Norway - a young nation

Today I went to a lecture about June 7th 1905 when the Norwegian Parliament dissolved the union with Sweden. It was interesting to hear how the Norwegian Parliament actually was able to reject the King and dissolve the union. An English commentator called it "the most gentlemanly revolution in history". No violence, no war and today there are no hard feelings between the two countries. In some ways I guess it's quiet unique in European history and an interesting field for research. At the same time: We are a young nation, and in the same way as young people I guess we are trying to understand ourselves and find our way. What does it mean to be a nation in Europe today? What is a country and should we as inhabitants have our belonging to the nation as a foundational part of our identity or should we think of ourselves as Europeans or maybe only as human beings? I do believe that it is important to feel a belonging to something outside of yourself - a community. It could be your family, your friends, as supporters of a football club, a religious community, your city or your country. The fantastic thing is that there are a lot of different ways to belong - to be a part of a community. I'm sure glad to be Norwegian, but who knows - I think I would have enjoyed being a Swede as well. :)