The Svalbard Global Seed Vault
3 October 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General, Intelligent Buildings, Environment Reading Time: 6 minutes The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole. The facility preserves a wide variety of plant seeds in an underground cavern. The seeds are duplicate samples, or “spare” copies, of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to provide insurance against the loss of seeds in genebanks, as well as a refuge for seeds in the case of large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). read more…Norway’s Selling a Super Villain Starter Set
1 September 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General, House of the Month Reading Time: 3 minutes You can’t very well take over the world from your parent’s basement, now can you? No, a proper arch-nemesis needs a sufficiently intimidating hidden base. Luckily, Norway is selling off its defunct Olavsvern Naval Submarine Base for a $17.5 million pittance. read more…Fredrikstad in the Østfold province
29 June 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General Reading Time: 7 minutes Fredrikstad (literally Fredrik’s Town) is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. read more…Svolvær on the Lofoten
31 May 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General Reading Time: 5 minutes Svolvær is the administrative centre of Vågan Municipality (9,200 inhabitants) in the Nordland County in Lofoten. The town itself has a population of 4,000. read more…Genuine winter adventures in the Lillehammer region
19 April 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General Reading Time: 6 minutes Lillehammer (literally “Little Hammer”) is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was 26,639 . The city centre is a late 19th century concentration of wooden houses, which enjoys a picturesque location overlooking the northern part of lake Mjøsa and the river Lågen, surrounded by mountains. Lillehammer hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics and will host the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics. read more…Stavanger, the petroleum capital of Norway
23 March 2012 | Author/Destination: European Free Trade Association | Rubric: General, European Union, European Capital of Culture Reading Time: 7 minutes Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland. Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,000. There are 198,000 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway. Stavanger is the centre of the Stavanger metropolitan area, which has a population of 297,569, and the administrative centre of Rogaland county. The city is commonly referred to as the Petroleum Capital of Norway. read more…The Ulstein X-Bow
1 December 2011 | Author/Destination: Yachting and Spa | Rubric: General, Yacht of the Month Reading Time: 4 minutes The unique and environmentally-friendly X-BOW® hull line design offers significantly higher transit speed in adverse weather conditions, as well as enhanced fuel economics. The bow shape ensures soft entry into waves, thus reducing speed loss, pitch and heave accelerations, as well as eliminating slamming and vibration problems associated with conventional bow flare. read more…Country overview
9 November 2011 | Author/Destination: Around the World / Rund um die Welt | Rubric: General Reading Time: 5 minutesIn addition to the regular search function, a country overview is available here. Click on the country name to see all currently available blog entries. read more…