1. Northern Europe
Chapter 9

2. Northern Europe Northern Europe is located in the north latitudes. It
stretches from about 55" to 73" north.
Much of northern Europe is located in the cold Arctic.
This is the cold area at the most northern part of Earth.
Some of northern Europe lies within the Arctic Circle.
Like the two tropics and the equator, the Arctic Circle is an imaginary line of latitude about 66.5" north of the equator.
Northern Europe is north and east of the British Isles and western Europe.

3. Northern Europe
Iceland is a small island 645 miles west of Norway. The Norwegian Sea lies between Iceland and Norway.
Norway shares a peninsula with Sweden.
Geographers call this the Scandinavian Peninsula.
The North Sea separates the Scandinavian Peninsula from Denmark, which lies to the south.
Denmark sits on its own peninsula called Jutland.

4. Northern Europe
The Baltic Sea lies between this peninsula and Finland.
Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland are the Scandinavian countries.
Forests cover much of northern Europe.
Mountains cover Norway and Sweden. For half the year, snow covers Finland.
The climate there is harsh. Farming is also difficult.

5. Northern Europe Most people in northern Europe live close to the sea.
They are descendants of fine sailors and boat builders.
These early people used wood from the forests to build long boats.
The boats were strong enough to carry them across the Atlantic Ocean.
They were shallow enough to travel Europe's rivers.

6. Northern Europe
In the past, farmers in northern Europe could not grow enough food for all its people.
Because of this, many sailors took to the sea.
They became great explorers, traders, and warriors.
A thousand years ago, people from Scandinavia were called Vikings.
Many people feared them.
They left Scandinavia and sailed to other parts of the world.
They invaded the British Isles.
From the Atlantic coast, they sailed and marched inland until they controlled much of Europe.

7. Northern Europe
In their great wooden ships, they sailed across the Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and North America.
They did this 500 years before Columbus set sail from Spain in southern Europe.
A group of Vikings called "the Rus" reached the Middle East and Central Asia.
They left behind the name Russia, which, of course, is the name of the country there today.

8. Northern Europe
The four regions in northern Europe include Iceland, Denmark, the Scandinavian Peninsula, and Finland.
These regions are political regions and physical regions.
Volcanoes formed Iceland millions of years ago.
It is located on a great rift or crack in the earth.
This rift lies in the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
In this area of Earth, volcanoes create new islands all the time.
Earthquakes happen often.
Because of this, the Icelandic people build concrete houses.
These are harder for earthquakes to damage.

9. Northern Europe
Denmark extends northward from the European plain that covers much of western Europe.
It is one of the flattest countries in the world. Its highest point is only 531 feet.
It has many islands.
Mountains cover much of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
As you know, it is made up of the two countries of Norway and Sweden.
Norway is almost one long chain of mountains.

10. Northern Europe Most of its people live along the coast.
Sweden is the largest country in northern Europe.
The Swedish highlands are in the north.
The land becomes less rugged as a person travels south.
Southern Sweden is a plain with rolling hills.
This is where most Swedes live and where the biggest cities are located.

11. Northern Europe
Finland, which lies to the northeast of Sweden, is mainly a plain.
It is the most northerly country in the world.
Glaciers formed most of the land features of northern Europe.
They formed Finland's plain.

12. Physical Features and Climate
Fjords are the best known physical feature of Iceland and Norway.
These long, deep, narrow, ocean inlets reach far inland.
They are like the fingers of the North Atlantic Ocean.
Glaciers formed their deep, U -shaped valleys during the last ice age.

13. Physical Features and Climate
The fjords are usually deepest farther inland.
There, at the head of the fjord, the glaciers were the thickest and had more force.
Steep cliffs rise on both sides of a fjord.
Beautiful waterfalls drop from these cliffs to the sea.
The fjord waters are usually calm.
They help protect the Scandinavian fishing fleets from the stormy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

14. Physical Features and Climate
Islands are a second feature of northern Europe in fact, volcanoes near Iceland are still forming islands.
One of the newest is Surtsey.
Volcanoes formed this island in 1963.
More than l5O,OOO islands dot the Norwegian coast.
No one lives on most of these islands.
However, Stockholm, Sweden's capital, is built on 14 islands.
Denmark has over 400 islands.

15. Physical Features and Climate
Mountains are a third important feature.
Iceland sits on top of the Mid-Atlantic Range, an underwater mountain chain.
Norway has Europe's second highest mountains. They are the Jotunheimen, or "Land of the Giants.
Only the Alps in western Europe are higher than Norway's mountains.

16. Physical Features and Climate
Geysers are a fourth important land feature.
They are common in Iceland.
A geyser is a hot spring that throws out jets of water and steam.
Hot volcanic rocks deep inside Earth heat the water.
When the underground pressure becomes too great, the hot water and steam erupt, or burst out of the ground.
The people of Iceland make good use of this geothermal energy source.
Most Icelandic homes and businesses use geothermal heating and hot-water systems.

17. Physical Features and Climate
Thousands of years ago, glaciers covered all of northern Europe.
As they melted, they left behind thousands of lakes.
Many are so small they have no name. Finland has over 50,000 lakes.
Sweden and Norway have even more.
They also have large areas of marshy bogs, especially in Finland.
Lake Vanern in Sweden is northern Europe's largest lake.
Scandinavia has many small rivers.

18. Physical Features and Climate
Many tourists think that the climate of northern Europe is always cold because of the Arctic Circle.
However, the Gulf Stream brings warmth to these countries.
Norway's coastal areas have a marine west coast climate.
Southern and central Sweden, where most of the people live, also has a moderate climate, as does much of southern Finland.

19. Physical Features and Climate
No town in Denmark sits more than 50 miles from the sea.
As you know, water has a moderating effect on the climate.
The mountain areas of northern Europe, of course, have highland climates.
Some people call northern Europe "the land of the midnight sun”
During some months, the sun does not set at all.

20. Physical Features and Climate
The amount of daylight and night differs from place to place on Earth.
At the equator, days and nights are equal in length. However, the further a person travels north or south , the greater the difference between night and day.
The countries of northern Europe lie far north, so they have great differences in daylight and night.

21. Physical Features and Climate
Areas above the Arctic Circle have long summer days.
The summer solstice is the longest day of the year.
On this day in the Arctic Circle, the sun never sets.
During the winter, however, the people may not see the sun for weeks.

22. The People The cultures of Scandinavia are alike.
They have shared a similar history for the last 1,000 years.
Finland was part of Sweden for nearly 600 years; Iceland was part of Denmark.
It became independent in 1944.
The population of the five countries of northern Europe is homogenous.
This means that nearly everyone is descended from one group of people.
Most Scandinavians are descended from Germanic tribes that settled in northern Europe hundreds of years ago.

23. The People Since the 1970s, Scandinavia has welcomed refugees.
These people have left their native countries because of war or political danger.
Today, people from the former Yugoslavia and from Turkey, Vietnam, and the Middle East live in the big cities of Scandinavia.
About 30,000 Sami live in Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
They are the largest minority group in these three countries.
A minority is a small group of people within a larger group.
The Sami lived in northern Europe long before the Germanic tribes arrived there.
Because they are originally from Asia, the Sami are darker and shorter than most Scandinavians.

24. The People About two-thirds of the 30,000 Sami live in Norway.
In the past, the Sami were nomads.
They moved from place to place, following the herds of reindeer.
Many modern Sami have given up being nomads.
They live in villages all year; they work at many jobs besides reindeer herding.
The five countries of northern Europe share a common religion.
Most Scandinavians are Christians.
Until the 1500s, they were Roman Catholics.
Then the king of Sweden became a Protestant.

25. The People
Since then, the Lutheran Church has been the official church of northern Europe.
However, the five Scandinavian countries give complete religious freedom to their citizens.
All the school children in Scandinavia study English.
They often speak it without an accent.
That is, they pronounce English in the same way that native speakers do.
Tourists from the United States are often surprised to hear how well young people in northern Europe speak English.

26. The People
The Finnish language is not like the four other languages of northern Europe.
It is related to Estonian and Hungarian.
Probably thousands of years ago, people from northern Asia settled Finland.
Today, all Finns learn Swedish, which is Finland's second official language.
Northern Europe has a low population density.
Many big cities around the world have more people than any one of the Scandinavian countries.
Most people live in urban areas.

27. The People
About one third of the Swedish people live in the metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Goteborg, and Malmo.
One out of every five Finns lives in the capital of Helsinki.
One-fourth of all Danes live in Copenhagen.
It is Scandinavia's biggest city.
Northern Europe has a slow growth in population.
One reason for this is its low birthrate.
The other reason is that, until recently, few people immigrated to northern Europe from other places.
Most families have only one child.
Nearly half the people in northern Europe live alone or in homes with just one other person.

28. The People
A second problem is high taxes. Many Scandinavian workers pay more than 50 percent of what they earn in taxes.
The governments of northern Europe use this tax money to pay for their welfare systems.
Welfare is money or help that a government gives to people who are in need.
The welfare systems in northern Europe provide for people out of work, for older people, and for health care for everyone.
People say that this welfare system provides care from "cradle to grave”

29. The People
This system allows all people to share their nation's wealth.
Few people are wealthy, but few are poor.
The population of northern Europe is aging.
Because of this, people are paying higher taxes so that the governments can take care of their older people.
If the economy slows down, the governments will have less money to pay for welfare services.
The governments of northern Europe continue to increase taxes to pay for welfare.
Because of this, the economy may suffer.

30. Economy and the Environment
The people of northern Europe enjoy a high standard of living.
All five countries have highly developed industries.
People describe their economies as "the middle way” because they mix a free market with socialism.
Socialism is an economic system in which the government controls many of the biggest industries.
However, in northern Europe, about 85 percent of the industries are privately owned.

31. Economy and the Environment
Northern Europe is rich in natural resources. Norway's most important resource is oil.
In 1969, large oil and natural gas deposits were found in the Norwegian section of the North Sea.
Today, Norway is Europe's largest oil producer. Norway exports both oil and natural gas.
Most of these go to other European countries.

32. Economy and the Environment
Iron, copper, lead, and zinc have been found in northern Europe. Many of these minerals are in the far north.
These minerals are hard to get to, so mining has not been developed fully.
Forests and water are two other important resources in Scandinavia.
Forests cover nearly three-fourths of Finland and half of Sweden.
Both countries use their forests in large paper and pulp-making industries.
Sweden is the world's third largest producer of paper products and pulp.

33. Economy and the Environment
Workers sometimes float logs down the many rivers of northern Europe.
The rivers provide a highway from the forests to the sawmills.
These fast-moving rivers also provide hydroelectric power.
As in all industrialized countries, most people in northern Europe work in service industries, such as banking, tourism, and trade.
More than half of all Scandinavian workers work in service jobs.

34. Economy and the Environment
However, manufacturing is also important to the Scandinavian countries.
Sweden manufactures the most products.
Sweden manufactures many cars and trucks that are sold worldwide.
It is also a big producer of telephones.
Many Swedish industries manufacture chemicals, electronics, plastics, medicines, and paints.

35. Economy and the Environment
Norway produces and exports chemical products.
It is also the world's second largest exporter of metal products.
Only Canada, which you read about in Chapter 2, exports more metal products.
Nearly one-fourth of all the people in Denmark work in manufacturing.
Food processing, chemical products, electronics, and furniture making are the most important.
Finland produces forest products, electronic goods, and motors.

36. Economy and the Environment
Northern Europe's closeness to the sea explains why shipping is a key industry.
Norway is one of the world's four biggest shipping countries.
Fishing is also a big industry in Norway, just as it is in Iceland and Denmark.
Many people in Iceland fish for a living.
Fish processing provides them with many jobs.
Norway is one of the world's top fishing countries. Aquaculture, or fish farming, has become an important industry there.
Norwegian fish farmers raise salmon and trout.

37. Economy and the Environment
The environmental problems of northern Europe are the same as those in other industrialized countries. pollution, destruction of natural areas, wasteful use of energy,
Air and water and too much garbage are among its biggest problems.
However, Scandinavians spend a lot of time outdoors, so they appreciate nature.
Because of this, their rate for recycling aluminum, glass, and paper is one of the highest in the world.
Environmental issues are important to Scandinavian voters.