The coastline of Norway is formed along the Skagerrak, North Sea, Norwegian Sea, and Barents Sea. This considers only the mainland coastline and excludes

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...

. A straight line along Norway's sea borders (the coastal perimeter) is long. Along the coast there are many fjords, islands, and bays, resulting in a low-resolution coastline of over . At linear intercepts, this length increases to (see the coastline paradox). Much of Norway's wealth is linked to its long coastline; for example, the petroleum industry, maritime transport, fishing, and fish farming. The Norwegian landscape was formed by glaciers that eroded the

basement rock In geology, basement and crystalline basement are crystalline rocks lying above the mantle and beneath all other rocks and sediments. They are sometimes exposed at the surface, but often they are buried under miles of rock and sediment. The baseme ...

and formed countless valleys and fjords, as well as the characteristic

skerries A skerry is a small rocky island, usually defined to be too small for habitation. Skerry, skerries, or The Skerries may also refer to: Geography Northern Ireland * Skerries, County Armagh, a townland in County Armagh * Skerry, County Antrim, a ...

that protect the land from the ocean along most of the mainland coastline. There are only a few shorter or longer stretches where the mainland is exposed to the open sea along the coast: at Lindesnes, Lista, Jæren, Stad, Hustadvika, and Folda in Trøndelag, and along the Varanger Peninsula.

Facts

Because of countless peninsulas and inlets, large and small islands, holms, and skerries, the Norwegian coast is among the longest in the world. Some facts about the Norwegian coastline: * Municipalities in Norway that have a coast: 279 *Mainland coastline (with fjords and bays): *Island coastline: *Total coastline (mainland and islands): *Number of islands: 239,057 *Number of skerries: 81,192

Gallery

File:Tjøme Sandø c.JPG, Low tide at Sandø in Færder File:Utsira hamn3.jpg, ''Sørevågen'' (South Bay) at Utsira in

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Vestfold og Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. In 2020, it had a population of 47 ...

File:Storvika-fra-skaret-2009-08-18.jpg, ''Storvik'' (Big Bay) in Gildeskål File:Bleik_village_and_Bleik_island,_seen_from_Mount_Royken.jpg, Bleik in Andøya

References

{{reflist Coasts of Norway