space of time, at least 1/s of the population. Our ancient legends
have much to relate about this terrible calamity, which entirely
laid waste large tracts of the country. Not until the beginning
of the 16th century is the population supposed to have again
attained the size it had before the «black death» ravaged the
country; and a little beyond the middle of the 17th century the
country seems to have had about 450,000 inhabitants, this number
increasing by the end of the century, to about half a million.
Our first general census, including women as well as men,
dates from the year 1769. This gave a total of circ. 727,600
inhabitants. The next census was on the 1st Feb. 1801, and
showed the population pf the country to be 883,038 domiciled inhabitants,
and on the 30th April 1815, according to the third
census, there were 885,431 inhabitants, a figure which, howeVer,
must have been too low, as very reliable calculations that have
been made, give a result of 902,700 on the 31st Dec. 1814.
Since that time, a general census has been taken in Norway
every 10 years, in 1825, 1835, 1845, etc., except in 1885, when the
census which should have been taken then was put off for 5 years,
in order to coincide with the census-year of several other countries.
The next census is to be taken on the 1st Jan. 1901. The
time for the census, since 1845, has always been fixed for the
beginning of the year.
With each of these censuses — which, owing to the scattered
population and the difficulty of communication in former times,
have cost much labour and money — more and more detailed
information has been obtained concerning the sex,of the persons
numbered, their age, station in life, etc. These specifications are
for the most part worked out and published in the official statistics
of Norway, and afford good and abundant material for the
study of the demography of our country.
The censuses taken during the present century have given
following results:
Aug. 15, 1769. . . 727,600 inhabitants
Feb. . lj 1801 . . . 883,038 »
April 30, 1815 . . . . . 885,431
Nov. 27, 1825 . . . 1,051,318 »
Nov. 29, 1835 . . . . : 1,194,827 »
Dec. 31, 1845 . . . . . 1,328,471 » ,
Dec. 31, 1855 . . . 1,490,047' .•*>:
POPULATION.
Dec. 31, 1865 . • • 1,701,756 inhabitants
Dec. 31, 1875....................... 1,813,424 »
Jan. 1, 1891 .................... 2,000,917 :»
These figures refer to the domiciled population of Norway,
and are calculated from the specifications gathered in the domiciles
of the enumerated persons. When we add to these the number
of Norwegians that were abroad at the time of the census
and subtract those persons temporarily in Norway, but with their
homes abroad, the population rises in 1891 to 2,004,102. The
domiciled population on the 1st Jan. 1897, is calculated to have
been about 2,110,000 persons.
The position our country occupies as a sea-faring country
par excellence, involves the necessity of a comparatively large
number of seamen being constantly outside the boundaries of the
country. The difference between the actual and the legal population
becomes thereby comparatively considerable. The former
amounted, in 1891, to 1,988,674 persons, thus 15,428 less t.haTi
the latter, of whom 14,945 were seamen, some with wives, children,
etc. Moreover, 3,429 other Norwegians were abroad on the census
day, while on the other hand, 2,946 of the persons in Norway
had their homes abroad.
The population of the kingdom present on the 1st -Tan 1897,
was calculated to be about 2,095,000 persons.
II. GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE
POPULATION.
While Norway occupies rather more than 3 %,,of the total
area of Europe, her population amounts to only Va °/o of the
population of the continent. I t follows from this that the denseness
of the population of the country is considerably less than the
European average, and Norway is actually the most thinly populated
of the' European kingdoms.
The area of Norway is 124,495 sq. miles, of which 4,955
sq. miles are occupied by lakes, etc. Leaving these out of consideration,
there were, in 1891, about 16.80 inhabitants to the sq.
mile, while the proportion when the whole area is taken .into
account, would be about 16. The corresponding figure for Finland
was 16.50, and for Sweden 27.70 inhabitants per sq. mile. In
Denmark, on the other hand, in 1890, there were 147.60, and in Bel