It is unclear why Alfred Nobel chose Norway to administer the Peace Prize, but whatever the reason, it is a committee of five Norwegians, appointed for six-year terms by the Norwegian Storting (parliament), that chooses the winner each year, and their meetings are held here behind closed doors. You can, however, visit the library, which contains some 200,000 volumes on international history and politics, peace studies and economics.
The Norwegian Nobel Institute (Norwegian: Det Norske Nobelinstitutt) is located in Oslo, Norway. The institute is located at Henrik Ibsen Street 5 in the center of the city. It is situated just by the side of the Royal Palace, and diagonally across the street from the former U.S. Embassy.
The institute was established in 1904 in Kristiania (today Oslo). The principal duty of the Nobel Institute is to assist the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the task of selecting the recipient(s) of the annual Nobel Peace Prize and to organize the Nobel award event in Oslo.
The institute's library, with some 204,000 titles, related to peace, conflict, and international relations, is the largest of its kind in Norway. The institute also has its own research department, organizing research related to peace and war. The institute awards a few annual visiting fellowships to distinguished international scholars. The institute arranges meetings, seminars and lectures in addition to holding the so-called Nobel Symposia, exchanges of views and information to which it invites specialists from many countries.
The institute's director is Olav Njølstad.
