Norway Cultural Groups

While official government statistics record the country of a person's birth, it does not quantify or track ethnicity. The Norwegian government has identified groups with a long-standing attachment to the country as national minorities. These minorities are: Kvens/Norwegian Finns, Jews, Forest Finns, Roma and Romani people/Taters (Travelers). The Sámi, who were also called Lapps or Lapplanders, are separately recognized as an indigenous people, with an obligation from the State to ensure the Sámi can further develop and strengthen their own culture, language, business, industry, and community.

The Kven are descended from Finns who immigrated to Northern Norway in the 18th century from Finland and Sweden. Jews were present in Norway in the 1400s, but in 1687 Christian V banned all Jews from the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway. After 1814 some Sephardi Jews (referred to as Portuguese Jews) were able to establish residence in Norway as local government officials believed the ban applied to Jews from Eastern Europe. This ban persisted until 1851 when it was repealed by the Storting. The Forest Finns (Skogfinnar) are descended from Finns who settled in the forest areas on the Norwegian and Swedish border in the 16th century.

The Roma and Romani people/Tater (Travelers), as well as the Sigøynere, are historically a wandering people originating in Rajasthan, India. In Norwegian a distinction is made between the Travelers and Sigøynere, with the Travelers having been present in Norway since the 16th century, and Sigøynere having arrived in the 19th century from Eastern Europe. The term Sigøynere, which translates as Gypsy, does not have the same pejorative context in Norway as the term does in English-speaking cultures.

Sámi
The term Lapp or Lapplander are considered offensive terms to the Sámi. However, in historical records, they can often be identified by these terms. Sámi have a rich cultural heritage and have traditionally engaged in fur trapping, coastal fishing, sheep herding and nomadic reindeer herding as a means of providing a livelihood. In 1989 the Sámi University of Applied Sciences opened in Kautokeino. The same year the Sámi Parliament of Norway (Norwegian: Sametinget, Northern Sami: Sámediggi, Lule Sami and Pite Sami: Sámedigge, Ume Sami: Sámiediggie, Southern Sami: Saemiedigkie, Skolt Sami: Sääʹmteʹǧǧ) was opened in Karasjok (Kárášjohka). Its purpose is to coordinate issues of interest to the Sámi people with the government. See Sami People for more information about the Sámi in the Nordic countries.