Being Norwegian and being a citizen of the Kingdom of Norway are different , yes . I am Norwegian , but not a citizen of the country . One is a ethnic distinction and the other legal . In English it is not uncommon to say He is Mexican . even if his family is 3 generations out from Mexico . We are largely an invisible ethnic group here in the US . However , my greatgrand parents and one my grandparents immigrated to the US in the late 19 th and early 20 th century . All of them spoke Norwegian as their first language , as did many of my aunts and uncles . We had churches , newspapers , radio stations , and books in Norwegian throughout the US up until the 1970 s and iirc 1990 s . Hell , due to the printing costs and the audiences , most Norwegian bibles and other religious books were printed in the US from the mid 1800 s up to the mid 20 th century . I am lucky to have been able to live in Norway for a while and to have been fluent when I was young . It is fairly sad to see that culture dying out here . I have cousins who speak it fluently in their homes and try to keep it alive , but it isn ' t easy to do .