Northern Europe

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Northern Europe is a term for the northern part of Europe, though its precise boundaries are vague and defined variously. It is a term that groups the Nordic countries (which are present in all definitions):

• Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, as well as Åland, the Faroe Islands, Jan Mayen and Svalbard. (Though politically and historically closely tied to Northern Europe, the Nordic territory of Greenland is nevertheless geographically closer to the continent of North America.)

along with a selection of the following which varies from definition to definition:

• The Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
• The British Isles: Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man (see also Western Europe).
• Ireland
• Areas bordering, or in close proximity to, the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, i.e. north-western Russia (including Kaliningrad), northern Poland, northern Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the French region of Nord-Pas de Calais.
• Occasionally Ingria, Karelia and the Kola Peninsula (see also Eastern Europe).

The United Nations Statistics Division defines Northern Europe as:

• Image:Flag of Aaland.svg Åland Islands (Finland)
• Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Channel Islands: Image:Flag of Guernsey.svg Guernsey and Image:Flag of Jersey.svg Jersey
• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark
• Image:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia
• Image:Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg Faroe Islands (Denmark)
• Image:Flag of Finland.svg Finland
• Image:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland
• Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland
• Image:Flag of the Isle of Man.svg Isle of Man
• Image:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia
• Image:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg Svalbard and Jan Mayen (Norway)
• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden
• Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

Before the 19th century, the term 'Nordic' or 'Northern' was commonly used to mean Northern Europe in a sense that included the Nordic countries, European Russia, the Baltic countries (at that time Livonia and Courland) and Greenland.

In earlier eras, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region (i.e. the Roman Empire), everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including Germany, the Low Countries, and Austria. This meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term (Ultima) Thule was used to mean a semi-mythical place in the extreme northern reaches of the continent.

Northern Europe:
Country	Area (km²)	Population (1 July, 2002 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Image:Flag of Aaland.svg Åland (Finland)	1,552	26,008	16.8	Mariehamn
Image:Flag of Denmark.svg Denmark	43,094	5,368,854	124.6	Copenhagen
Image:Flag of Estonia.svg Estonia	45,226	1,415,681	31.3	Tallinn
Image:Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg Faroe Islands (Denmark)	1,399	46,011	32.9	Tórshavn
Image:Flag of Finland.svg Finland	336,593	5,157,537	15.3	Helsinki
Image:Flag of Guernsey.svg Guernseyd[›]	78	64,587	828.0	St Peter Port
Image:Flag of Iceland.svg Iceland	103,000	307,261	2.7	Reykjavík
Image:Flag of Ireland.svg Republic of Ireland	70,280	4,234,925	60.3	Dublin
Image:Flag of the Isle of Man.svg Isle of Mand[›]	572	73,873	129.1	Douglas
Image:Flag of Jersey.svg Jerseyd[›]	116	89,775	773.9	Saint Helier
Image:Flag of Latvia.svg Latvia	64,589	2,366,515	36.6	Riga
Image:Flag of Lithuania.svg Lithuania	65,200	3,601,138	55.2	Vilnius
Image:Flag of Norway.svg Norway	324,220	4,525,116	14.0	Oslo
Image:Flag of Norway.svg Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (Norway)	62,049	2,868	0.046	Longyearbyen
Image:Flag of Sweden.svg Sweden	449,964	9,090,113	19.7	Stockholm
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom	244,820	61,100,835	244.2	London

Today the term is of subjective nature with its meaning usually determined by the geo-political outlook of the speaker. This also means that the definition of the term is largely socio-political as there is no rationale to include Great Britain as being part of Northern Europe while excluding the Netherlands.

[edit] References and notes

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