US President Barack Obama said he was "humbled" to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize but said he was not sure he had done enough to deserve it.
Less than a year after taking office, Obama was recognised by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for his "extraordinary" efforts to reduce the global stockpile of nuclear weapons and bring world peace.
But the US presdident said he did not "view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments," but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world.
Obama said, "I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize."
In an announcement in Oslo, Obama was honoured "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," Thorbjoern Jagland, the the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said.
"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," the committee said.
"His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."
The committee said it attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.
" Obama has as president created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play."
The prize worth 10 million Swedish crowns (£878,000) will be handed over in the Norway capital on Dec. 10.
The US presdient did not say what he planned to do with the money.
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