Norway embassies in 82 countries. 60 countries maintain an embassy in Norway, all of them in the capital, Oslo. Norway is a founding member of the United Nations (UN), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Council of Europe and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Norway issued applications for accession to the European Union (EU) and its predecessors in 1962, 1967 and 1992, respectively. While Denmark, Sweden and Finland obtained membership, the Norwegian electorate rejected the treaties of accession in referenda in 1972 and 1994. After the 1994 referendum, Norway maintained its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), an
Cooperatives of Norway late 1980s these were allowed to create stocks, or "grunnfondsbevis", to increase their capital. This has led to a lot of the banks being partially private and no longer cooperatives. Still, many of the smaller bank have remained as true cooperatives. Formally the banks are considered self-owning and not customer owned. Cooperatives of Norway Cooperatives of Norway have been created to represent the interest of either customers or suppliers. Areas with cooperatives include retailing, food manufacturing, banking and insurance. Most cooperatives are registered as BA entities. Coop NKL, part of Coop Norden, is the second largest retail group in Norway,