Northern Europe

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Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the north

North

North is one of the four cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the fundamental direction:...
ern part or region

Region

Region is a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region is a medium-scale area of land or water, smaller than the whole areas of interest , and larger than a specific site A region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole ....
of Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. The United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, Social change, human rights and achieving world peace....
defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions: Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....

Nordic countries

Nordic countries

File:Location Nordic Council.svgThe Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and far northeastern North America, called the Nordic region, consisting of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories which include the Faroe Islands, Greenland and ?land....
or Nordic region include only a subset of the mentioned countries.

Before the 19th century, the term 'Nordic' or 'Northern' was commonly used to mean Northern Europe in a sense that included the Nordic countries, European Russia

European Russia

European Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 km?, and spanning across 40% of Europe....
, the Baltic countries

Baltic countries

The Baltic states , Baltic Nations or Baltic countries are three countries in Northern Europe, all European Union member state of the European Union: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania....
(at that time Livonia

Livonia

Livonia was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida Castle....
and Courland

Courland

Courland is one of the cultural and historical regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland....
).

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Encyclopedia

Northern Europe is the north

North

North is one of the four cardinal directions, specifically the direction that, in Western culture, is treated as the fundamental direction:...
ern part or region

Region

Europe

United Nations

Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....

Svalbard
Svalbard

Svalbard is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean north of mainland Europe, about midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It consists of a group of islands ranging from 74th parallel north to 81st parallel north, and 10th meridian east to 35th meridian east....
and Jan Mayen* Channel Islands
Channel Islands

The Channel Islands are a group of islands in the English Channel, off the France coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey....
: and

Nordic countries

European Russia

European Russia refers to the western areas of Russia that lie within Europe, comprising roughly 3,960,000 km?, and spanning across 40% of Europe....
, the Baltic countries

Baltic countries

Livonia

Livonia was once the land of the Finnic Livonians inhabiting the principal ancient Livonian County Metsepole with its center at Turaida Castle....
and Courland

Courland

Courland is one of the cultural and historical regions of Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland....
). The United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
are sometimes considered part of Northern Europe, but could also be included in Western Europe.

History

Historically, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region (i.e. the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
), everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, the Low Countries

Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
, and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
. This meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance

Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance is the term used to describe the Renaissance in northern Europe, or more broadly in Europe outside Italy. Before 1450 Italian Renaissance Renaissance humanism had little influence outside Italy....
. In medieval times, the term (Ultima) Thule

Thule

Thule is, in classical literature, a place, usually an island. Ancient European descriptions and maps locate it either in the far north, often Iceland, possibly the Orkney Islands or Shetland Islands or Scandinavia, or in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance Iceland or Greenland....
was used to mean a mythical place

Mythical place

A mythologyological place is a place that a particular culture describes in their mythology and folklore as existent, that might have existed in earlier times but its actual location is now lost....
in the extreme northern reaches of the continent.

Country	Area (km²)	Population List of countries by population This is a list of Country ordered according to population. The list includes list of sovereign states and inhabited dependent territories.Areas that form integral parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned.... (2008 est.)	Population density List of countries by population density This is a list of countries and dependencies ranked by human population density and measured by inhabitants/km?. The list includes sovereign states and self-governing dependent territories that are recognized by the United Nations.... (per km²)	Capital
Northern Europe Northern Europe Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:... :
Åland Åland The ?land Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. It is situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and forms an Federacy, Demilitarized zone, Monoglottism Swedish language Provinces of Finland, Regions of Finland and historical provinces of Finland of Finland.... (Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.... )	1,552	26,008	16.8	Mariehamn Mariehamn Mariehamn is the Capital of ?land, an autonomous territory under Finland sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of ?land and Parliament of ?land, and 40% of the population of ?land live in the city....
Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....	43,094	5,470,919	124.6	Copenhagen Copenhagen Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban area with a population of 1,153,615 . Copenhagen is situated on the Islands of Zealand and Amager....
Faroe Islands Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands or Faeroe Islands or simply Faroe or Faeroes are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately half way between Scotland and Iceland.... (Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries.... )	1,399	48,500	32.9	Tórshavn Tórshavn T?rshavn is the Capital and largest city of the Faroe Islands. It is located in the southern part on the east coast of Streymoy. To the north west of the town lies the high mountain H?sareyn, and to the southwest, the high Kirkjub?reyn....
Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....	45,226	1,342,409	31.3	Tallinn Tallinn Tallinn is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Estonia and of Harju County. It occupies a surface of 159.2 km? in which 397,617 inhabitants live....
Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....	336,593	5,301,992	15.3	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the Capital and largest List of cities and towns in Finland of Finland. It is in the southern part of Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, by the Baltic Sea....
Guernsey Guernsey The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Isles Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.As well as the island of Guernsey itself, it also includes Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Brecqhou, Burhou, Lihou and other islets....	78	65,573	828.0	St Peter Port St Peter Port St. Peter Port is the Capital of Guernsey, as well as the main port of the island. Population was 16,488 in 2001. In Dg?rn?siais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port....
Iceland Iceland Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....	103,000	316,252	3.1	Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital and largest city of Iceland. Its latitude at 64?08' N makes it the world's most northern national capital city. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxafl?i Bay....
Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....	70,280	4,339,000	60.3	Dublin Dublin Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Republic of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region....
Isle of Man Isle of Man The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....	572	80,058	129.1	Douglas Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas is the Capital and largest town of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,218 people . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, and a sweeping bay of two miles....
Jersey Jersey The Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes the nearly uninhabited islands of the Minquiers, ?cr?hous, the Pierres de Lecq and other rocks and reefs....	116	95,871	773.9	Saint Helier Saint Helier Saint Helier is one of the twelve Parishes of Jersey of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the Capital of the Island ....
Latvia Latvia Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....	64,589	2,366,515	36.6	Riga Riga Riga the Capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the river Daugava River. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states....
Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest....	65,200	3,601,138	55.2	Vilnius Vilnius Vilnius is the largest city and the Capital of Lithuania, with a population of 555,613 as of 2008. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality....
Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....	324,220	4,725,116	14.0	Oslo Oslo is the Capital and largest List of cities in Norway in Norway.Metropolitan Oslo or the Greater Oslo Region makes up the third largest urban area in Scandinavia after Metropolitan Stockholm and Metropolitan Copenhagen....
Mayen Islands (Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula.... )	62,049	2,868	0.046	Longyearbyen Longyearbyen Longyearbyen is the largest settlement and the administrative centre of Svalbard. It is located on the western coast of Spitsbergen, the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago, on the southern side on Adventfjorden , which continues inland with Adventdalen ....
Sweden Sweden Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....	449,964	9,142,817	19.7	Stockholm Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden. It is the site of the national Swedish Government of Sweden, the Parliament of Sweden, and the official residence of the Swedish Monarchy of Sweden....
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....	244,820	60,587,300	246.0	London London London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....

Geography

Northern Europe consists of the Scandinavian peninsula

Scandinavian Peninsula

The Scandinavian Peninsula is a geographic region in northern Europe, consisting of Norway and Sweden. The name Scandinavian is etymology Scania, a region at the southernmost extremity of the peninsula....
, the peninsula of Jutland

Jutland

File:Jutland peninsula 2.pngJutland , historically also called Cimbria, is a peninsula in Europe. Jutland forms the mainland part of Denmark as well as the northernmost part of Germany....
, the Baltic

Baltic

Baltic may refer to:...
plain that lies to the east and the many islands that lie offshore from mainland northern Europe, Greenland and the main European continent. The area is defined by the volcanic islands of the far northwest, notably Iceland

Iceland

Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland , is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland....
and Jan Mayen, the mountainous western seaboard, extending from the mountainous sections of the Britain and Ireland to the Scandinavian mountains

Scandinavian Mountains

The Scandinavian Mountains, in Swedish language Skanderna, Fj?llen or K?len, and in Norwegian language Kj?len, with the two latter meaning the Keel, are a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, the central north mountains and hills of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic countries on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the ?resund Bridge in the south....
(which are the foothills of the Scandinavian mountains) and the large eastern plain, which contains, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest....
, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia The Latvians are a Baltic peoples culturally related to the Estonians and Lithuanians, with the Latvian language having many similarities with Lithuanian language, but not with the Estonian language....
, Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
and Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland , is a Nordic countries situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland....
. The region has a south west extreme of just under 50 degrees north

50th parallel north

The 50th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 50 degree true north of the Earth equator.Starting at the Prime Meridian and heading eastwards, the parallel 50? north passes through:...
and a northern extreme of 81 degrees north

81st parallel north

The 81st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 81 degree true north of the Earth equator.It is situated almost entirely within the Arctic Ocean, passing through a few islands....
. The entire region's climate is affected by the Gulf stream

Gulf Stream

The Gulf Stream, together with its northern extension towards Europe, the North Atlantic Current, is a powerful, warm, and swift Atlantic Ocean ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico, exits through the Straits of Florida, and follows the eastern coastlines of the United States and Newfoundland and Labrador before crossing the At...
which has a mild influence on the climate. From the west climates vary from maritime

Maritime

Maritime may refer to:* Things related to the sea or oceans ,* Things related to sailing,* Things related to a mariner or sailor,* A maritime climate,...
and maritime subarctic climates. In the north and central climates are generally subarctic

Subarctic

The Subarctic is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic and covering much of Alaska, Canada and Siberia, the north of Scandinavia, northern Mongolia and the Chinese province of Heilongjiang....
or Arctic

Arctic

The Arctic is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctica region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Greenland , Russia, the United States , Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland....
and to the east climates are mostly subarctic

Subarctic

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally mild, rather than extreme hot or cold....
/ continental

Continental

Continental is the adjective form of continent. Continental may refer to:*Geography:** Continental climate, a type of climate** Continental Europe, or various terms relating to continental Europe such as continental breakfast and continental lifestyle...
. As the climate and relief varies vegetation is also extremely variable, with sparse tundra

Tundra

In physical geography, tundra is an biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes from Kildin Sami tund?r, which means "uplands, treeless mountain tract." There are two types of tundra: Arctic tundra and alpine tundra....
in the north and high mountains, boreal forest on the north-eastern and central regions temperate coniferous forests

Temperate coniferous forests

Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial ecoregion biome found in temperate regions of the world with warm summers and cool winters and adequate rainfall to sustain a forest....
(formerly of which a majority was in the Scottish highlands

Scottish Highlands

The Scottish Highlands include the rugged and mountainous regions of Scotland north and west of the Highland Boundary Fault, although the exact boundaries are not clearly defined, particularly to the east....
and south west Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
) and temperate broadleaf forests growing in the south, west and temperate east.

Clarification

In reality two main division lines in Europe between North and South, and between West and East do overlap; a prime example of such overlapping may be West Slavic countries such as Poland. Culture-wise Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian Enclave and exclave, to the north....
belongs to all three: Northern Europe, Western Europe (Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
-based alphabet, dominant near-autonomous form of Roman Catholicism), and Eastern Europe (Slavic

Slavic

Slavic and Slavonic are used interchangeably in English, with the former preferred in U.S. English, and the latter in UK English. The Oxford English Dictionary gives citations of Slavonic back to the mid-17th century, whereas it seems that Slavic only appeared in the 19th century....
ethnicity; Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth). Moreover, one might argue that the cultures of the Poland--Lithuania and the Scandinavian or Swedish Empire

Swedish Empire

Sweden was, between 1611 and 1718, one of the great powers of Europe. In modern historiography this period is known as the Swedish Empire, or stormaktstiden ....
form one continuum

Continuum

Continuum can refer to:* Continuum , anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition, to a different condition, without any abrupt changes or "discontinuities"....
of traditionally progressive

Progressive

Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:...
cultures (continuum that accidentally is underscored by similar physical characteristics: 80% Poles and 60% Swedes belong to the same type-group: Polish anthropology does not recognize races, but about 30 different types. Northern Wars

Northern Wars

The Northern Wars is a name sometimes used for the series of conflicts between Sweden and its adversaries Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth , Russia , Prussia , the Holy Roman Empire and Denmark-Norway ....
brought to an end the Scandinavian Empire, and finished off the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth already weakened by the Ukrainian Revolution

Ukrainian Revolution

Ukrainian Revolution may refer to:* Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648* Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, see also:** Russian Revolution of 1905...
, but brought crepe

Crêpe

A cr?pe is a type of very thin, cooked pancake usually made from wheat flour. The word, like the pancake itself, is of France origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning "curled." While cr?pes originate from Brittany, a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is nowadays widespread in France and it is considered...
s and filled crepes to Poland).