The principal articles of import and export, with their respective values, in thousands of kroner, are shown as follows: The following table shows the distribution of Danish foreign trade, in thousands of kroner: Shipping, Railroads, Telegraphs, Post-Office. (See Index.) Money and Banking. The monetary unit, the krone of 100 öre, is of the value of 26.8 cents. The standard of value is gold. Silver is legal tender up to 20 kroner. On July 31, 1898, the accounts of the National Bank balanced at 139,676,174 kroner. The assets included 31,677,655 kroner in bullion and 20,230,300 in specie. The liabilities included 91,000,000 kroner note issue, 27,000,000 kroner of capital, and 3,000,000 kroner reserve fund. There are about 60 other banks for commercial, agricultural, industrial, and other purposes. In 1897 there were 532 savingsbanks, with 1,062,649 depositors, and deposits amounting to 645,444,356 kroner, or 607 kroner to each account. *"General" trade. NORWAY. The area of Norway is 124,445 square miles; and at the census of 1891 the population was 2,000,217, of which 76.3 per cent, were rural and 23.7 per cent. urban. Emigration to the United States was as follows: 1889, 12,597; 1890, 10,898; 1891, 13,249; 1822, 16,814; 1803, 18,690; 1894, 5,591; 1895, 6,153; 1896, 6,584. Fiscal Affairs. The following statement shows the principal items of the budgets of 1898 and 1899: The following shows the amortization, growth, and interest of the public debt, years ending June 30: Of the total area, 75 per cent. is unproductive, 22 per cent. forest, and 3 per cent. under cultivation. At the end of 1890 there were 146,355 farms, mostly worked by their owners. In 1890, the area under cereals was 185,605 hectares; potatoes, 39,128 hectares. The estimated yield of cereals was 5,962,353 hectolitres; of potatoes, 8,441,403 hectolitres. The total value of the produce was for cereals, 38,262,761 kroner; for potatoes, 24,807,136 kroner. The value of cereals imported (including flour) was 37.792,700 kroner in 1897; the principal article being rye, 17,029,600 kroner. The import of butter amounted to 1,132,000 kroner, and of bacon and meat to 5,477,900 kroner. The total value of the coastwise fisheries in 1884 was $6,137,261. The total area covered with forests is estimated at 26,320 square miles, of which 73 per cent, is under pine trees. The State forests occupy 3,870 square miles, administered by a forest staff under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior. The value of unwrought or partly wrought timber exported from Norway in 1895 was 27,777,800 kroner, and of wrought timber, 15,833,000 kroner. Foreign Commerce. The total imports and exports of Norwegian and foreign goods were as follows, in thousands of kroner: Exports (foreign).... *Of this amount 19,131,560 kroner were applied to the redemption of a former loan. The values of the imports and exports, in thousands of kroner, were as follows: The countries comprising the principal portion of the foreign trade are: Sweden, imports. 42,277,800 kroner; exports, 25,724,300 kroner; Germany, imports, 71,348,300 kroner; exports, 21,918,500 kroner; and Great Britain and Ireland, imports, 67,560,400 kroner; exports, 65,387,000 kroner. For commerce with the United States, see Sweden. The values of the precious metals imported and exported by Norway from 1885 to 1895 are shown as follows: Shipping, Railroads, Post-Offices, and Telegraphs. (See Index.) For gold and silver coins, see Index. Money. The standard of value is gold. In Sweden, National Bank notes for 5, 10, 50, 100, and 1,000 kroner are legal means of payment, and the bank is bound to exchange them for gold on presentation. The case is the same in Norway, where there are also notes for 500 kroner. On December 31, 1897, the Norwegian coins in circulation were as follows: Gold coin, 15,858,490 kroner; silver coin, 8,215,842 kroner; bronze coin, 629,218 kroner; total, 24,703,550 kroner. There is no Government paper money in Norway. Banking. There are two State banks, the Norges Bank and the Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank. The Norges Bank is a joint-stock bank, which is largely owned by the State. It has a head office at Christiania, and twelve branch offices. It is the only bank in Norway authorized to issue notes for eirculation. The balance-sheets of the bank for 1897 show: Assets at end of year-Bullion, 47,607.599 kroner; outstanding capital, mortgaged estates, foreign bills, etc., 40,703,170 kroner: total, 88,310,769 kroner. Liabilities-Notes in circulation, 59,311,592 kroner; the issue of notes allowed was 71,607,599 kroner; deposits, checks, unclaimed dividends, unsettled losses, etc., 9,482,203 kroner (of which the deposits amounted to 8,893,226 kroner); dividends payable for the year, 1,590,820 kroner; total, 70,384,615; balance, 17,926,154 kroner. The Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank, established in 1852, is properly a mortgage bank. Its capital is furnished by the State, and amounted to 14,000,000 kroner in 1896. The bank has, besides, a reserve fund amounting in 1895 to 1,000,000 kroner. At the end of 1895 the total amount of bonds issued was 110,840,400 kroner. The loans on mortgage amounted to 115,213,965 kroner. There are now 38 private non-issuing banks, most of them having but a small capital stock, and only seven a capital exceeding 1,000,000 crowns. The status of the savings-banks of Norway is shown by the following figures: -Amount to the Credit of Depositors-Withdrawals. At End of Year. Year. 1890. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. No. of No. of Deposits. SWEDEN. Area and Population. The area of Sweden is stated at 172,867 square miles. The progress of population from 1800 to 1896 has been as follows: 1800, 2,347,303; 1820, 2,584,690 1840, 3,138,887; 1850, 3,482,541; 1860, 3,859,728; 1870, 4,168,525; 1880, 4,565,668; 1890, 4,784,981; 1896 (estimated), 4,919,260. With the exception of (1890) 19,505 Finns, 6,846 Lapps, and some thousands others, the Swedish population is entirely of the Scandinavian branch of the Aryan family. The leading occupations of the people in 1890, including the families and dependents of those directly employed, will be shown on page 61, Volume IV, of "Commercial Year Book." Sweden has sent a steady contribution of emigrants to the United States, as will appear from the following statement: The revenues and expenditures of the State are illustrated in the following budgets, expressed in thousands of kroner: The liabilities of the kingdom, contracted entirely for railways, were as follows on January 1. 1898, expressed in kroner: Funded railway loans of 1860, without interest, 121.111; of 1880, at 31⁄2 per cent, interest, 101,821,500; of 1886, at 3% per cent, interest, 58,670,666; of 1887, at 33-19 per cent. interest, 48,759.500; of 1888, at 3 per cent. interest, 26,666,667; of 1890, at 3% per cent., 33,444,000; and funded railway loan of 1894, at 3 per cent., 18,000,000. Total, 287,483,444. All the loans are paid off gradually by means of sinking funds. As the railway receipts amount to about two-thirds of the interest, the charge to the people is nominal. Industries. The number of farms in cultivation in 1897 was 329,930; of these there were, of 2 hectares and under, 70,529; 2 to 20 hectares, 214.158; 20 to 100 hectares, 32,447; 100 and above, 3,155. Of the total land area of Sweden 8.3 per cent. is under cultivation, 3 per cent. under natural meadows, and 45.9 per cent. under forests, the products of which form a staple export. The following table shows, in thousands of hectares, the area under the chief crops in 1896, and, in thousands of hectolitres, the yield in 1897: The value of all cereal crops in 1897 was estimated at 265.2 million kroner. Sweden is rich in minerals. In 1896 there were mined 2,038,094 tons of iron ore; gold ore, 459 tons; silver and lead ore, 12,045 1ons; copper ore, 26,009 tons; zinc ore, 31,349 tons; manganese ore, 3,117 tons. The amounts of the different sorts of iron produced in 1896 were: Pig iron, 487,147 tons; puddled, for rolling, 188,726 tons; Bessemer ingots, 97,294 tons; Martin ingots, 96,475 tons; cast ingots, 551 tons; iron and steel bars, 168,270 tons; iron and steel hoops, rods, etc., 78,168 tons; wire rods, 26,038 tons; sheet iron, 12.028 tons. The coal mines, exclusively in the most southern province, yielded 223,652 tons. Gold production was 85 kilos; silver, 1.188 kilos: lead, 1,256,079 kilos; copper, 216,305 kilos. Foreign Commerce. The foreign trade (special) of Sweden was as follows, in kroner: 1896. 1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1897. Imports... 377,187,739 359,698,254 360,315,855 332,689,289 351,173,005 344,290,000 358,315,000 398,888,000 Exports..... 304,591,863 323,498,082 329,300,154 328,271,667 238,625,234 311,444,000 340,283,000 358,166,00 The leading imports and exports (special trade), in thousands of kroner, were: 0 The trade (special) with the principal countries, including bullion and specie, is shown as follows, in thousands of kroner: |