The Nobel Prizes are awards that are given each year for special things that people or groups of people have achieved. They are awarded in six areas: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace and economics.

The prizes come from a fund that was created by the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. He wanted to use some of his money to help make the world a better place to live.

Many organizations, chosen by Alfred Nobel himself, determine who receives the prizes. Each award consists of a gold medal, a diploma and a lot of money. Prizes can only be given to individuals of all races, countries and religions. Only the Peace Prize can also be given to a group.

The first Nobel Prizes were handed out on December 10, 1901 - five years after Alfred Nobel's death. Nobel was a chemist, engineer and inventor whose most famous invention, dynamite, made him a rich man. Although he gave the world such a deadly weapon, Nobel was always against wars and violence. He therefore left a lot of money that was to go to those who did a lot for mankind.

Officials at first handed out only five prizes a year. The prize for economics was first awarded in 1969. In some years prizes have not been awarded because there were no worthy candidates.

All prizes are presented in Stockholm, Sweden, only the Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway.

Famous Nobel Prize winners

Year	Field	Winner	Country
1901	Physics	Wilhelm Röntgen	Germany
1921	Physics	Albert Einstein	Germany
1945	Medicine	Sir Alexander Fleming	Great Britain
1954	Literature	Ernest Hemingway	USA
1972	Literature	Heinrich Böll	Germany
1973	Medicine	Konrad Lorenz	Austria
1977	Peace	Amnesty International	-----------
1993	Peace	Nelson Mandela	South Africa