Overview
Norwegians are a North Germanic ethnic group native to Norway. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language.
Description
Norwegian people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Norwegian national decline manifested itself in dynastic unions with the two other Scandinavian nations, Sweden and Denmark. The Bubonic Plague that ravaged Europe in the middle of the fourteenth century hit Norway, a country with greater poverty and fewer natural resources than the other Nordic lands, especially hard. Norway's population was devastated, resulting in a serious loss of income for the great landowners, the church, and the king. The last king of an independent and sovereign Norway died in 1380 and Norway united with Denmark. In 1397 the three Scandinavian states were joined under one ruler in the Kalmar Union; in the case of Norway, the union with Denmark lasted until 1814. The Lutheran Reformation in 1537 resulted in Norway's reduction in administrative arrangements to a province within the Danish state. The idea of Norway as a kingdom, however, remained alive throughout the union period and was evidenced in the term "the twin realms."