The rising level of water against land and slowly receding over several years causes erosion resulting in the formation of a Peninsula. Apart from these, land masses often get surrounded by the water on just a few sides by melting glaciers and increasing tropical storms, causing a rise in sea levels.
When were the Scandinavian Peninsula countries formed?
The Scandinavian Peninsula countries have existed as distinct nations for close to 1,000 years, but the boundaries between them were only formalized later on. The Norwegian and Swedish boundaries were defined in 1751, and the Swedish-Finnish border was marked in 1809 after intense negotiations.
What are the main landforms on the Scandinavian Peninsula?
The Scandinavian Peninsula is dominated mainly by mountain masses that slope towards the Baltic Sea. Glittertinden was previously the highest elevation on the peninsula at 2,470 m above sea level. However, the summit's partial glacier melting reduced its height by 5 m, making it the region's second-highest elevation.
How long is the Scandinavian Peninsula?
Scandinavian Peninsula. It is about 1,150 mi (1,850 km) long and extends southward from the Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea (east), Kattegat and Skagerrak (south), and the Norwegian and North seas (west). The peninsula (area 289,500 sq mi [750,000 sq km]) essentially consists of a mountainous mass,...
What is the Scandinavian peninsula known for?
The Scandinavian Peninsula is one of the most fascinating places in the world. It has a fascinating past, a unique present, and an optimistic future. The Scandinavian Peninsula, in Northern Europe, is home to the countries of Norway, Sweden, and part of Finland.
How did Scandinavia form?
During a period of Christianization and state formation in the 10th–13th centuries, numerous Germanic petty kingdoms and chiefdoms were unified into three kingdoms: Denmark, forged from the Lands of Denmark (including Jutland, Zealand and Scania (Skåneland) on the Scandinavian Peninsula)
What makes up Scandinavian Peninsula?
The Scandinavian Peninsula is made up of Sweden and Norway. The peninsular is about 1,150 mi (1,850 km) long and extends southward from the Barents Sea in the north, the Norwegian sea to the west and the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic Sea to the east.
Where did the Scandinavians originally come from?
They first settled on the flat expanses of Denmark and in the south of Sweden. Other parts of Europe were already populated at this time. The first-known Scandinavian was the Koelbjerg Man, dated to around 8,000 BC. His body was recovered from a bog in Koelbjerg, Denmark, just outside of Odense.
What type of landform is Scandinavian Peninsula?
The peninsula (area 289,500 sq mi [750,000 sq km]) essentially consists of a mountainous mass, much of which is part of the ancient Baltic Shield, parts of which were affected by glaciation during the Pleistocene Epoch (i.e., about 2,600,000 to 11,700 years ago).
Why does the Scandinavian Peninsula have thousands of lakes?
Its western coastline is indented with deep inlets known as the Norwegian fjords, which are backed by high mountainous terrain, while the eastern side of the peninsula is lower and flatter. Much of the east is forested, and there are many lakes, formed when the glaciers melted at the end of the Ice Age.
Why is Norway shaped like that?
Most of the borders fall on mountain ranges or rivers, so that's not very surprising, but that doesn't really tell you why the country is shaped like that. The Norway-Russian border up north, which makes Norway extend out like that, was first delineated back in the 1300s between then Novogorod and Norway.
Who were the ancestors of the Scandinavians?
Modern North Germanic ethnic groups are the Danes, Faroese people, Icelanders, Norwegians and Swedes. These ethnic groups are often referred to as Scandinavians. Although North Germanic, Icelanders and the Faroese, and even the Danes, are sometimes not included as Scandinavians.
Who were the first inhabitants of Scandinavia?
In recent years there have been archaeological finds in caves which strongly suggest human inhabitation of Scandinavia before the Weichsel glaciation, at least 50,000 years ago, presumably by Neanderthals.
Why are Scandinavians so skinny?
Because it's a social dish people pick at it slowly and often only eat until they're full – rather than stuffing down an entire meal just because it's sitting in front of them. This means that they tend to consume fewer calories and fat over the course of a day.
Why is Scandinavia a peninsula?
During the Ice Age, the Scandinavian Peninsula was joined directly by land due to the significant drop in the Atlantic Ocean's sea level, which caused the surrounding water bodies to disappear.
What is the Scandinavian Peninsula known for?
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.
What makes a peninsula?
A peninsula is a piece of land that is almost entirely surrounded by water but is connected to the mainland on one side. Peninsulas can be very small, sometimes only large enough for a single lighthouse, for instance.
Overview
Geology
The Scandinavian Peninsula occupies part of the Baltic Shield, a stable and large crust segment formed of very old, crystalline metamorphic rocks. Most of the soil covering this substrate was scraped by glaciers during the Ice Ages of antiquity, especially in northern Scandinavia, where the Baltic Shield is closest to the surface of the land. As a consequence of this scouring, the elevation of the land and the cool-to-cold climate, a relatively small percentage of its land is arable.
Geography
The largest peninsula in Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula is approximately 1,850 kilometres (1,150 mi) long with a width varying approximately from 370 to 805 km (230 to 500 mi). The Scandinavian mountain range generally defines the border between Norway and Sweden. The peninsula's borders are:
• the Barents Sea to the north
People
The first recorded human presence in the southern area of the peninsula and Denmark dates from 12,000 years ago. As the ice sheets from the glaciation retreated, the climate allowed a tundra biome that attracted reindeer hunters. The climate warmed up gradually, favouring the growth of evergreen trees first and then deciduous forest which brought animals like aurochs. Groups of hunter-fisher-gatherers started to inhabit the area from the Mesolithic (8200 BC), up to the adven…
Political development
Although the Nordic countries look back on more than 1,000 years of history as distinct political entities, the international boundaries came late and emerged gradually. It was not until the middle of the 17th century that Sweden had a secure outlet on the Kattegat and control of the south Baltic coast. The Swedish and Norwegian boundaries were finally agreed and marked out in 1751. The Finnish-Norwegian border on the peninsula was established after extensive negotiation in 1809, …
See also
• Fennoscandia
Pre-Historic Age
Sami Peoples
- Since prehistoric times, the Sami people of Arctic Europe have lived and worked in an area that stretches over the northern parts of the regions now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Russian Kola Peninsula. They have inhabited the northern arctic and sub-arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 5,000 years. The Sami are counted among the Arctic people…
Viking Age
- During the Viking Age, the Vikings (Scandinavian warriors and traders) raided, colonized and explored large parts of Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa, as far west as Newfoundland. The beginning of the Viking Age is commonly given as 793, when Vikings pillaged the important British island monastery of Lindisfarne, and its end is marked by the unsuccessful invasion of England …
Middle Ages
- Union
The Kalmar Union (Danish/Norwegian/Swedish: Kalmarunionen) was a series of personal unions (1397–1520) that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden under a single monarch. The countries had given up their sovereignty but not their independence, and divergin… - Reformation
The Protestant Reformation came to Scandinavia in the 1530s, and Scandinavia soon became one of the heartlands of Lutheranism. Catholicism almost completely vanished in Scandinavia, except for a small population in Denmark.
17th Century
- Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was a conflict fought between the years 1618 and 1648, principally in the Central European territory of the Holy Roman Empire but also involving most of the major continental powers. Although it was from its outset a religious conflict between Protestants an… - Rise of Sweden and the Swedish Empire
The Swedish rise to power began under the rule of Charles IX. During the Ingrian War Sweden expanded its territories eastward. Several other wars with Poland, Denmark-Norway, and German countries enabled further Swedish expansion, although there were some setbacks such as the K…
18th Century
- Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was fought between a coalition of Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland (from 1715 also Prussia and Hanover) on one side and Sweden on the other side from 1700 to 1721. It started by a coordinated attack on Sweden by the coalition in 1700 and ended 1… - Colonialism
Both Sweden and Denmark-Norway maintained a number of colonies outside Scandinavia starting in the 17th century lasting until the 20th century. Greenland, Iceland and The Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic were Norwegian dependencies that were incorporated into the united kingdom of …
19th Century
- Napoleonic Wars
Scandinavia was divided during the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark-Norway tried to remain neutral but became involved in the conflict after British demands to turn over the navy. Britain thereafter attacked the Danish fleet at the battle of Copenhagen (1801) and bombarded the city during the … - Sweden and Norway
On 14 January 1814, at the Treaty of Kiel, the king of Denmark-Norway ceded Norway to the king of Sweden. The terms of the treaty provoked widespread opposition in Norway. The Norwegian vice-roy and heir to the throne of Denmark-Norway, Christian Frederik took the lead in a national …
20th Century
- First World War
All three Scandinavian countries remained neutral throughout the First World War. The war did have a significant impact on the economy of the area, primarily as a result of the British blockade of Germany. However, they were able to work around that with trade agreement with Britain. Nor… - Development of the welfare state
All three countries developed social welfare states in the early to mid-20th century. This came about partially because of the domination of the social-democrats in Sweden and Denmark, and the Labour party in Norway.
See Also
Further Reading
- Arnold, Martin. The Vikings: culture and conquest(Hambledon Press, 2006)
- Bagge, Sverre. Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms From the Vikings to the Reformation(Princeton University Press; 2014) 325 pages;
- Bain, R. Nisbet. Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900 (2014) online
- Arnold, Martin. The Vikings: culture and conquest(Hambledon Press, 2006)
- Bagge, Sverre. Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms From the Vikings to the Reformation(Princeton University Press; 2014) 325 pages;
- Bain, R. Nisbet. Scandinavia: A Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900 (2014) online
- Barton, H. Arnold. Scandinavia in the Revolutionary Era 1760–1815, University of Minnesota Press, 1986. ISBN 0-8166-1392-3.
