When visitors flocked to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York in May, there was no doubting that the star attractions came from Norway. Four of the Scandinavian kingdom's top designers - Fora Form, Varier Furniture, Aksel Hansson and Mokasser - contributed to the show, with their eye-catching, avant garde pieces drawing plenty of attention.
While Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with a GDP of US$247.4 billion heavily boosted by oil and gas production which accounts for one third of all exports, it is also making its presence felt in global markets with its creativity and human resources.
Norway has not always enjoyed such fiscal pre-eminence. During the Dark Ages it was chiefly known in Europe for the raids launched by the Vikings, though these petered out when King Olav Tryggvason converted to Christianity in 994 AD. After being allied to both Denmark and Sweden over the subsequent centuries, Norway became fully independent in 1905.
Its population numbers less than 5 million. However, more than a few Norwegians have made their mark in the world: Roald Amundsen was the first man to reach both the North and South Poles; Roald Dahl's books have delighted children and adults for generations; many regard Edvard Grieg as a truly ground-breaking composer, and Henrik Ibsen as an unparalleled dramatist; Edvard Munch's The Scream has become an icon of the expressionist school of painting, and Liv Ullman is an enduring icon of the silver screen.
It was only in the 1960s when substantial oil and gas reserves were discovered in offshore waters that Norway started its rise to prosperity. The country exports more than 3 million barrels of oil a day, only being outstripped by Saudi Arabia and Russia. And while having decided in a 1994 referendum to remain outside the European Union (EU), Norway is still a member of the European Economic Area, and makes a sizeable contribution to the EU budget.
Much of Norway's wealth is sunk into its social welfare system, financed by high taxes but allowing all the country's citizens free health care, schooling and many other benefits, while unemployment hovers at around 2 per cent. The top rate for income tax is 54.3 per cent, while value-added tax is assessed at 25 per cent. However, there are reduced rates for food, transport, cinemas, public broadcasting and hotel accommodation. While the average monthly pay is around 33,100 kroner (HK$44,000), workers are left with only a moderate disposable income after direct and indirect tax deductions.