Is Finland a part of Scandinavia or not?
Nina, Amsterdam The Netherlands
- As is often the case, it depends. Geographically, Finland could be considered Scandinavian and at one time was a part of the Swedish Kingdom. Most Finns are Lutherans, as Scandinavians used to be. However, Finnish is not a Scandinavian language and Finns are ethnically distinct from Scandinavians.
Dave Null, Claremont, USA
- No. See the Guardian style guide (click on it in the same little panel, top right, that contains Notes and Queries).
John, Wellington, New Zealand
- Finland, according to some Finns I know, is not part of Scandinavia, which comprises Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Together with Iceland and Finland (and the Faroes), they together form the Nordic Countries.
Mike Overy, Berlin Germany
- No. Scandinavia is Denmark, Sweden and Norway. The area described by the adjective "Nordic" (describing an area called "Norden" in Swedish but I don't think the term is used in English) includes Finland, Estonia, the Faroe Islands and Iceland as well as Scandinavia.
Justin Steed, Stockholm Sweden
- As a Finn myself, I would say the following: geographically Finland is not a part of Scandinavia, Sweden, Norway and Denmark are. However, Finland, together with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland form the Nordic countires, known in Finnish as Pohjoismaat. Estonia is not part of those five countries.
Kristiina Bailey, Milton Keynes Great Britain
- I was taught in school in Denmark that Scandinavia consists of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.Nordic countries consists of Scandinavia, Finland, Iceland, Greenland, The Faroe Islands and Aaland. The last 3 mentioned are autonomous regions.The Nordic Council is a geo-political inter-parliamentary forum for co-operation between the Nordic countries and consists of all the members mentioned above and has Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as observing countries.This is the political definition and some could clame that due to the geographical location of Finland, it could be said to be a part of Scandinavia. After all finish language has absolutely nothing in common with the scandinavian languages. I as a dane have no problems communicating in danish with people from Norway or Sweden, but I do not understand a word of finish.Denmark, Norway, and Sweden all had vikings in the past. While the Danes and Norwegians focused on their plundering, exploring, and other business of theirs in countries westward of their homelands, the Swedes traveled eastward from Sweden into Russia, following rivers like the Dneiper into Eastern European countries and even reaching as far as Byzantium and Baghdad.
Alexander Carstens, Barcelona España
