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Nordic countries

The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or Norden; lit. 'the North')[2] are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway[a] and Sweden; the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland; and the autonomous region of Åland.[4]

Not to be confused with Scandinavia.

Nordic countries

5 sovereign states


2 autonomous territories


1 autonomous region


2 unincorporated areas


1 dependency


2 Antarctic claims

12 February 1953

23 March 1962

July 1971

27,562,156 (52nd)

24,221,754

7.62/km2 (19.7/sq mi) (225th)

2019 estimate

$1.6 trillion[1] (19th)

$58,000 (13th)

2021 estimate

$1.8 trillion (10th)

$66,900 (15th)

The Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, religion and social and economic model. They have a long history of political unions and other close relations but do not form a singular entity today. The Scandinavist movement sought to unite Denmark, Norway and Sweden into one country in the 19th century. With the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden (Norwegian independence), the independence of Finland in the early 20th century and the 1944 Icelandic constitutional referendum, this movement expanded into the modern organised Nordic cooperation. Since 1962, this cooperation has been based on the Helsinki Treaty that sets the framework for the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers.


The Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life and human development.[5] Each country has its own economic and social model, sometimes with large differences from its neighbours. Still, they share aspects of the Nordic model of economy and social structure to varying degrees.[6] This includes a mixed market economy combined with strong labour unions and a universalist welfare sector financed by high taxes, enhancing individual autonomy and promoting social mobility. There is a high degree of income redistribution, commitment to private ownership and little social unrest.[7][8]


North Germanic peoples, who comprise over three-quarters of the region's population, are the largest ethnic group, followed by the Baltic Finnic Peoples, who comprise the majority in Finland; other ethnic groups are the Greenlandic Inuit, the Sami people and recent immigrants and their descendants. Historically, the main religion in the region was Norse paganism. This gave way first to Roman Catholicism after the Christianisation of Scandinavia. Then, following the Protestant Reformation, the main religion became Lutheran Christianity, the state religion of several Nordic countries.[9][10]


Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated language groups, the common linguistic heritage is one factor that makes up the Nordic identity. Most Nordic languages belong to North Germanic languages, Finno-Ugric languages and Eskimo–Aleut languages. Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible, and they are the working languages of the region's two political bodies. Swedish is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools and Danish in Faroese and Greenlandic schools. Danish is also taught in schools in Iceland.


The combined area of the Nordic countries is 3,425,804 square kilometres (1,322,710 sq mi). Uninhabitable ice caps and glaciers comprise about half of this area, mainly Greenland. In September 2021, the region had over 27 million people. Especially in English, Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries. Still, that term more properly refers to the three monarchies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Geologically, the Scandinavian Peninsula comprises the mainland of Norway and Sweden and the northernmost part of Finland.[11][12][13][14][15]

refers typically to the cultural and linguistic group formed by Denmark, Norway and Sweden, or the Scandinavian Peninsula, which is formed by mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northwesternmost part of Finland. Outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries. First recorded use of the name by Pliny the Elder about a "large, fertile island in the North" (possibly referring to Scania).[17]

Scandinavia

refers to the area that includes the Scandinavian Peninsula, Finland, Kola Peninsula and Karelia. This term is mostly restricted to geology, when speaking of the Fennoscandian Shield.

Fennoscandia

consists of the provinces and counties of Lapland in Finland; Finnmark, Nordland and Troms in Norway; and Lapland and Norrbotten in Sweden. This Arctic area is located around and north of the Arctic Circle in the three Nordic European countries Norway, Sweden and Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

Cap of the North

is formed by the Cap of the North as well as the Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions of Finland, Swedish provinces of Lapland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Russian Oblasts of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as well as the Republics of Karelia and Komi. This area cooperates through the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and Barents Regional Council.

Barents Region

The term Nordic countries found mainstream use after the advent of Foreningen Norden. The term is derived indirectly from the local term Norden, used in the North Germanic (Scandinavian) languages, which means 'The North(ern lands)'.[16] Unlike the Nordic countries, the term Norden is in the singular. The demonym is nordbo, literally meaning 'northern dweller'.


Similar or related regional terms include:

Heads of state

Denmark
Frederik X
King of Denmark
since 2024

Denmark Frederik X King of Denmark since 2024

Norway
Harald V
King of Norway
since 1991

Norway Harald V King of Norway since 1991

The North Germanic languages in the Nordic countries

The North Germanic languages in the Nordic countries

The Finnic languages in Northern Europe

The Finnic languages in Northern Europe

Examples of nordic art from the 19th century

Denmark Vilhelm Hammershøi
(1864–1916)
Interior with Young Man Reading, 1898

Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864–1916) Interior with Young Man Reading, 1898

Finland Helene Schjerfbeck
(1862–1946)
Dancing Shoes, 1882

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862–1946) Dancing Shoes, 1882

Norway Edvard Munch
(1863–1944)
The Scream, 1893

Edvard Munch (1863–1944) The Scream, 1893

Sweden August Strindberg
(1849–1912)
Seascape, 1894

August Strindberg (1849–1912) Seascape, 1894

Faroe Islands Díðrikur á Skarvanesi
(1802–1865)
Birds, 1800s

Díðrikur á Skarvanesi (1802–1865) Birds, 1800s

Climate of the Nordic countries

Subdivisions of the Nordic countries

Universal basic income in the Nordic countries

Clerc, Louis; Glover, Nikolas; Jordan, Paul, eds. Histories of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Representing the Periphery (Leiden: Brill Nijhoff, 2015). 348 pp.  978-90-04-30548-9. online review

ISBN

Elmgren, Ainur and Norbert Götz (eds.). . Journal of Contemporary European Studies 21 (2013) 3: 338–412.

Theme issue "Power Investigation: The Political Culture of Nordic Self-Understanding"

Götz, Norbert and Heidi Haggrén (eds.). . London: Routledge, 2009.

Regional Cooperation and International Organizations: The Nordic Model in Transnational Alignment

Götz, Norbert and Carl Marklund (eds.). . Leiden: Brill, 2015.

The Paradox of Openness: Transparency and Participation in Nordic Cultures of Consensus

Kjellberg, Anders (2022) . Lund: Department of Sociology.

The Nordic Model of Industrial Relations

Strang, Johan (ed.). . London: Routledge, 2016.

Nordic Cooperation: A European Region in Transition

website of the Nordic Council and Nordic Council of Ministers

Norden

Archived 16 July 2021 at the Wayback Machine, railway map of the Nordic countries

Nordic Countries

European centre for research, education and documentation on spatial development, established by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Includes maps and graphs

Nordregio

official website of the Scandinavian Tourist Boards in North America

Go Scandinavia

the Nordic Center in New York, run by the American-Scandinavian Foundation

Scandinavia House

a digital library that provides scientific information on the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as the Baltic region as a whole

vifanord

Nordic organization to promote sustainable development and growth in the region (archived 17 December 2009)

Mid Nordic Committee

nicknamed the constitution of the Nordic countries

The Helsinki Treaty of 1962