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Scandinavian countries

Scandinavia
Scandinavia.svg
Area 928,057 km2 (358,325 sq mi)
Population ~21 million (2016)
Pop. density 22/km2 (57/sq mi)
Demonym Scandinavian
Countries  Denmark
 Norway
 Sweden
Sometimes also:
 Finland
 Iceland
 Faroe Islands
 Åland Islands
Languages

Minority or regional languages:

Time zones UTC+1
UTC+2 (DST)
Internet TLD

Minority or regional languages:

Scandinavia/ˌskændˈnviə/ is a historical and cultural region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethnocultural North Germanic heritage and mutually intelligible North Germanic languages.

The term Scandinavia always includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are usually not seen as a part of Scandinavia, nor is Greenland, an overseas territory of Denmark. However, the Faroe Islands, also a Danish overseas territory, are sometimes included, as sometimes are Iceland, Finland and the Finnish autonomous region of the Åland Islands, because of their historical association with the Scandinavian countries and the Scandinavian peoples and languages. This looser definition almost equates to that of the Nordic countries. In Nordic languages, only Denmark, Norway and Sweden are commonly included in the definition of Scandinavia.

In English usage, Scandinavia sometimes refers to the geographical area, also known as the Scandinavian Peninsula. The name Scandinavia originally referred vaguely to the formerly Danish, now Swedish, region Scania. The terms Scandinavia and Scandinavian entered usage in the late 18th century as terms for Denmark, Norway and Sweden, their Germanic majority peoples and associated language and culture, the term being introduced by the early linguistic and cultural Scandinavist movement.


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Wikipedia

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