The name of the peninsula is derived from the termScandinavia, the cultural region ofDenmark, Norway and Sweden. That cultural name is in turn derived from the name ofScania, the region at the southern extremity of the peninsula which was for centuries a part of Denmark, which was the ancestral home of theDanes, and is now part of Sweden.[2][3][4]
During theIce Ages, the sea level of theAtlantic Ocean dropped so much that theBaltic Sea, theGulf of Bothnia and theGulf of Finland disappeared, and the countries now surrounding them, including Germany, Poland, the other Baltic countries and Scandinavia, were directly joined by land. In the modern era, the peninsula has been secluded from much of Europe with its land connection as far north as theArctic Circle. Locals of the region, and historicGermanic philology, view it as a separate entity not a part ofMainland Europe, which they refer to as "the Continent".[5]
Scandinavian Peninsula in relation to the largerFennoscandia
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). TheScandinavian mountain range generally defines the border between Norway and Sweden.
Its highest elevation wasGlittertinden in Norway at 2,470 m (8,104 ft) above sea level, but since the glacier at its summit partially melted,[6] the highest elevation is at 2,469 m (8,100 ft) atGaldhøpiggen, also in Norway. These mountains also have the largestglacier on the mainland of Europe,Jostedalsbreen.
About one quarter of the Scandinavian Peninsula lies north of theArctic Circle, its northernmost point being atCape Nordkyn,Norway.
The climate across Scandinavia varies from tundra (Köppen: ET) and subarctic (Dfc) in the north, with cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) in northwestern coastal areas reaching just north ofLofoten, to humid continental (Dfb) in the central portion and marine west coast (Cfb) in the south and southwest.[7]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 theNorth Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
Much of the population of the Scandinavian Peninsula is naturally concentrated in its southern part, which is also itsagricultural region. The largest cities of the peninsula areStockholm, Sweden;Oslo, Norway;Gothenburg, Sweden;Malmö, Sweden andBergen, Norway, in that order.
The Scandinavian Peninsula occupies part of theBaltic Shield, a stable and large crust segment formed of very old,crystallinemetamorphic rocks. Most of the soil covering this substrate was scraped by glaciers during theIce Ages of antiquity,especially in northern Scandinavia, where the Baltic Shield is closest to the surface of the land.[citation needed] As a consequence of this scouring, theelevation of the land, and the cool-to-coldclimate, a relatively small percentage of its land isarable.[8]
Theglaciation during the Ice Ages also deepened many of the river valleys, which were invaded by the sea when the ice melted, creating the noteworthyfjords of Norway. In the southern part of the peninsula, the glaciers deposited vast numbers ofterminal moraines, configuring a very chaotic landscape.[9] These terminal moraines covered all of what is now Denmark.
Although the Baltic Shield is mostlygeologically stable and hence resistant to the influences of other neighbouring tectonic formations, the weight of nearly four kilometres of ice during the Ice Ages caused all of the Scandinavian terrain to sink. When the ice sheet disappeared, the shield rose again, a tendency that continues to this day at a rate of about one metre per century.[9] Conversely, the southern part has tended to sink to compensate, causing flooding of theLow Countries and Denmark.
The crystalline substrate of the land and absence of soil in many places have exposed mineral deposits of metalores, such as those ofiron,copper,nickel,zinc,silver andgold. The very most valuable of these have been the deposits ofiron ore in northwestern Sweden. In the 19th century these deposits prompted the building of arailway from northwestern Sweden to the Norwegianseaport ofNarvik so that the iron ore could be exported by ship to places like southern Sweden, Germany, Great Britain and Belgium for smelting into iron and steel. This railway is in a region of Norway and Sweden that otherwise does not have any railways because of the very rugged terrain, mountains andfjords of that part of Scandinavia.
The first recorded human presence in the southern area of the peninsula and Denmark dates from 12,000 years ago.[10] As the ice sheets from the glaciation retreated, the climate allowed atundrabiome that attractedreindeer hunters. The climate warmed up gradually, favouring the growth ofevergreen trees first and thendeciduous forest which brought animals likeaurochs. Groups of hunter-fisher-gatherers started to inhabit the area from theMesolithic (8200 BC), up to the advent of agriculture in theNeolithic (3200 BC).
The northern and central part of the peninsula is partially inhabited by theSami, who began to arrive several thousand years after the Scandinavian Peninsula had already been inhabited in the south. In the earliest recorded periods they occupied thearctic andsubarctic regions as well as the central part of the peninsula as far south asDalarna, Sweden. They speak theSami language, a non-Indo-European language of theUralic family which is related toFinnish andEstonian. The first inhabitants of the peninsula were the Norwegians[when?] on the west coast of Norway, the Danes in what is now southern and western Sweden and southeastern Norway, theSvear in the region aroundMälaren as well as a large portion of the present day eastern seacoast of Sweden and theGeats inVästergötland andÖstergötland. These peoples spoke closely relateddialects of an Indo-European language,Old Norse. Although political boundaries have shifted, descendants of these peoples still are the dominant populations in the peninsula in the early 21st century.[11]
Although theNordic 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 theKattegat 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, and the common Norwegian-Russian districts were not partitioned until 1826. Even then the borders were still fluid, with Finland gaining access to theBarents Sea in 1920, but ceding this territory to theSoviet Union in 1944.[12]
Denmark, Sweden and theRussian Empire dominated thepolitical relationships on the Scandinavian Peninsula for centuries, withIceland, Finland and Norway only gaining their full independence during the 20th century. The Kingdom ofNorway – long held inpersonal union byDenmark – fell toSweden after theNapoleonic Wars and only attained full independence in 1905. Having been an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire since 1809, Finland declared independence during the Soviet revolution of Russia in 1917. Iceland declared its independence from Denmark in 1944, while Denmark was under the occupation ofNazi Germany. Iceland was encouraged to do this by the British and American armed forces that were defending Iceland from Nazi invasion.
TheWehrmacht invaded Norway in 1940 and the German Army occupied all of Norway until May 1945. With the acquiescence of theKingdom of Sweden, German troops moved from northern Norway, across northern Sweden, into Finland, which had become an ally of Nazi Germany. Then, in the spring of 1941, the German Army and theFinnish Army invaded the Soviet Union together. The Republic of Finland had a grievance against the Soviet Union because theRed Army had invaded southeastern Finland in theWinter War (1939–40) and had taken a large area of territory away from Finland.
In 1945, Norway, Denmark and Iceland were founding members of theUnited Nations. Sweden joined the U.N. soon after. Finland joined during the 1950s. The firstSecretary General of the United Nations,Trygve Lie, was a Norwegian citizen. The second Secretary General of the United Nations,Dag Hammarskjöld, was a Swedish citizen. Thus the people of the Scandinavian Peninsula had a strong influence in international affairs during the 20th century.
In 1949, Norway, Denmark and Iceland became founding members of theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organisation for their defence against East Germany, the Soviet Union and all other potential invaders. Finland later joined NATO in 2023, and Sweden in 2024, in response to the 2022Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13][14]
Sweden and Finland joined theEuropean Union in 1995. Norway, however, remains outside the Union.
^Helle, Knut (2003). "Introduction".The Cambridge History of Scandinavia. Ed. E. I. Kouri et al. Cambridge University Press, 2003.ISBN0-521-47299-7. p. XXII. "The name Scandinavia was used by classical authors in the first centuries of the Christian era to identify Skåne and the mainland further north which they believed to be an island."
^Olwig, Kenneth R. "Introduction: The Nature of Cultural Heritage, and the Culture of Natural Heritage—Northern Perspectives on a Contested Patrimony".International Journal of Heritage Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2005, p. 3: The very name 'Scandinavia' is of cultural origin, since it derives from the Scanians or Scandians (the Latinized spelling of "Skåninger"), a people who long ago lent their name to all of Scandinavia, perhaps because they lived centrally, at the southern tip of the peninsula."
^Østergård, Uffe (1997). "The Geopolitics of Nordic Identity – From Composite States to Nation States".The Cultural Construction of Norden. Øystein Sørensen and Bo Stråth (eds.), Oslo: Scandinavian University Press 1997, 25–71.
^Hobbs, Joseph J. and Salter, Christopher L.Essentials Of World Regional Geography, p. 108.Thomson Brooks/Cole.2005.ISBN0-534-46600-1
^abOstergren, Robert C., Rice, John G.The Europeans. Guilford Press. 2004.ISBN0-89862-272-7
^Tilley, Christopher Y.Ethnography of the Neolithic: Early Prehistoric Societies in Southern Scandinavia, p. 9, Cambridge University Press. 2003.ISBN0-521-56821-8
^Sawyer, Bridget and Peter (1993).Medieval Scandinavia: from conversion to Reformation, circa 800–1500. University of Minnesota Press.ISBN0-8166-1738-4.
^Sømme, Axel, ed. (1961).The Geography of Norden. Oslo: Den Norske nasjonalkommittee for geographi.
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