Scandinavia, Fennoscandia,Lapland & The Nordic Countries

THE SCANDINAVIAN PENINSULA

Norway Sweden

The Scandinavian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in Europe, covering an area of 750,000 square kilometers.The peninsula is located in north west Europe and extends south from the 100,000 square kilometer, Kola Peninsula situated in the Barents Sea, westwards through the 98,984 square kilometer Finnish region of Lapland, which today also incorporates parts of northern Sweden and Norway, and southwards through the entire landmass of modern day Norway and Sweden through to the shore of the Baltic Sea.

The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and the Norwegian Sea, to the east by the Gulf of Bothnia and to the south by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, which are linked by the two waterways known as the Skaggerak and the Kattegat.

The peninsula covers a geological area known as the Baltic Shield and one quarter of it's landmass lies above the Arctic Circle.

The peninsula is divided into east and west by the Scandinavian Mountain Range, a chain of steep mountains some 1,700 kilometers long, which are the remnants of the much larger Caledonian Mountain Range, a vast chain of mountains which also incorporated the mountains of Scotland and the Appalachian Mountains of north America.

The highest peak of these mountains is the Galdhoppiggen situated in Norway, at 2,469 meters above sea level.

During the last ice age the peninsula was covered by a compacted ice sheet many thousands of meters thick, causing the peninsula to actually sink. When the ice melted vast glaciers went on to form the landscape of fjords, lakes, peninsulas, islands and rocky outcrops which we see today.

The world’s longest lake, the Sogne Fjorden at 204 kilometers in length, is located in Norway. The lake, which is 1,308 meters deep, is twice as deep as the average fjord which is generally around six hundred meters deep.

Also located in Norway is the Saltstraumen Whirlpool, the world's largest mealstrom.

SCANDINAVIA

Norway Sweden Denmark.

Scandinavia is an ethno-linguistic area of north west Europe which contains the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The three countries are linked by an ethno-cultural heritage which originated in northern Germany. The three countries are also linked linguistically, by way of the ancient language known as, Old Norse, a Germanic language once spoken throughout northern Germany, the Scandinavian Peninsula, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and along the Baltic Sea coast.

The world's most northerly community is geopolitically part of Scandinavia. The 61,000 square kilometer, Svalbard Archipelago, a Norwegian island territory located in the Arctic Ocean.

FENNOSCANDIA

Denmark Finland Karelia Norway Sweden

Fennoscandia is a geo political region of north west Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and their eastern neighbour, the Republic of Finland – which also includes an ethnic area known as Karelia, an area which politically includes the Russian Republic of Karelia and the Finnish regions of North Karelia and South Karelia, located along Finland's south eastern border with Russia.

Finland is not linked to any of her neighbours culturally or linguisitically, with Finland's cultural heritage formed by it's native people the Sami, also known as Laplanders or Laps, and the Karelian People, both of whom speak Finno Lappic languages, a group of languages which are part of the Uralic language family which are related to Estonian, Hungarian and Turkish.

LAPLAND

Lapland is a sub arctic region located in northern Fennoscandia, which covers, from east to west, Murmansk Oblast in the Russian Federation, the county of North Ostrobothnia in Finland, Norbotten County in Sweden and the counties of Finnmark and Troms in Norway, a region which consists of around 163,400 people and covers an area of around 388,350 square kilometers.

The area is mainly populated by Scandinavia’s only indigenous people, the Sami, who call their homeland Sapmi.

The Sami are represented by their own governments in all four of the countries which make up Fennoscandia, they also have their own flag, shown above, their own national day, celebrated on February the sixth, and speak nine recognised, indigenous languages. The Sami are also noted for their reindeer husbandry.

Throughout the Christian world Lapland is better known as the symbolic homeland of Santa Claus or Father Christmas.

The red shaded area on the map below denotes the indigenous homeland of the Sami people.

THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

Denmark Finland Iceland Norway Sweden

The Nordic Countries, also known as Norden, is a collective geo-political term for the four countries, and their territories, which make up the area known as Fennoscandia.

These areas are all linked by ethnicity as they were all originally colonised by the Scandinavian countries ancestors, the Vikings, also known as Norsemen after their common language.

The Vikings originally came from northern Germany, first settling in modern day Denmark before moving northwards into modern day Scandinavia. They then went on to explore northern Europe and the Polar lands of the north Atlantic Ocean.

The Nordic Countries include the five sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden along with their territories of -

The Faroe Islands - An autonomous island territory of Denmark

The Åland Islands - An autonomous island province of Finland

Greenland - An autonomous island territory of Denmark

The Svalbard Archipelago - A Norwegian island territory. See map below.

Geographically the Nordic Countries consist of the world's largest island, Greenland, the world'a largest volcanic island, Iceland, the world's biggest ice cap at 1,700,000 square kilometers, located on Greenland, the world's largest national park, the 972,000 square kilometer North East Greenland National Park, also located in Greenland and the world's most northerly located community, situated on the Svalbard Archipelago.

THE NORDIC CROSS

All of the Nordic Countries, with the exception of Greenland, have flags which display the Nordic Cross. The Nordic Cross is recognised by it's off centre vertical.

The cross, which is a symbol of Christianity, was first used as a national flag by Denmark in the thirteenth century. Today, the Danish flag, which is known as the Dannebrog, is the oldest, continuously used, state flag in the world.

The Nordic Cross can also be found on the flags of Scotland's Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands, both of which share an ethno-cultural history with Scandinavia.

NOTE - The Nordic Cross is not to be confused with the Cross of Saint George, which can be seen on the English flag, which displays a central vertical.

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