Nordic countries

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The Nordic countries
Flags of the Nordic countries

Nordic countries or The North ( Danish / Norwegian / Swedish North , Icelandic Norðurlöndin , Faroese Norðurlond , North Sami Davviriikkat ) collectively denotes the northern European countries Denmark , Finland , Iceland , Norway and Sweden including the autonomous regions of Faroe Islands , Greenland (both to Denmark) and Åland (to Finland). The Nordic countries cover almost 3.5 million km² and a good 26 million inhabitants.

The term is not necessarily congruent with Northern Europe , which, depending on the definition, includes the entire Baltic region , the north of the European part of Russia or the United Kingdom , or its northern part, Scotland . However, these countries are linguistically, culturally, politically and historically usually more closely related to other countries, which is why the Nordic countries are delimited from Northern Europe.

The majority populations of Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Åland speak North Germanic languages , while Finnish , the Sami languages and other minority languages in the north belong to the Urals language family . The Inuit in Greenland speak Kalaallisut , an Eskimo-Aleut language . The Danish-speaking southern Schleswigians , the inhabitants of the British Isles of Shetland and Orkney , whose North Germanic Norn language died out in the 18th century, and the Estonian Swedes also have linguistic and cultural connections to the north .

The Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) formed a common North Germanic cultural area since the Iron Age and were united into three larger kingdoms at the end of the Viking Age . Finland came under Swedish influence in the Middle Ages. The five modern countries have been closely linked politically and economically at least since the time of the Kalmar Union (15th century); their cooperation in the Nordic Council has been formalized since 1952 . The Nordic countries today share the Nordic model of society to a greater or lesser extent and are all among the most technically developed countries in the world.

The five Nordic countries Denmark , Finland , Iceland , Norway and Sweden have their embassy offices in Germany in a joint complex, the Nordic Embassies in Berlin. It consists of five individual buildings with a common public building, connected by a circumferential copper band. The building symbolizes the close cooperation between the Nordic countries.

Overview and international organizations

Despite their geographical proximity and often a common history, the Nordic countries show great political and linguistic diversity. At the international level, too, they are sometimes represented very differently, contrary to “ Scandinavianism ” and the goals of the Nordic Council, for example .

Nordic countries
SwedenSweden Sweden DenmarkDenmark Denmark FinlandFinland Finland NorwayNorway Norway IcelandIceland Iceland GreenlandGreenland Greenland FaroeseFaroe Islands Faroe Islands ÅlandÅland Åland
Inhabitants (in millions) 10.33 5.82 5.53 5.37 0.364 0.056 0.052 0.030
Form of government Monarchy (1523) Monarchy (10th century) Republic (1917) Monarchy (1905) Republic (1944) Autonomous. Nation (1979) Autonomous. Nation (1948) Autonomous. Prov. (1921)
Acting head of government Stefan Löfven Mette Frederiksen Sanna Marin Erna Solberg Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson (ad interim) Kim Kielsen Aksel V. Johannesen Katrin Sjogren
Official language (s),
minority (M) 		Swedish ( Ostsk. ),
M: Sami etc. 		Danish (Ostsk.),
M: German 		Finnish a . Swedish
M: Sami etc. 		Norwegian ( West Sk. ) A. Sami

M: Kven.

Icelandic (West Sk.) Greenlandic and Danish Faroese , Danish Swedish (Ostsk.)
Nordic Council Nordic Council Member since 1952 Member since 1952 Member since 1955 Member since 1952 Member since 1952 Council of Ministers since 1971 Council of Ministers since 1971 Council of Ministers since 1971
West Nordic Council since 1985 since 1985 since 1985
NATO NATO since 1949 since 1949 since 1949 over Denmark over Denmark
EFTA / EEA Member 1960–1995 Member 1960–1973 Assoc. 1961, member 1986-1995 since 1960 since 1970
European UnionEuropean Union EU since 1995 since 1973 since 1995 Ref. 1972 & 1994 against accession was an EU candidate country from summer 2010 , application for membership withdrawn on March 12, 2015 via Denmark from 1973, left 1985 1972 against accession since 1995 according to Ref.
currency SEK , Euro Ref. 2003 DKK , ERM II Euro since 1999 NOK ISK DKK DKK Euro
North. Passport union since 1954 since 1954 since 1954 since 1954 since 1954
Schengen 1996/2001 1996/2001 1996/2001 1996/2001 1996/2001

See also

Web links

Commons : Nordic countries  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Danish / Norwegian / Swedish word Norden corresponds literally to the German expression "der Norden" (the ending -en marks the specific form of the noun nord ). In addition to the designation for the direction of the compass , the word is also used in these three continental Scandinavian languages ​​as a proper name for the region described here. That is why the translation "Der Norden", which is sometimes used in German, is quite literal.
  2. ↑ Axel Sømme (Ed.): The Nordic countries. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. Westermann, Braunschweig 1967, p. 19.
  3. ↑ Axel Sømme (Ed.): The Nordic countries. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden. Westermann, Braunschweig 1967, p. 19.
  4. ^ Ewald Gläßer, Rolf Lindemann, Jörg-Friedhelm Venzke : Northern Europe. Geography, history, economics, politics . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2003, ISBN 3-534-14782-0 , p. 149.
  5. ↑ Iceland withdraws membership application , accessed on March 13, 2015