FUN FACT: The former king of Norway Olav V was immensely popular because he ruled by example, earning him the nickname "the People's King." When driving was restricted due to the 1973 oil crisis, the king, who legally could've driven, took public transport carrying his skiing gear on his shoulders. When the media asked him how he could even dare to go outside without bodyguards, he responded by saying "I have four million bodyguards," referring to the population of Norway at the time.

Norway is the country which won the lottery but kept the normal job

I'm a Norwegian and this is a very good summary of Norway's economic history. Finally, a summary that got it right.

In addition to being wealthy, Norway is INSANELY beautiful. Travelling the country from point to point in spring felt like moving through a fairytale land, I'm not kidding. The deep fjord valleys, massive snow covered mountains, dense forests, lush green prairies, crystal-clear rivers, thousands of waterfalls... It's hard to imagine a prettier landscape to me. And most of it is practically untouched by the human hand, with just a few colourful wooden-house villages scattered here and there. Being born in Norway must be like winning lottery on so many levels...

as a Norwegian, a 40 min video of about how good we are was very entertaining

It's not all glamour. In 2011 we experienced a butter shortage. We sorted it out, thankfully. It's difficult for me to talk about.

Basically, Norway's prosperity comes down to long term planning... which is a cultural trait probably evolved over millenia as consequence to its harsh winter weather: basically, in such a climate, if you don't plan for winter, when winter comes, you die... same if you don´t help each-other when conditions get bad... so instead of spending it all now and "hoping for the best" regarding the future as so many countries do, Norway has always planned for the future, and never got its head turned by any "lottery wins"... like a person using their winning at a lottery to invest in their future as opposed to partying, buying expensive cars and so on

I am not Norwegian but I live here in this country. It is not all perfect but this is a country close to being perfect. I may not be Norwegian but I definitely am proud to defend this land that I now call my home. I would never ever dare say anything bad about this country. This country and its people have given me hope and a clear vision to which path I should take. Eventually the purpose of my existence. That in itself is something good to wake up everyday for.

Its not actually hydropower, its mountain trolls on spinning bikes

the day i watch a reallifelore video without the word vast is the day the world ends

It's been 6 minutes since playing this and I'm overwhelmed with the sheer amount of information packed into this video so far.

This is one of the best KZfaq documentaries I’ve ever seen. A lot of work went in to this. Well done!

As a Brit, it’s depressing to hear how a countries leaders had such amazing foresight to ensure their countries prosperity for decades to come. Unlike my countries leaders who have only ensured a death by a 1000 cuts for the UK.

Norway is a rare case of an oil state not completely squandering the money

This was a fantastic tutorial on the topic - fast-moving, dense with information and incredibly educational and informative! Many thanks!!!

My kind of content, as rich in information as norway in resources! You've earned my sub👍

“kinetic energy just sitting there” is a funny phrase.

The smartest thing Norway did when striking oil was to not go on a spending binge, but to carefully ensure that a) Foreign oil companies could not exploit them and, b) Save the proceeds in a national fund for the inevitable "rainy day", not allowing the sudden wealth to ruin the local economy like the Dutch did. Best of all, the Norwegian nation is just fine with this! Gas/petrol is EXPENSIVE in Norway and people are concentrating on electric vehicles, which makes perfect sense with their abundant renewable hydro-electrical energy supply. We Icelanders are proud of the foresight of our sensible big brother, Norway.

It has to be said, that not only does Norway have a lot of its relative power covered by hydropower - it also uses electricity for everything. There are very few gas powered kitchen stoves in Norway - almost no houses are heated by gas. Just about everything in every home is powered in its entirety by electrical power, including heating water, heating houses and cooking.

Fantastic and detailed overview of Norway's economy and natural resources and wise planning. Great job in visual design and communication by go bal data comparisons! You are my new hero in data visualization and educational communications!

Fun fact: The "Volvo Deal" was almost a reality, where Norway offered Volvo 40% stake in exchange for oil rights in the 70s. Only one of the offered areas had gas; none had oil. Rejected by Volvo's shareholders for undervaluing Volvo and overestimating Norwegian oil. Fast forward, Norway's oil wealth soared, now having a $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund, while Volvo was bought by Geely in 2010.

Damn, what a satisfying thing to see a country managing money and resources inteligently. Gotta admit I got a little jealous, but good for them. I hope, naively, that the rest of the world learns something from them someday.

Incredible how much research went into this video. Great content!

Wow this is great! Glad I found your channel.

You did start out very nicely by showing how our fjords and coastline meant sea transport was crucial. The very best way to illustrate this is to look at our road numbering system: It starts at 2! This is a silent acknowledgment that the sea has always been #1, i.e. our main highway.

FunFact: Since Norway is not dependent on the phosphor mining as an income, but Marocco is, Norway and Marocco has started a dialog. When and if Norway start mining phosphor, they have plans to only supply the market with an amount that will not affect prices or take away buyers from Marocco, therefore securing and stabilize the much needed income for Marocco. That is pretty awsome.

This is a great video! Thank you for doing such a good job providing all of this information about our country ❤

Well done , instructive, rich , and worth watching . Thank yoiu.

As a swede I am a bit jealous but most of all happy for Norway! They are paving the way on how countries should operate. Be like Norway.

6:45 This part is exrremely important to us Norwegians. Trust is a massive part of our culture. In a store you can leave the queue if you forgot something and come back without anyone batting an eye. We trust each other enought to leave our own babies outside un-supervised. I love this country so much, and wouldn't trade living here for anything else.

I've watched lots of videos on your channel and enjoyed them all. This one is the single best that I've watched. I usually don't watch videos this long on YT, but this one worth the time. Regards from Azerbaijan

I thought it's because of Erling Haaland's goal bonuses going straight into the government fund.

How refreshing to see something as inspirational as a society with foresight and morals. The Norwegians have lots of natural advantages but they manage them intelligently, and that makes all the difference. I would love to see the rest of the world learn from this. Thank you for making this video.

Thanks for that. A well presented, clearly articulated and logically structured explanation on the whence and whither of Norway. I was aware of bits of this story but you have pulled the strands together to weave a clear picture in tapestry.

I love how you added random images from Switzerland in your video.

Don't forget a very important factor: Norway is a really great neighbor which enables trade routes to be very stable because everyone likes them as a country. /neighboring swede.

Norway is one of the most beautiful countries in the world... it's actually unsettling how extreme the beauty is when you're there.

Excellent breakdown. Thank you.

I love hearing about the succes of these kinds of clever foresights and cooperation.

Finally a KZfaq video that actually said the fact that oil only embellished an already thriving economy.

God of War is such a good game, I wish Norway was a real country

Thanks, this was great!

As a Norwegian it is always fun to see an outside perspective of Norway. At least when the information is actually correct. I know Norway can be difficult to study. So it was fun to see the time and attention to detail put into this one.

as someone living in Norway; Hearing Norway even get mentioned feels like seeing your teacher outside of school.

As a Norwegian, this was interresting to me aswell, i didnt know about our country being wealthy for so long, i found it strange though that the fishing industry wasnt even mentioned.

That’s a Brilliant video explainer, thank you so much for your work!

What a video, God bless the day I came across your channel

Wow, a state that can actually do long term planning...

I moved to Norway 19 years ago, and that was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Thank you for this video

Incredibly interesting video, thank you

Wow, what an informational video! I listened non-stop for 40 minutes and I have adhd so.. this was so fun

Seems to me, collective intelligence is also a rare earth source that added to the wealth of Norway. Kudos!

I love these videos. They are so long, and the invaluable insights and information just keep flowing.

All deserved. Well done there! Greetings from The Netherlands.

Your ability to explain sometihng in excrutiating detail, and then explain what you just explained in the same excutiating detail, is truly unparalleled.

It's fascinating to learn about how Norwegian industry and culture are so closely tied.

When I think of Norway I think of, beautiful landscapes, smart, practical and modest kind people. I will definitely visit your gorgeous country one of these days. Much love from the Netherlands. 💜🌷

Would love it if you could post your sources in the description, or have a pop up citation everytime some facts were mentioned in the video to do some further reading. Fantastic video

Fun Fact: Farouk Al-Kasim Farouk Al-Kasim is a geologist from Iraq that moved to Norway in 1968 - just before we discovered oil. He became instrumental in the development of Norwegian oil policy.

Norway mentioned 🇸🇯🇳🇴

Heia Norge! Alltid gøy å høre andre skryte av oss :3

12:27 this appears to be an image of Switzerland though :-) anyway very informative piece of work. thanks a lot

Fun fact, most americans have held Norwegian aluminum in their hands before, as its one of the main provider for apple mobile phones

Norway is a true testimony to being patient, intelligent, and nonviolent and things will usually come around in your favor. As an American and a damn proud one. I admire how Norway is ran. Very smart country. With great people.

As a Canadian watching the video, I was awestruck at what a responsible, unified, well represented people and their government can achieve for their shared future. Norway really is leading the way and showing the world what a nation should be.

this was super intresting thx +10iQ😅

Traveling to Norway has been one of my life’s highlights. It’s beautiful, pristine, rugged, and mountainous.

Western world: "Oh no we're running out of a specific resource again" Norway about to spawn a comically large deposit every single time:

What a brilliant documentary. Thank you. 👏👏👏👏

Incredible well done thanks 💰🇳🇴

I’m a big fan of your work and deeply appreciate the way you illuminate complex historical and modern conflicts with great care and insight. I’m writing to request a video on a subject close to my heart: the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh. This event, pivotal for Bangladesh’s independence, led to immense loss and suffering, yet remains underrepresented in global consciousness. Your ability to present such topics with respect and depth could significantly honor the memory of the victims and educate a wide audience about its significance. A video from you on this topic would not only shed light on a crucial piece of history but also serve as a poignant reminder of the importance of remembrance and understanding. Thank you for considering my request. Your work makes a difference, and I believe this topic could greatly benefit from your thoughtful approach.

36:43 As someone who lives in Bergen, I'll look forward to more rainy day records.

Had a dear friend move to Norway at the end of 4th grade. This video reminded me of my ol buddy. It’s been 25 or more years but I hope your doing good Erik!

So good - thank you!

Wow. This is fascinating. Never knew any country/government could be this efficient. Thank you for the superb detailed summary

This is the power of cooperation and doing what is best for the group. Everyone wins, Norway wins.

"Norway is successful because they cooperate together" rest of the world could learn.

Thank you so much, very interesting

Very dense insights, thanks 😊

As a Norwegian i've seen a few videos like this before. Yours however actually has autentic facts, videos and you get all the important parts of the history correct. This must have taken you weeks to research for. Thank you🥰 (just want to add that the government's pension fund can't invest in Norwegian owned firms and is also very stricked about what it invest in. It can't invest in weapons or other bad things, rather it invest in green energy and things like that. Kinda working against it self in a way.)

Had privilege of visiting norway to meet my best friend believe me i consider him blessed and luckiest person .....i love norway and Norwegians a lot....thier honesty hard work

Wow what an accomplishment for such a small country, thanks for sharing! 🚀

Easily one of the most thorough videos I have seen

I’m new to the bandwagon.. but what you’ve built here is super impressive. 45min video on Norway gets a million views per day.. Cable TV eat ur heart out

I visited Norway in 2022. On a guided tour where the guide was saying that Norway is a huge user of electric cars and alternative energy, all while funding this through fossil fuel sales to everyone else, I asked isn't Norway like a drug dealer, getting rich off a product known to cause negative outcomes while not using the product themselves? The guide replied, exactly yes, and it's a moral dilemma here in Norway.

Great video thanks

My great grandfather came from Norway. He was a merchant marine and became vice president of skarapp shipping in Conn.

There is a story that, the first time that Statoil was filing taxes, the tax form did not have enough space for all the digits in the tax they were gonna pay, so the guy in charge of accounting at Statoil had to walk down to the tax office to figure out how to handle it.

Those very frilly edges are providing a lot for Norway. I feel like the designer should win an award.

Great information 👍👍 and video

It's so refreshing to hear of a government that humbly and intelligently make decisions to protect the interests of their people and FUTURE generations. Bravo to those men who made those selfless decisions 👏🙌

Great video! You did miss a small detail in the Norwegian industry development. The Artificial Fertilizer industry, being able to process Nitrate, a energy intensive industry that spurred the developtment of many of the Hydro electric dams alongside aluminium. Infact the was before the aluminium industrt getting a foothold in Norway. Because it Norway extremely limited agricultural land, there was a heavy incentive to make them as effective as possible, one way was through Fertilizers which was dominated by the natural guano industry, which was expensive but necessary to import. And to not be reliant in this they went into the developt artificial fertilizers which came to dominate the agriculture industry today. Another thing that was also not covered is that Norway also had the most Thorium rich mountains in the entire world. Therr is a movement pushing for Nuclear energy in Norway that wishes to capitalize on this. Making much safer and more effective Thorium reactors that provide enough energy to power the entirety of europe for centuries to come. Norway has the Industry, the education and most importantly, money to developt this if they wanted. But currently its not being prioritised because of Oil and Gas just being a much cheaper alternative with pre existing infrastructure. Hopefully this will change when the Norge Mining decides to develop mines and quarreys for rare earth ad phosphate extraction.

Slartibartfast really did nail those fjords

What a fantastic production

what a brilliant yet simple video, thank you so much, love from India

Norway is the definition of "Don't get high on your own supply", they already had the hydropower infrastructure so, they were able to sell almost all the Natural gas they produce instead of using a good portion of it themselves. Which meant it was even more profitable.

That was not only fascinating for its own sake, but well worth watching for the relevance of the content in a complex world, not to mention that it was so well presented that I did not even fast-forward through the Brilliant promotion, even though I saw it coming a mile off. Very occasionally I find a sponsor to be actually appropriate for the video content, and yours sure is in this case. I will certainly find time to watch this again... I am sad to admit that I do not retain this much info watching only once.

Amazing video!

AMAZING VIDEO