Immigration

Historically, Norway has had a very balanced population growth.  In centuries past, it was common for women to birth over a dozen babies.  Only a fraction of them survived to adulthood, however, so there never was a population explosion problem - until the 1800s.

One of the biggest killers of Norwegian children back then was small pox.  Early in the 19^th century the small pox vaccine was introduced to Norway and given to every child over the age of one.  Survival of the fittest had reigned supreme and “nature” took care of keeping the population balanced, but when modern medicine intervened, it upset that balance.

Between food from the sea and food from the land, Norwegians were able to feed their own, but once the small pox vaccine came into play, everything changed.  Each family that would otherwise just be feeding four or five kids to adulthood, now had to feed 13 or 14.   Many went hungry. 

On smaller farms, once a child reached the age of 10, they were often sent to work on larger farms just so they could eat.  This population explosion was unforeseen and had dramatic affects on the country.  It’s what precipitated the mass exodus to America, where land was plentiful and the promise of food awaited them.

In the years between 1825 and 1925, Norway lost over 800,000 of it’s citizens, - about one third of their population - to America.  When they boarded the ship to sail away, the family grieved as if they were dying because they knew, more often than not, they would never see them again.  It was common then to refer to America as Norway’s “graveyard.”  There are now about 4.5 million Norwegian-American’s living in America, which is about how many Norwegians are living in Norway. 

I was looking at a website that gave global statistics projecting where countries will be 50 years from now.  It showed huge population explosions in many places, but for Norway, their population is expected to be about what it is today.  The birth rate among native Norwegians is now down to only 1.4 children per family, so it won’t be the locals exploding out their numbers anytime soon.  But with Norway’s strong economy and low unemployment rate, the tables have turned and immigration into Norway is now their biggest threat to over population.

I’m thinking those who made the predictions kept Norway’s population low because they knew about the law that says everyone moving to Norway must learn to speak Norwegian.  Based on the challenges I faced actually trying to learn their very difficult language, I’d say it’s a sure fire way to keep many immigrants at bay.