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Territory
Small in area, the Principality draws its strength from the sea and the hills. It opens onto the Skagerrak and rests against the wooded slopes of south-eastern Norway.
Geography
Swedenborg forms a sovereign enclave in the south-east of Norway. The climate is that of this coast: long winters, clear summers, sea mist. Pine, granite and heath frame a deep roadstead that shelters the capital.
Two ports carry trade and fishing: Solsoeneur and Heligrays. The economy rests on the sea, husbandry, valley farming and a few manufactures. The princes have always regarded the navy as the school of the state.
The capital
The town of Swedenborg, which gives its name to the state, rises from the granite quay to the palace. Here stand Saint Olaf’s Cathedral, the ministries, the gymnasium where the young are formed, and ochre stone houses under slate roofs.
Halsenoey
On the headland that closes the roadstead, the citadel of Halsenoey has watched since the first princes. Its granite walls command the entrance to the Swedenborgian Skagerrak. It remains the emblem of the country’s independence.
