Scandinavia is a term used to describe a collection of countries that are situated in Northern Europe. If we take it literally, this only really includes the two countries that lie on the Scandinavian peninsula, Norway and Sweden. I f you were to talk to a Swede about "Skandinavien", that is probably what they would think that you were talking about. To most non-Scandinavians however "Scandinavia" includes a whole host of countries that have close cultural, historical, ethnic and linguistic links. The Swedes would refer to these countries as Norden, or quite literally "The North". The countries that this term usually refers to are Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Finland and the Færoe Islands.

These countries are all very closely linked. With the exception of Finnish and Sámi, all their languages come from the same Germanic root. Indeed, a Norwegian can understand a Swede fairly easily and vice versa, and a Dane can understand a Norwegian without too much difficulty and vice versa. However, a Dane would not find a Swede that easy to comprehend...(and probably would'nt want to anyway!), and none of them would have the foggiest about what a Finn was trying to say!