History
On 25 November 1905, King Haakon VII landed in Norway. This marked the beginning of the new Norwegian monarchy—a fully independent nation with a royal house that was Norway’s alone. But the Norwegian monarchy dates back more than one thousand years.
Harald Fairhair is commonly regarded as the first king of Norway as he united several petty kingships into a single realm in about 890. But although Norwegian history goes back many centuries, modern Norway as a completely independent nation is relatively young. This is because, from 1380 until 1905, Norway was the subordinate party in various unions with Denmark and Sweden.
In 1905 the union with Sweden was dissolved, and Norway chose its own monarch - Danish Prince Carl. He took the name Haakon VII.
