By Tim Lambert
7,000 BC The first human beings arrive in Norway
3,000 BC Farming begins in Norway
1,500 BC Bronze is first used in Norway
500 BC Iron is first used in Norway
200 AD A form of writing called runes is used in Norway
9th Century AD Vikings from Norway raid other parts of Europe
1015-1030 Olaf Haraldson rules Norway
1066 Harald Hardrada invades England but is defeated and killed
1217-1263 Haakon IV rules Norway
1266 Magnus the Lawmender sells the Hebrides and the Isle of Man to the Scottish king
1319 Norway is temporarily united with Sweden
1349-50 The Black Death devastates Norway
1355 Norway and Sweden split
1397 Norway is united with Denmark
1468 The Shetland Islands and the Orkneys are ceded to Scotland
1624 Oslo is destroyed by fire
1769 Norway has a population of 728,000. The largest town is Bergen with a population of 14,000.
1814 Denmark is forced to cede Norway to Sweden
1816 A Bank of Norway is founded
1884 The Swedish king is forced to make concessions to the Norwegian parliament
1898 All men are given the vote
1900 The population of Norway reaches 2,240,000
1905 Norway becomes independent from Sweden
1913 Women in Norway are allowed to vote
1915 A 10-hour day is introduced in Norway
1940 The Germans invade Norway
1945 The Germans surrender
1949 Norway joins NATO
1962 The first rocket is launched from Andoya Space Center
1972 Norwegians vote not to join the EU
1994 Norwegians again reject the idea of joining the EU
2012 The population of Norway reaches 5 million