The
Norwegian Forest cat ( or ) is a
breed of domestic
cat originating in Northern
Europe. This
natural breed is adapted to a very cold climate, with top coat of glossy, long, water-shedding hairs, and a woolly undercoat for insulation. Although this is uncertain, the breed's ancestors may have been a
landrace of short-haired cats brought to
Norway by the
Vikings around 1000 AD, who may also have brought with them long-haired cats, like those ancestral to the modern
Siberian and
Turkish Angora breeds. During
World War II, the breed became nearly extinct until efforts by the Norwegian Forest Cat Club helped the breed by creating an official breeding program. It was registered as a breed with the European
Fédération Internationale Féline in the 1970s, when a local cat fancier, Carl-Fredrik Nordane, took notice of the breed and made efforts to register it. Currently, the Norwegian Forest breed is very popular in Norway,
Sweden,
Iceland and
France.