The Nordic Nations

Brief Description Norden coming from an ancient word meaning “Northlands.” Made up of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland.

Summary Iceland Urban/Rural- 80.5%/9.5% Population- 331,918 Government- Constitutional Monarchy Ethnicity- Norse-Celt decedents 94%, foreign origin 6% Money- Krone Sweden Urban/Rural- 94.1%/5.9% Population- 9,801,616 Government- Constitutional Republic Ethnicity- Mostly Swedes and Finns w/other recent immigrants Money- Krona Norway, Video Urban/Rural- 86%/14% Population- 5,207,689 Ethnicity- Nowegian 94%, foreign origin 6%

Summary Finland Denmark Population- 5,476,922 Population- 5,581,503 Ethnicity- Finn 93%, Swede 7% Ethnicity- Scandinavian with a variety of other varied ethnicities Urban/Rural- 84%/16% Urban/Rural- 88%/12% Government- Republic Government- Constitutional Monarchy Money- Euro Money- Krone

Types of Government- Definitions Constitutional Monarchy- a system of government in which a monarch is guided by a constitution whereby his/her rights, duties, and responsibilities are spelled out in written law or by custom. Constitutional Republic- A constitutional republic is a type of government in which the officials are elected by the people. The republic must govern according to the laws of the constitution, and its actions are subject to judicial review.  Republic- a representative democracy in which the people's elected deputies (representatives), not the people themselves, vote on legislation.

A Northern Location- A Varied Landscape A collection of peninsulas and islands separated by seas, gulfs, and oceans. The two peninsulas are: Scandinavian Peninsula- Norway and Sweden Jutland Peninsula- Denmark and the northern part of Germany. Denmark is one of the most flat nations of the Nordic nations Norway is the most mountainous

A Northern Location- The Effect of Glaciers Carved out thousands of lakes across the peninsulas Removed topsoil and other materials and left them in Denmark and other parts of Western Europe. Left the soil rocky and difficult to farm. Carved out deep valleys along the coasts. When the glaciers melted, water filled the valleys, creating flooded glacial valleys known as fjords. Can be deep with steep walls.

Fjord

A Northern Location- Iceland, Fireland Known as “a land of fire and ice.” Volcanoes and glaciers exist side by side Produces much of its energy from geothermal energy, energy produced from the heat of the earth’s interior.

Geothermal Energy Video

A Northern Location- Long Winters, Short Summers At midwinter the sun may shine only two or three hours a day. In midsummer, it shines for more than twenty hours Winter is when the greenish white and red lights of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, shine most brightly in the Nordic nations. The lights are formed because the atomic particles from the sun break through the northern atmosphere because it is attracted by the magnetic fields of the North Pole. The start of summer is a public holiday. Because the sun doesn’t really set for a couple of weeks, evening is called “white nights.”

Northern Lights

A Northern Location- The Ocean and the Climate Half of Iceland, all of Denmark, the west coast of Norway, and southern Sweden have mild marine west coast climates. Warm currents of the North Atlantic Drift moderates the weather and keep the coast free of ice. The coldest area lie just east of the mountain chain that runs northeast to southwest through Norway, the Scandinavian Mountains. The range blocks the warm air from reaching the rest of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Making the remainder of climate a cold, dry subarctic climate.

Shared Cultural Bonds- Similar Historical Roots 800 A.D. – 1050 A.D. Vikings- warriors, colonizers, traders, and explorers. 1397 A.D. Queen of Denmark joined the five lands under one ruler 1523 A.D. Sweden (which included Finland) left the union. Early 1800s Sweden gives Finland to Russia

Shared Cultural Bonds- Similar Historical Roots Religion Lutheran Church Language Finland is bilingual in Finnish and Swedish, also a working a knowledge of English Nordic schools require students to learn English

Shared Cultural Bonds- Governments and Economies All five Nordic countries are Democracies Mixed Economies or systems of combining different degrees of government control. They practice a mixture of free enterprise and socialism.

Shared Cultural Bonds- Governments and Economies Usually the Nordic nations are politically neutral in foreign affairs. What this means is they don’t take sides in international disputes. Norway refuses to open its harbors for military use and forbids storage of nuclear weapons. Denmark and Sweden actively promote peaceful solutions to international crises.

Sound Economies Stable economies Wealth comes from variety of sources Denmark and southern Sweden have flat land and a mild climate good for growing crops. Denmark uses 60% of its land for farming. Fishing Norwegians fish heavily and compare it to farmland calling their offshore waters “the Blue Meadow.” Oil and Gas Production Ores Forests