Norway is the northernmost country in Europe and its harsh, cold climate makes this country, as well as Iceland, the least populated areas of the Old Continent. The rugged Norwegian landscape, which today enchants tourists and mountain lovers, has not always been perceived as an advantage of the far north. Rocky, inaccessible peaks, dense forests, cold winters and short summers have hindered the cultivation of crops and livestock on the territory of present-day Norway for centuries. Therefore, it should not be surprising that it was the land of the bravest explorers of medieval Europe – while looking for new areas to conquer and populate the Vikings reached not only Iceland, Greenland and the waters of the Mediterranean, but they stood on the American continent long before Columbus.
