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Posted on Aug 23, 2015

Scandinavia For Dummies

Denmark is the capital of Stockholm, right?

by Dagmar

Community Contributor

Okay, so recently I've encountered some confusion regarding the Nordic countries, and I found it was about time that a proper guide was made.

*This is after all an important issue if you want to be a ~true~ fan of Thor and Loki*

There are two concepts we must separate; The Nordic countries and Scandinavia.

If you're from Denmark, Norway or Sweden you identify as Scandinavian, whereas the Nordic countries include Finland and Iceland.

Scandinavia is a historical and cultural-linguistic region in Northern Europe characterized by a common ethno-cultural North Germanic heritage and related languages. It comprises the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.Sometimes in foreign usage, the term Scandinavia also includes Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland, on account of their historical association with the Scandinavian countries and the Scandinavian peoples and languages.

So basically according to Wikipedia, Scandinavia is often thought of foreigners to be the same as the Nordic countries.

The picture above shows Scandinavia as red, where the Nordic countries are the red and orange ones.

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark with its 1.263.698 citizens.

It's known for areas such as Nyhavn and Christiania, as well as the castle Amalienborg, the main residence of Her Majesty Margrethe II.

Oslo is the capital of Norway with its 626.953 citizens.

Oslo is famous for sights such as the City Hall and the Holmenkollbakken.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden with its 1.372.565 citizens.

Stockholm is known for being situated in the Swedish archipelago, and is therefore called the northern Venice. Stockholm is also home to the castle of Stockholm, the official castle of the king and queen.

The infamous delicacy "Surstömming" is strictly Swedish, and consists of fermented herring.

You can see the BuzzFeed crew try it here