Facts about the Nordic Region

The Nordic Region consists of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, as well as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland. You can find useful information about the Nordic Region and each of its countries here.

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The Nordic Region – part of Europe since the Viking era

After conversion to Christianity in the 11th century, three northern kingdoms – Denmark, Norway and Sweden – emerged and what we today call the Nordic Region became a part of Europe.

The part of the world that we now call the Nordic Region first came into contact with the rest of Europe during the Viking era (approx. AD 800–1050), as pagan seafarers from the north ravaged, traded with and settled in many areas of Europe.

Christian Europe responded with intensive missionary work. The Nordic chiefs soon saw the advantages of adopting the new faith, which bolstered their power and offered easier access to the Continent. The missionaries wanted the new territories to be ruled by Christian kings who would help to strengthen the church.

The earliest history of the Region is shrouded in mystery – and only hinted at by the sagas – but we know that by the end of the 11th century, the Scandinavian lands had been divided between the three newly established kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

United by the surrounding waters

It was their waterways that held the three kingdoms together. Denmark arose at the entrance to the Baltic and incorporated Jutland, Scania and the many islands in that area. Norway means “the north road”, i.e. the waterway from the River Göta and the Oslo Fjord around South Norway and to the north. Sweden's core areas skirted the Baltic Sea coast and the large lakes at the centre of the country.

Outside of Scandinavia (i.e. modern-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), Iceland, the Faroe Islands and south-west Greenland gradually became part of the Norwegian kingdom after they were colonised by the Vikings. Modern-day Finland was gradually incorporated into the Swedish kingdom in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Contact

Marita Hoydal

Phone: 0045 29692915

Email: maro@norden.org

Behind the Nordic Council

The history of the Nordic Council

After the Second World War the politicians of the time strived for stronger international co-operation. This was the time when the United Nations was established, the Council of Europe created and the first steps were taken towards the EU. At the same time there were many discussions on much closer Nordic co-operation. As a result the Nordic Council was formed in 1952.

The Nordic Council of Ministers

The history of the Nordic Council of Ministers

The Nordic Council of Ministers was established in 1971 after an attempt at Nordic economic co-operation, the so-called Nordek, had failed the year before. Denmark and Norway voted on membership of the EF in 1972, and one of the goals of the Nordic Council of Ministers was to maintain Nordic co-operation, in the event that some of the Nordic countries also became EF members.