Norway is a country of mind-blowing extremes: they own 1.5% of all listed companies worldwide, hide the world's apocalypse seed backup in a frozen mountain, and knighted a penguin.
Every citizen is technically a millionaire
Norway discovered oil in the North Sea in 1969. Instead of spending the windfall, the government saved it, funneling the profits into a sovereign wealth fund. Today, that fund is worth over $1.5 trillion. Since Norway's population is only about 5.5 million, every single citizen is technically a millionaire in Norwegian kroner.
Their roads have psychological survival features
Driving through a mountain can be monotonous, and Norway has the longest road tunnel in the world. The Lærdal Tunnel stretches for 15.2 miles (24.5 kilometers). To keep drivers from falling asleep or experiencing claustrophobia during the 20-minute drive, engineers divided the tunnel into four sections separated by large rock chambers. These caves are illuminated with blue and yellow lights to simulate a sunrise, breaking up the visual monotony and giving drivers a psychological reset.
A king penguin is a high-ranking military officer
In 1972, the Norwegian King's Guard adopted a king penguin named Nils Olav at the Edinburgh Zoo. The tradition has continued through his successors. Sir Nils Olav III was knighted in 2008 and was recently promoted to the rank of Major General. When the Norwegian King's Guard visits Edinburgh, troops stand at attention while the penguin inspects them.
They host the world's agricultural backup
Deep inside a mountain on the remote archipelago of Svalbard, just 800 miles from the North Pole, sits the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It is designed to survive natural disasters, nuclear war, and global warming. The vault holds over a million seed samples from nearly every country on Earth, acting as an ultimate safety net for the global food supply. Because it is buried deep in the permafrost, the seeds will remain frozen even if the mechanical cooling systems fail.