This is a list of current and former territorial possessions of the Kingdom of Norway.

Current overseas territories

Integral areas of Norway which are unincorporated: *

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

(including Bear Island), in the Arctic, a part of Norway since 1920. *

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

, in the Arctic, a part of Norway since 1929. Svalbard with Bear Island are subject to the provisions of the Svalbard Treaty. Svalbard and Jan Mayen are sometimes grouped together for some categorization purposes. Current dependencies of Norway are all in the southern polar region: * '' Peter I Island'', in the Antarctic and Southern Ocean, possession since 1929. * Bouvet Island, in the sub-Antarctic and South Atlantic Ocean, possession since 1930. * ''

Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land () is a roughly region of Antarctica Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20th meridian west, 20° west, specifically the Caird Coast, ...

'', in Antarctica, possession since 1939.

Map

Photo gallery

File:Beerenberg Jan Mayen.JPG, Jan Mayen with Beerenberg volcano File:IsfjordenSouthShore.JPG, Isfjorden, Svalbard File:SANAE IV from above the northern buttress.jpg, Vesleskarvet, Queen Maud Land File:Küste der Peter-I.-Insel in der Bellingshausensee 1994.jpg, Peter I Island File:Bouvet Island west coast.jpg, Bouvet Island

Former dependencies and homelands

Norwegian Hereditary Empire excluding Greenland

The so-called Greater Norway includes these entities:

Dependencies ceded to Scotland (1st phase)

Hebrides The Hebrides ( ; , ; ) are the largest archipelago in the United Kingdom, off the west coast of the Scotland, Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Ou ...

, colonized from 700s to 1100s, part of an earldom, crown dependencies from 1100s to 1266, ceded by the Treaty of Perth. *

Man A man is an adult male human. Before adulthood, a male child or adolescent is referred to as a boy. Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromosome from the f ...

, colonized from 850s to 1152, part of an earldom, crown dependency from 1152 to 1266, ceded by the Treaty of Perth. * Orkney, colonized from 800s to 875, earldom from 875 to 1100s, crown dependency from 1194 to 1470, pledged by Christian I. *

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

, colonized from 700s to 900s, earldom from 900s to 1195, crown dependency from 1195 to 1470, pledged by Christian I.

Vassals

* Caithness and Sutherland overlordship from to 1266.

National homelands ceded to Sweden (2nd phase)

* Bohuslän, integrated from 800s to 1523, again from 1532 to 1658, ceded by the Treaty of Roskilde. * Idre and Särna, integrated from 800s to 1645, ceded by the Second Treaty of Brömsebro, border not formally delineated until 1751. * Jämtland, integrated from 1100s to 1645, ceded the Second Treaty of Brömsebro. * Härjedalen, integrated from 1200s to 1563, again from 1570 to 1645, ceded by the Second Treaty of Brömsebro.

Early entities

Värmland Värmland () is a ''Provinces of Sweden, landskap'' (historical province) in west-central Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland, and Närke, and is bounded by Norway in the west. Name Several Latinized version ...

, from as early as 820s (pre- unification) to about 1000, before being integrated into Sweden. *

Dalsland Dalsland () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Götaland in southern Sweden. Lying to the west of Lake Vänern, it is bordered by Värmland to the north, Västergötland to the southeast, Bohuslän to the west, ...

, from as early as 820s (pre- unification) to about 1000, before being integrated into Sweden.

Dependencies ceded to Denmark (3rd phase)

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

, settled and colonized pre-1035 and crown dependencies from 1035 to 1814, ceded by the Treaty of Kiel. *

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, colonized pre-1261 and crown dependency from 1261 to 1814, ceded by the Treaty of Kiel. *

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

, settled and colonized pre-1262 and crown dependencies from 1262 to 1814, ceded by the Treaty of Kiel of 1814. The actual time of cession of the islands is somewhat disputed. Some claim it took place with the Union of Denmark and Norway in 1536/37, as the possessions of the Norwegian crown were claimed by the Oldenburg king. Nevertheless, they were still referred to as "dependencies of Norway" in later official documents. Also the Treaty of Kiel states: "...and provinces, constituting the kingdom of Norway, . together with their dependencies (Greenland, the Faroe Isles, and Iceland, excepted); ..shall belong in full and sovereign property to the King of Sweden,...", clearly indicating that they were until 1814 regarded as a part of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

Eastern Greenland Case

* Erik the Red's Land, northeast coast of

, claimed (June 27) and annexed (July 10) from 1931 until awarded to Denmark by a court decision in 1933.

Briefly-ruled areas

Welsh homeland

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

, crown dependency from 1098 to 1099, reverted to Kingdom of Gwynedd as of lack of settlements.

Danish homelands

* Kungsbacka,

Varberg Varberg () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg th ...

and

Falkenberg Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...

, historical , part of the kingdom from 1287 to 1305.

Suzerainties – Dublin and Mann

* Mann and the Isles, under Norwegian

suzerainty A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy">polity.html" ;"title="state (polity)">state or polity">state (polity)">st ...

.Somerled: Hammer of the Norse
/ref> * Kingdom of Dublin, nominally under Norwegian suzerainty.

Former territorial claims

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

, settled c. 902 and first ruled c. 918 by Manx king Ragnall ua Ímair of the Norse-Gaels in exile from Dublin and held intermittently by Eric I of Norway as King of Northumbria 947-948 and 952-954, after securing his lordship over the Jarls of Orkney, in the precedent set by his father Harald Fairhair, part of which is famously attested to by Egil's Saga, set partly in Eric's court at King's Square in Scandinavian York. Title

Earl of Northumbria Earl of Northumbria or Ealdorman of Northumbria was a title in the late Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian people, Anglo-Scandinavian and early Anglo-Norman England, Anglo-Norman period in England. The ealdordom was a successor of the ...

(effectively Earl of York) 1016-1023, granted by Cnut the Great, King of Norway, to

Eiríkr Hákonarson Erik Hakonsson, also known as Eric of Hlathir or Eric of Norway (; 960s – 1020s), was Earl of Lade, Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. He was the son of Earl Hákon Sigurðarson and brother of the legendary Aud Haakonsdottir of Lade. ...

, Governor of Norway and one of the Jarls of Lade. Last controlled by

Harald Hardrada Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' in the sagas, was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed the Monarchy of Denma ...

through his vassal Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumbria and forefather of Birkebeiner Inge II of Norway, until the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. Eystein II raided

Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...

and Whitby in the 1150s, but it's not known whether he invoked his claim to rule Northumbria as pretext. St Olave's Church, York was mausoleum for the Earl of Northumbria. Within the former realm of Northumbria is the general region where most Norwegian place names and surnames, including Thwaite (placename element), ar
extant in present day England
Norwegian settlement and rule in Northumbria is illustrated by David Woodroffe in ''The Penguin Atlas of Medieval History'' (1961) by Colin McEvedy and illustrated by Ralph Orme in ''The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings'' (1995) by John Haywood (British historian). * The

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

, now part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, claimed by several Norwegian kings ( Hardrada dynasty) in the 11th century. * The

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitution of Denmark, Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territor ...

, claimed by several Norwegian kings (Hardrada dynasty) in the 11th century. *

South Georgia South Georgia is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. ...

, now part of the

British Overseas Territories The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

The spread of Norwegian whaling industry to Antarctica in the early 20th century motivated Norway, right after its independence from the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway in 1905, to pursue territorial expansion not only in the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

claiming

and Sverdrup Islands, but also in Antarctica. Norway claimed Bouvet Island and looked further south, formally inquiring with

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

about the international status of the area between 45° and 65° south latitude and 35° and 80° west longitude. Following a second such diplomatic démarche by the Norwegian Government dated 4 March 1907, Britain replied that the areas were British based on discoveries made in the first half of the 19th century, and issued the 1908

Letters Patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

incorporating the British Falkland Islands Dependencies with a permanent local administration in

Grytviken Grytviken ( ) is a Hamlet (place), hamlet on South Georgia in the South Atlantic. Formerly a whaling station, it was the largest settlement on the island. Grytviken is located at the head of King Edward Cove within the larger Cumberland East Bay, ...

established in 1909.

* Fridtjof Nansen Land (Franz Josef Land), now part of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, claimed from 1926 to around 1929, rejecting a claim of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

.Barr (1995): 96 * Sverdrup Islands, now part of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, claimed from 1902 until Canadian sovereignty recognised in 1930, as part of an agreement with the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

, for the British to recognise Jan Mayen as Norwegian territory. * Erik the Red's Land, northeast coast of

and Fridtjof Nansen Land, southeast coast of Greenland, claimed and annexed from 1931 until awarded to Denmark by a court decision in 1933. * Inari and Petsamo, now part of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

and

, claimed from

from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime during the Nazi occupation of Norway. * Murmansk and

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

as Bjarmland, now part of

, claimed from the

from about 1942 to 1945 by the Quisling regime, and was earlier also claimed by Norway in the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history between and ; it was preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended according to historiographical convention ...

and

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. Quisling designated the area reserved for Norwegian colonization as '' Bjarmeland'', a reference to the name featured in the Norse sagas for Northern Russia.Hans Fredrik Dahl (1999). ''Quisling: a study in treachery''. Cambridge University Press, p. 34

/ref>

References

{{Subdivisions of Norway Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)

possessions possessions