The Scandinavian Peninsula is in northeastern Europe, consisting principally of the mainland territories of Norway and Sweden. The name Scandinavian is derived from Scania, a region at the southernmost extremity of the peninsula. A small section of northwestern Finland is also on the peninsula and on its isthmus. The peninsula extends from Russia and Finland in the northeast toward Denmark and Germany to the south and southwest. Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... The Scandinavian Mountains, in Swedish Skanderna, Fjällen (The Mountains) or Kölen and in Norwegian Kjølen, with the two latter meaning the Keel, are a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... The Varangians (Russian: Variags, Варяги) were Scandinavians who travelled eastwards, mainly from Jutland and Sweden. ... The term Viking is used to denote the ship-borne explorers, traders and warriors who originated in Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden and raided the coasts of the British Isles and other parts of Europe from the late 8th century to the 11th century. ... A thing or ting (Old Norse and Icelandic: þing; other modern Scandinavian: ting) was the governing assembly in Germanic societies, made up of the free men of the community and presided by lawspeakers. ... The Kalmar Union flag. ... The Kingdom of Denmark-Norway, consisting of Denmark and Norway, including Norways possessions Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, is a term used for the two united kingdoms after their amalgamation as one state in 1536. ... The Union between Sweden and Norway refers to the kingdoms of Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union, following the Convention of Moss, on August 14, and the Norwegian constitutional revision of November 4. ... The Scandinavian Monetary Union (Swedish: Skandinaviska myntunionen, Danish: Skandinaviske møntunion) was a monetary union formed by Sweden and Denmark on May 5, 1873 by fixing their currencies against gold at par to each other. ... A Scandinavian defense union that would include Sweden, Norway and Denmark was planned between the three countries after World War II. Denmark and Norway had been occupied by Germany between 1940 and 1945, while Sweden, having escaped the horrors of occupation it had, still felt the effects of the war. ... The history of Scandinavia is the common history of the Scandinavian countries— Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... The Royal League logo The Royal League is an annual Scandinavian football tournament, starting after the end of the regular domestic seasons of Norway and Sweden. ... Peninsula A peninsula (from Latin paene insula, almost island) is a geographical formation consisting of an extension of land from a larger body, surrounded by water on three sides. ... Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiographic one, leading to various perspectives about Europes borders. ... This article is about the geomorphological/geopolitical term; MAINLAND is also a cheese brand owned by Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy company. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ... // Placename Origins By Continent Africa The ancient Romans used the name Africa terra --- land of the Afri (plural, or Afer singular) --- for the northern part of the continent, corresponding to modern-day Tunisia. ... Scania (Skåne) is the southernmost historical Province (landskap) of Sweden. ... The Isthmus of Panama connects North and South America. ...

Geography

Scandinavian Peninsula in relation to the larger Fennoscandia

The Scandinavian peninsula is approximately 1,850 kilometers (1,150 miles) long and between approximately 370–805 km (230-500 mi) wide. It has an overall area of approximately 777,000 sq km (300,000 sq mi). Download high resolution version (612x668, 31 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (612x668, 31 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...

The Scandinavian mountain range generally defines the borders between the three countries, although it also continues into the central parts of southern Norway. The peninsula is bordered by several bodies of water including: The Scandinavian Mountains, or Skanderna, Kölen or Fjällen, are a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. ...

• the Baltic Sea (including the Gulf of Bothnia) to the east, with the autonomous Åland islands between Sweden^[1] and Finland, and Gotland.
• the North Sea (including the Kattegat and Skagerrak) to the west and southwest
• the Norwegian Sea to the west
• the Barents Sea to the north

Its highest elevation was Glittertinden in Norway at 2,470 m (8,104 ft) above sea level, but since the glacier at its summit partially melted ^{[citation needed]}, the highest elevation is at 2,469 m (8,101 ft) at Galdhøpiggen, also in Norway. These mountains also house the largest glacier on mainland Europe, in Jostedalsbreen. About one quarter of the peninsula lies north of the Arctic Circle, with the northernmost point at Cape Nordkyn. The climate across the peninsula varies from tundra (Köppen: ET) and subarctic (Dfc) in the north, with cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) in northwestern coastal areas reaching just north of Lofoten, to humid continental (Dfb) in the central portion, and to marine west coast (Cfb) in the south and southwest ^[2]. The region is rich in timber, iron and copper with the best farmland in southern Sweden. Large petroleum and natural-gas deposits have been found off Norway's coast in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. ... The Baltic Sea The Gulf of Bothnia (Fin. ... Motto: None Anthem: Ã…länningens sÃ¥ng Capital Mariehamn Largest city Mariehamn Official language(s) Swedish Government Governor Premier Autonomous Province Peter Lindbäck Roger Nordlund Autonomy 1920 Area  - Total    - Water (%)   6,784 km² (n/a) 2,619 sq mi  77. ... â–¶ (help· info) is the largest island in the Baltic Sea with a size of 2,994 km². It is also the largest island belonging to Sweden. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... The Baltic Sea The Kattegat (Danish), or Kattegatt (Swedish), is a bay of the North Sea and a continuation of the Skagerrak, bounded by Denmark and Sweden. ... The Skagerrak strait runs between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, connecting the North Sea and the Kattegat strait, which leads to the Baltic Sea. ... The Norwegian Sea (Norwegian: Norskehavet) is part of the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of Norway, located between the North Sea (i. ... Location of the Barents Sea. ... Glittertind, also known as Glittertinden is the second highest mountain in Norway, at 2464 m above sea level, including the glacier at its peak (without the glacier, it is 2452 m). ... Galdhøpiggen is the highest mountain in Norway, at 2469 m above sea level. ... Briksdalsbreen is one of the more popular parts of Jostedalsbreen Jostedalsbreen or Jostedal Glacier, is the biggest glacier in continental Europe. ... Midnight sun at the North Cape North Cape is a cape on the island of Magerøya in northern Norway, in the community of Nordkapp. ... The Köppen World Climate Map The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. ... Reine, Lofoten, seen from top of Reinebringen (June, 2003). ...

Much of the population is concentrated in the southern part of the peninsula; Stockholm and Göteborg, both in Sweden, and Oslo in Norway are the largest cities.^[3] Stockholm panorama from the City Hall is the capital of Sweden, located on the south east coast of Sweden. ... Gothenburg (Swedish: Göteborg  listen? ) is a city and a municipality on the western coast of Sweden, in the County of Västra Götaland. ... County Oslo NO-03 District Viken Municipality NO-0301 Administrative centre Oslo Mayor (2004) Per Ditlev-Simonsen (H) Official language form Neutral Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 224 454 km² 426 km² 0. ...

Geology

Scandinavian Peninsula

The Scandinavian peninsula occupies part of the Baltic Shield, a stable and large crust segment formed of very old, metamorphic crystalline rocks. Most of the soil covering this substrate was scraped by glaciers during continental glaciation, specially in the northern part, where the shield is nearest the surface. As a cosequence of this scouring, the elevation and the climate, a very small percentage of land is arable (3% in Norway)^[4]. The glaciers also deepened river valleys, which were invaded by the sea when the ice melted, creating the famous fjords. In the south the glaciers deposited many sedimental deposits, configuring a very chaotic landscape.^[5] Ive reverted the cropping, so as to again show the entire land mass. ... Ive reverted the cropping, so as to again show the entire land mass. ... The Baltic Shield (or Fennoscandian Shield) is a segment of the Earths crust belonging to the East European Craton, representing a large part of Fennoscandia, northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea. ... A glaciation (a created composite term meaning Glacial Period, referring to the Period or Era of, as well as the process of High Glacial Activity), often called an ice age, is a geological phenomenon in which massive ice sheets form in the Arctic and Antarctic and advance toward the equator. ... Lysefjorden in Norway A fjord (pronounced FEE-ord or fyord, SAMPA: [fi:3:d] or [faI3:d]; sometimes written fiord) is a glacially overdeepened valley, usually narrow and steep-sided, extending below sea level and filled with salt water. ...

Altought the Baltic Shield is largely stable and resistant to the influences of other neighboring tectonic formations, the weight of nearly four kilometers of ice sheet caused the terrain to sink down. When the ice sheet disappeared, the shield tended to arose again, a tendency that continues to this day at a rate of about 1 meter per century^[5]. Conversely, the south part has tended to sink down to compensate, causing the flooding of the Low Countries and Denmark. The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries (see Country) on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse (Maas) rivers. ...

The crystalline substrate and absence of soil exposes mineral deposits of metals, like iron, copper, nickel, zinc, silver and gold.

Peoples

The first recorded human presence in the southern area of the peninsula and Denmark dates from 12,000 years ago^[6]. As the ice sheets from the glaciation retreated, the climate allowed a tundra biome that attracted reindeer hunters. The climate warmed gradually up, favoring the growth of perennial trees first, and then decidous forest which brought animals like aurochs. Groups of hunters-fishers-gatherers started to inhabit the area since the Mesolithic (8200 BC), up to the advent of agriculture in the Neolithic (3200 BC). In physical geography, tundra is an area where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... In ecology, a biome is a major regional group of distinctive plant, and animal communities best adapted to the regions physical natural environment, latitude, altitude and terrain factors. ... Binomial name Rangifer tarandus (Linnaeus, 1758) Caribou redirects here. ... Trinomial name Bos taurus namadicus (Falconer, 1859) Trinomial name Bos taurus mauretanicus (Thomas, 1881) Trinomial name Bos taurus primigenius (Bojanus, 1827) The aurochs (Bos taurus) is an extinct European mammal of the Bovidae family. ... The Mesolithic (Greek mesos=middle and lithos=stone or the Middle Stone Age) is the period between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. ... An array of Neolithic artefacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae Scotland, Europes most complete Neolithic village. ... (33rd century BC - 32nd century BC - 31st century BC - other centuries) (5th millennium BC - 4th millennium BC - 3rd millennium BC) Events Ancient Egypt: Earliest known Egyptian hieroglyphs Crete: Rise of Minoan civilization Neolithic settlement built at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands, Scotland New Stone Age people in Ireland build...

The northern part of the peninsula is partially inhabited by the Sami, often referred to as "Lapps" or "Laplanders". In the earliest recorded periods they occupied the arctic and subarctic regions as well as the central part of the peninsula as far south as Dalarna, Sweden. They speak the Sami language, a non-Indo-European language of the Finno-Ugric family, which is related to Finnish and Estonian. The other inhabitants of the peninsula, according to ninth century records, were the Norwegians on the west coast of Norway, the Danes in what is now southern and western Sweden and southeastern Norway, the Svear in the region around Mälaren as well as a large portion of the present day eastern seacoast of Sweden and the Götar in Västergötland and Östergötland. These peoples spoke closely related dialects of an Indo-European language, Old Norse. Although political boundaries have shifted, these peoples still are the dominant populations in the peninsula in the early 21st century. ^[7] Sami flag The Sami People (there are other names and spellings including Sámi, Saami and Lapp) are an indigenous people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia, covering a total area in the Nordic countries corresponding to the size of Sweden. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border The Arctic is the area around the Earths North Pole. ... The subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Canada and Siberia, the north of Scandinavia, northern Mongolia and the extreme north of Heilongjiang. ... (help· info) is a historical province or landskap in central Sweden. ... Sami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken in parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and extreme northwestern Russia, in Northern Europe. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies The Indo-European languages include some 443 (SIL estimate) languages and dialects spoken by about three billion people, including most of the major language families of Europe and western Asia, which belong to a single superfamily. ... Approximate geographical distribution of areas where indigenous Finno-Ugric languages are spoken. ... (8th century - 9th century - 10th century - other centuries) Events Beowulf might have been written down in this century, though it could also have been in the 8th century Viking attacks on Europe begin Oseberg ship burial The Magyars arrive in what is now Hungary, forcing the Serbs and Bulgars south... Suiones, Swedes, Svíar or Svear, were an ancient Germanic tribe in Scandinavia. ... Location map Mälaren details, with Stockholm urban area pink in the east. ... Geatas (Gautar in Old Norse, Götar in Swedish) is the Old English spelling of the name of the Geats, a North Germanic tribe historically associated with Götaland (land of the Geats) in modern Sweden. ... Västergötland ( ♫) is one of the historical provinces of Sweden (landskap), situated in the southwest of Sweden. ... (help· info) is a historical Province (landskap) in the south of Sweden. ... A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... Old Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). ... The 21st century is the century that began on 1 January 2001 and will last to 31 December 2100. ...

Political Development

The Scandinavian Peninsula political borders in 1888.

Although the Nordic countries (except Finland) look back on more than 1000 years of history as distinct political entities, the international boundaries came late and emerged gradually. It was not until the middle of the middle of 17th century that Sweden secured an outlet on the Kattegat and control of the south Baltic coast. The Swedish and Norwegian boundaries were finally agreed to and marked out in 1751. The Finnish and Norwegian border on the peninsula was established after extensive negotiation in 1809, and the common Norwegian-Russian districts were not partitioned until 1826. Even then the borders were still fluid, with Finland gaining access to the Barents Sea in 1920, but ceding this territory to Russia in 1944.^[8] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x809, 97 KB) Schweden und Norwegen um 1888 / Maßstab: 1:7. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x809, 97 KB) Schweden und Norwegen um 1888 / Maßstab: 1:7. ... Overview map of the region. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The Baltic Sea The Kattegat (Danish), or Kattegatt (Swedish), is a bay of the North Sea and a continuation of the Skagerrak, bounded by Denmark and Sweden. ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... 1809 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Location of the Barents Sea. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...

See also

• History of Scandinavia
• Nordic countries
• Scandinavia

The history of Scandinavia is the common history of the Scandinavian countries— Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... Overview map of the region. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe named after the Scandinavian Peninsula. ...

Scandinavia and the Baltic region Scandinavia and the Baltic Region Data from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer’s vertical-viewing (nadir) camera were combined to create this cloud-free natural-color mosaic of Scandinavia and the Baltic region. ...

Scandinavian Peninsula in winter (February 19, 2003) Download high resolution version (540x611, 127 KB)From NASAs Earth Observatory; http://earthobservatory. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

References

1. ^ Nordic FAQ Geography of Sweden
2. ^ Glossary of American climate terminology in terms of Köppens classification
3. ^ "Scandinavia." FactMonster.com. URL accessed on 2004-03-21.
4. ^ Hobbs, Joseph J. and Salter, Christopher L.Essentials Of World Regional Geography,p. 108.Thomson Brooks/Cole.2005.ISBN 0534466001
5. ^ ^a b Ostergren, Robert C., Rice, John G. The Europeans. Guilford Press. 2004.ISBN 0898622727
6. ^ Tilley, Christopher Y. Ethnography of the Neolithic: Early Prehistoric Societies in Southern Scandinavia, p. 9, Cambridge University Press. 2003. ISBN 0521568218
7. ^ Sawyer, Bridget and Peter (1993). Medieval Scandinavia. ISBN 0-9166-1739-2.
8. ^ Sømme, Axel (Ed.) (1961). The Geography of Norden. Oslo: Den Norske nasjonalkommittee for geographi. ISBN none.