Oslo is roughly halfway between The North Cape and Rome. Geographically the northerners are closer to their neighbours in Sweden, Finland and Russia, than they are to their countrymen in the south.

There is a population drift from country to town and from north to south. The Norwegian authorities are reducing this trend with measures designed to make living in the depopulated areas more attractive.

Road tunnels are being dug out to small islands with fewer than a hundred people on them; there are frequent ferry departures across most of the fjords. Even so the differences between town and country are growing. The average Norwegian farmer still has fewer than 20 cows. The influx of people to the towns is creating a dynamic, international environment.

The trip from international Grønland in Oslo to typical Norwegian countryside takes less than an hour. Many farms now cater for visitors. Staying on a small Norwegian farm is a genuine way of experiencing the Norwegian countryside from the inside.