Nordic countries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Nordic countries, sometimes also the Nordic region, comprise a region in Northern Europe consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories (in particular, Greenland). In English usage, Scandinavia is sometimes used in an extended sense that is synonymous with the Nordic countries.[1]
The region's five nation-states and three autonomous regions share much common history as well as common traits in their respective societies, such as political systems. Politically, Nordic countries do not form a separate entity, but they co-operate in the Nordic Council. Linguistically, the area is heterogeneous, with two unrelated language groups, the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages and the Baltic-Finnic branch of Uralic languages. The Nordic countries have a combined population of approximately 24 million.
Recently, Estonia has also projected itself as a Nordic country, although it is widely considered to be a Baltic state. Estonia has close linguistic, ethnic and cultural ties to Finland and also culturally with Sweden, and most of its investment and trade is with the Nordic countries.
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[edit] Etymology and terminology
The term is derived from the French term Pays Nordiques as an equivalent of the local terms Norden (Scandinavian languages), Pohjola / Pohjoismaat (Finnish language), Norðurlönd (Icelandic) and Norðurlond (Faroese) with the meaning of "The North(ern lands)".
In English usage, the term Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries. From the 1850s, Scandinavia came to include, politically and culturally, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Geographically the Scandinavian peninsula includes mainland Sweden and mainland Norway, and also a part of Finland, while the Jutland Peninsula includes mainland Denmark and a small part of Germany (Denmark proper has not included any territory on the Scandinavian Peninsula since 1658). The Faroe Islands and Iceland are "Scandinavian" in the sense that they were settled by Scandinavians and speak Scandinavian languages, but geographically they are not part of Scandinavia. Finland was once part of Sweden, and has been significantly influenced by Swedish culture, but it is not geographically part of Scandinavia either nor is Finnish related to the Scandinavian languages. Greenland was settled by Danes, is currently part of the Danish realm, and Danish is spoken there by some, but geographically it is part of North America.
In geology, term for the land area which lies above sea level on the Baltic shield (also known as the Fennoscandian shield) is Fennoscandia (from the Latin toponyms Fennia and Scania).
Before the 19th century, the term Nordic may have been used more as a synonym for Northern to mean Northern Europe, including European Russia, the Baltic countries (at that time Estonia, Livonia and Curonia) and occasionally the British Isles and other lands on the shores of the Baltic and North Seas.
[edit] History
- See also: History of Iceland, History of Finland, and History of Scandinavia
The Nordic countries are characterised by similar structures of their societies and cultural traits. This results not only from similar environmental realities and thus traditional livelihoods but also from a shared history.
During the Middle Ages what is now Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland shared a similar cultural, linguistic (Old Norse) and religious (Norse mythology) environment. From ca. the 12th century onwards what is now Finland (linguistically Baltic-Finnic and broader Finno-Ugric) started sharing the common developments as it was increasingly integrated into the kingdom of Sweden. As another example of a deeply rooted unifying past could be taken the indigenous Sami lifestyle (linguistically Finno-Ugric) across what is now northern Norway, Sweden and Finland (and beyond). Indeed, all Nordic countries have minority groups deriving or claiming heritage of a population residing within another Nordic state.
After being Christianised around the year 1000, the process of local unification established Denmark, Norway and Sweden as separate kingdoms. Finland became part of Sweden in the mid 1200s, whereas Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Shetland Islands, Orkney and large parts of Scotland and Ireland belonged to Norway. All Nordic countries followed the Protestant Reformation of the Western church during the 16th century and adopted Lutheran state churches, which to today have a large membership count although state church status varies. Finland also has a much smaller Orthodox state church whose members mainly come from the areas that were outside the Swedish realm when Christianity was introduced.
In the 14th century, Denmark, Norway (with Iceland) and Sweden (with Finland) were united under one regent, in the Kalmar Union. Denmark quickly gained the upper hand, but in the early 16th century Sweden reestablished itself as a separate kingdom. Denmark's domination over Norway lasted until 1814 when the king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands remained Danish.
After establishing itself as one of the Great powers in Europe during the 17th century Sweden ultimately lost its foreign Dominions one by one. This process culminated in the loss of Finland to Russia in 1809 which became an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian tsar.
The 19th century saw a personal union between Sweden and Norway which was dissolved in 1905 due to growing dissatisfaction from the Norwegian part. At the same time Scandinavism emerged in Scandinavia. This movement strove to unite the three Scandinavian countries into one kingdom without much success.
During World War I and in the midst of the Russian revolution of 1917, Finland emerged for the first time as an independent nation and the perspective of a Nordic community replaced the idea of a united Scandinavia alone. During World War II in 1944, Iceland gained its independence from Denmark. The member states of the Nordic council (founded in 1952) had thus emerged.
The Nordic countries share similar traits in the policies implemented under the postwar period, especially in the social area. All Nordic countries have large tax funded public welfare sectors and extensive social legislation. In most cases, this is due to the political ambitions of the many Social Democrat governments that came to power during the interwar period in each of the Nordic countries.
[edit] Chronology of the Nordic Countries
| Century | Nordic Political Entities | |||||
| 21st | Denmark (EU) | Faroes (Denmark) | Iceland | Norway | Sweden (EU) | Finland (EU) |
| 20th | Denmark | Sweden | Finland | |||
| 19th | Denmark | Norway and Sweden | GD of Finland | |||
| 18th | Denmark-Norway | Sweden | ||||
| 17th | ||||||
| 16th | ||||||
| 15th | Kalmar Union | |||||
| 14th | Denmark | Norway | Sweden | |||
| 13th | ||||||
| 12th | Faroes | Icelandic CW | Norway | |||
| Nordic Peoples | Danes | Faroese | Icelanders | Norwegians | Swedes | Finns |
[edit] Political dimension and divisions
The Nordic region has a mild political dimension in joint official bodies called the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. In this context, several aspects of the common market as in the European Union have been implemented decades before the EU implemented them.
In the European Union, the Northern dimension refers to external and cross-border policies covering the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries, and Russia.
Politically, the Nordic dimension has grown increasingly irrelevant, since the member states disagree on memberships of the European union, eurozone and NATO. Norway and Iceland are only members of NATO, while Finland and Sweden are only members of the European Union. Denmark alone participates in both organizations. Only Finland is a member of the eurozone. The tasks and policies of the European union overlap with the Nordic council significantly, e.g. the Schengen agreement partially supersedes the Nordic passport-free zone and a common labor market.
[edit] Flags and Symbols
[edit] Flags
All Nordic countries, including the autonomous territories of Faroe and Åland Islands, have a similar flag design, all based on the Dannebrog, the Danish flag. They display an off-center cross with the intersection closer to the hoist, the "Nordic cross".
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| Denmark | Faroe Islands | Finland | Iceland | Norway | Sweden | Åland |
Greenland and the Sami people have adopted flags without the Nordic cross, but they feature a circle which is placed off-center like the cross.
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| Greenland | The Sami People |
[edit] Areas with close relations to the Nordic countries
Several areas have a long and close relationship with and often identify with some or all of the Nordic countries. These are however for the most part not regarded as part of the Nordic group themselves.
[edit] Shetland and Orkney
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| Shetland | Orkney |
The Northern Isles of Scotland - Orkney and Shetland - have a long-established Nordic identity. The islands were Norwegian colonies for more than 500 years, but ownership defaulted to the crown of Scotland in 1472 following non-payment of the marriage dowry of Margaret of Denmark and Norway, queen of James III of Scotland.
During World War II Shetland and Orkney were important bases for the Norwegian armed forces in exile. The Shetland Bus was based in Shetland and smuggled refugees, agents and supplies to and from Norway.
In later years financial relations, particularly in the maritime industries, have been important. Cultural and sporting exchanges are frequent. A genetic survey showed that 60% of the male population of Shetland and Orkney had Norwegian genes.[citation needed]
The traditional links to Scandinavia are reflected in the islands' flags, both of which are based around a Nordic cross:
Other regions of the British Isles have adopted symbols to allude to a similar Norse or Norse-Gaelic heritage.
[edit] Estonia
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Since regaining its independence in 1991, Estonia has shown signs of interests in identifying itself with the Nordic Countries due to its linguistic, cultural and historical ties with Finland, Sweden and Denmark. The Estonian language is closely related to the Finnish language and Estonians, as an ethnic group, are Finnic people. Estonia was part of the Danish and Swedish empires for many centuries: it is generally thought that the name of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, derives from the Estonian taani linn, meaning 'Danish town.' Historically, large parts of Estonia’s north-western coast and islands have been populated by an indigenous ethnically Swedish population called "rannarootslased" ("coastal Swedes"). The majority of Estonia's Swedish population fled to Sweden in 1944, escaping the advancing Soviet Army. Only about a thousand Swedes were left. Nowadays, there is also a great deal of economic interdependence between Estonia and some Nordic states: three quarters of investments into Estonia come from Nordic states (principally Finland and Sweden), to which Estonia sends 58% of its exports. On the other hand, the Estonian political system makes it rather different from the other Nordic states, and from many other European countries.
In 1999, Estonian Foreign Minister Toomas Hendrik Ilves (the president since 2006) gave a speech entitled "Estonia as a Nordic Country" to the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. In 2003, the foreign ministry also hosted an exhibit called "Estonia: Nordic with a Twist." In 2005, Estonia also joined the European Union's Nordic Battle Group and shows interest in joining the Nordic Council.
[edit] Others
The North of England, particularly the North East was once part of the Danish Viking Empire, and the modern Geordie dialect spoken in Newcastle-upon-Tyne shares some similarity to the modern Germanic languages of the Nordic countries, and it is often said that tourists from the Nordic countries find Geordie easier to understand than Standard English. The region and its culture does not have a Nordic character however.
Finally, the northernmost part of Germany, Schleswig on the Jutland peninsula, had a Nordic identity up until its transfer to Germany in the mid 19th century and its subsequent Germanization. Today, the Nordic character of Schleswig's society and its inhabitants is not very pronounced.
[edit] See also
- Baltic countries
- Baltic region
- Nordic Cross
- Northern Dimension
- Northern Europe
- Scandinavia
- Subdivisions of the Nordic countries
- Thule
- West Nordic Council
[edit] References
- ^ Scandinavia. MSN Encarta. Retrieved on August 22, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Nordic Council - Official Website for co-operation in the Nordic region
- Nordregio - Official Website established by the Nordic Council of Ministers
- NordRegio Statistics - A collection of thematic maps of Nordic and Baltic countries by NordRegio
- Go Scandinavia - Official Website of the Scandinavian Tourist Boards in North America
- Scandinavia House - The Nordic Center in New York, run by the American-Scandinavian Foundation
