Nordic countries Facts for Kids

Satellite map of the Nordic countries.

Nordic countries are a group of countries in Northern Europe. These countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, and the territories of the Aland Islands and the Faroe Islands. Though often confused as such, Scandinavia is not equivalent to the Nordic countries. Scandinavia is a peninsula while the Nordic countries are recognized states. Sweden and Norway (and a small part of Finland) rest on the Scandinavian peninsula. Scandinavia and Finland together belong to a larger peninsula, Fennoscandia. Finns speak a non-Germanic language.

Nordic countries have similar state, law and culture. Historically, Nordic countries have maintained close connections. Nordic countries are primarily socialist democracies. Nordic countries have some political co-operation, such as the Nordic council. Cooperation with a larger group, the European Union, makes the Nordic cooperation even smaller.

Nordic countries have long, cold winters with warm days in the summer, but only a small part of Northern Norway and approximately half of Iceland is arctic.

Of late, many Nordic countries have been facing issues with immigration, mainly Sweden. Their relaxed immigration policy has allowed many Middle Easterners to seek refuge from their war-torn countries there.

Images for kids

Nordic flags
Effigy of Queen Margaret, founder and ruler of the Kalmar Union
Nordic prime ministers at the Nordic Council meeting in 2014 in Stockholm
The Öresund Bridge between Malmö in Sweden and Copenhagen in Denmark
Share of total area in the Nordic countries in 2012
Average temperatures in the capitals of the Nordic countries in 2012
Copenhagen Central Station with S-Trains
Statfjord oil platform in Norway is owned and operated by Equinor, which is the largest company in the Nordic countries
The Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the Nordic countries.
During the recent years, Denmark has invested heavily in windfarms
Population density map of the Nordic countries (1996)
Historical reenactment of a farmer wedding in Jomala, Åland
Sami man at Honningsvåg, Norway, wearing the traditional Gákti
Faroese folk dancers in national costumes
ABBA is one of the best-selling music artists of all time
Søren Kierkegaard is considered to be the first existentialist philosopher
Swedish author Astrid Lindgren together with Finnish author Tove Jansson in Stockholm in 1958
Flag of Åland
The Barents Region
A satellite photograph of Northern Europe
The Finnic languages in Northern Europe
The Sami languages in Northern Europe
Share of total population of the Nordic countries by country in January 2013
Life expectancy at birth in the Nordic countries in 2012
Marriages and divorces in the Nordic countries in 2012
Immigrants in the Nordic countries in 2012

Nordic countries facts for kids

Images for kids

See also