In winter Svalbard often has long periods with temperatures between -20°C and -30°C; add to that a wind-chill factor that usually seriously compounds the cooling effect of the low temperatures. In summer fog is not uncommon. In terms of precipitation, Svalbard may be described as an "arctic desert" with annual rain- and snowfall at a mere 200 - 300 millimetres. The weather on Svalbard can shift very quickly and local variations are often considerable.
After having a research into the different locations and key things about Svalbard I started to look at the different buildings that they have. As it is a very small population of only a few thousand there are not too many locations that are inhabited and I found that I really liked the look of the small community town of Longyearbyen as it is such a rich and brightly colourful town. The buildings that are there are all very brightly coloured which creates a really nice contrast against the white of the snow that covers the ground for most of the year so these little huts are something that I would really like to include. Then I found this strange building that is featured in the bottom left hand corner of the mood board I made.
This strange little building is the SGSV which stands for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and inside this sealed vault is stacked of seeds that are to be accessed in the case of a nuclear war. I thought this was fascinating so I decided to do a bit more research into it. The following information is taken from this website and it's really interesting to know whats inside and how it would be used in a disaster.
'Svalbard Global Seed Vault was established to preserve a
wide variety of plant seeds in an underground cavern. It is an assurance to
reduce of hunger & poverty due to the national disaster. Construction of
the Seed Vault, which cost approximately 45 million Norwegian Kroner (9 million
USD), was funded entirely by the Government of Norway. The seed bank is
constructed 120 meters (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on
Spitsbergen Island. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on February
26, 2008. The first seeds arrived in January 2008. This vault can storage 4.5
million samples of different seeds in the dry temperature of 0° F (-18° C).
This storage process can protect the seeds for the thousands of years.'
I really like the idea of using this in my game environment and I'm now going to create a story around this vault and a back story which would describe why the player is in this environment in the first place and what they are doing here. The game could then lead onto other possibilities and have a number of different characters involved.

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