Haakon VII of Norway

About Haakon VII of Norway

Haakon VII was the King of Norway from 1905 until his death in 1957, playing a crucial role in establishing Norway as an independent nation following the dissolution of its union with Sweden. His historical importance is underscored by his refusal to abdicate the throne during the Nazi occupation of Norway in World War II, offering firm leadership and symbolizing national resistance against the German forces. This foundational contribution to modern Norwegian sovereignty secures his position at HPI Rank #724 among the world's most influential historical figures.

Despite this significant national and wartime role, Haakon VII currently experiences an attention gap, demonstrating underattention relative to his historical standing. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued 136K views, which is approximately -2x less attention than his HPI rank suggests he should receive. This relative obscurity is further highlighted when compared to figures like Septimius Severus, who ranks slightly lower in importance (#876) but garners over six times the online traffic (845K views).

While interest is somewhat down year-over-year by -18.0%, there is a notable recent recovery indicated by the 2025 Momentum metric, which saw a +10% surge in attention between Q1 and Q3, suggesting renewed, albeit modest, curiosity in his legacy.