Norway is to follow Ireland's example by banning smoking in all bars and restaurants from tonight.
As in Ireland, the law is designed to protect waiters, bartenders, cooks and other staff from second-hand smoke blamed for causing cancer, respiratory and heart diseases.
Opinion polls show that the law has broad support despite worries by owners of restaurants and bars that business will be hit.
"This is a milestone in our health policy. In a few years' time we'll look back and ask 'why on earth didn't we do this earlier?'," Norwegian Health Minister Dagfinn Hoybraaten said.
Norway did not regulate smoking until 1988 but Hoybraaten said it was already unthinkable to have to share an office or a lift with a smoker or to light up on a train, a bus or a plane.
At Oslo airport, visitors will be met by a picture of two men standing by a river and proudly showing off a fish. "The only thing we smoke here is salmon," the caption reads. Norwegian health authorities will hand out 40,000 flowers around the Nordic nation on Monday to symbolise a freshening up of the air.
The Irish and Norwegian nationwide bans follow regional restrictions, such as in US cities and states including New York to California. Some other countries are considering following suit.
Norway put off the planned introduction of the law from January 1st, reckoning it would be too tough to force bars and restaurants to shove smokers out into the freezing cold to smoke. Summertime gives an easier introduction for the law.