Name: スカンジナビアはどこにあるの？ (Where is Scandinavia?)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T10:19:36.000Z
Duration: 3 min 48 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

Look at this Arctic wonderland -- fjords, saunas, fjords, lutefisk, blondes, vikings,

blond vikings?, fjords, Ikea, babies in government issued boxes, Santa, death metal, and fjords.

But like, where exactly are the borders of Scandinavia -- because not off of this stuff

Scandinavia is just three countries exactly: Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Three kingdoms to be more precise, all of which are on the Scandinavian peninsula -- well,

The three countries on this peninsula can be collectively called Fennoscandia -- but

if you do everyone will look at you weird because no one except the nerdiest of geography

So, Scandinavia is a term that's one part geography, one part history, and one part

linguistics -- which is why people will argue about who exactly is included.

Finland is normally excluded because she used to be considered one of the Baltic sisters

And Denmark, though on the other side of the sea is included because of her relationship

They've had something like 15 to 21 wars between them depending on how you want to count it.

And it's complicated-er because they mostly fought over Norway.

Anyway, when outsiders say Scandinavia they probably mean The Nordic Countries.

That's these three *plus* Finland *and* Iceland.

Though you can hardly blame people for confusion when organizations like the American Scandinavia

And all the Nordic Countries sometimes advertise abroad under the banner of Scandinavia anyway.

This is the 'Holland' approach to international relations: if there is a fun name that everyone

likes and keeps using wrongly, just go with it.

The Nordic countries get along well enough that they've made an official union: The Nordic

Council, a Viking cool kids club, that other Northern European places occasionally unrealistically

Though the Baltic sisters do get to sit with them, but not actually vote on anything.

The Nordic Council is largely a collection of committees that tries to get its members

to cooperate on common problems like the Arctic environment and social welfare, and business

And also finds time to make a surprisingly long and hilariously specific list rules for

Including a 'respect distance' the sovereignty of which must not be violated.

But the biggest deal of the Nordic Council is that citizens of these five countries get

(Which, if you've seen the EU video -- adds yet another semi-overlapping bubble of complexity

The immigration rule, however, doesn't apply to Icelandic horses which are

Banished from returning to Iceland should they ever leave.

Now, it wouldn't be a political union in Europe without some special territorial weirdness

- Aland: an autonomous region of Finland, that speaks Swedish.

- And The Faeroe Islands and Greenland, both countries in the Kingdom of Denmark.

Greenland is really the odd girl out in the Nordic club, given that she's in the wrong

hemisphere and that Greenlanders aren't historically or linguistically related to Nords.

Also, her flag ruins the otherwise consistent design motif.

But she's part of Denmark because Vikings.

Lastly there's Svalbard, an unincorporated territory of Norway, that must be mentioned

because it has prepared for the apocalypse with a seed bank of every plant to rebuild

all of agriculture should it be necessary.

So that's that -- next time you say Scandinavia, and you're not 100% sure who that includes,

just say the The Nordic Countries instead.

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