Let's face it--those of us who call the United States home tend to have a reputation for being extremely bad at geography. This notion is so prevalent that LastWeekTonight host John Oliver loves making light of it to hilarious effect:
While Mr. Oliver's bit is really quite funny, let's change this stereotype and start learning the locations of the rest of the countries in this world! We'll start with Europe--it might be the easiest as I would hope most of us know where at least some European nations are located. Since Europe has so many countries, I'll be breaking this up into a few posts in order to cover each region in depth. In this post, I'll introduce the continent and also delve into one region--the Nordic states.
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
Here are the countries that are generally regarded to be part of Europe. I divided them up into 8 general regions: the Nordics in light blue, the Baltics in orange, the British Isles in green, the Iberian Peninsula in red, Central-Western Europe in purple, Eastern Europe in pink, the Balkans and former Yugoslavia in yellow, and the Caucasus in darker blue. Note: the point of dividing Europe up like this was simply to make it easier to learn the countries. Sources tend to disagree on exactly what countries belong to what region of Europe, so I just did my best with the imprecise information I had. Apologies if you feel that a country doesn't belong in a certain region--again, the point of this was not to place parts of the continent in a box. I simply think that splitting a relatively big map of many countries into small pieces makes it easier to learn.
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
With that being said, let's move on to the first region: the Nordics, which include Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, as well as their autonomous administrative divisions. You may look at this map and think, "isn't this just Scandinavia?" Well… yes and no. Technically, Scandinavia consists of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, whereas the Nordic countries also include Finland and Iceland on top of Scandinavia. CGP Grey has an excellent video further explaining this, and Humon also addresses it in her humorous webcomic Scandinavia and the World. I'll let them get more into the specifics of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Fennoscandia, the Nordic Council, etc. Here I'll just stick with the simple task of learning what the countries look like and where they are on a map.
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
Starting in the northeast part of this map, we have Finland, highlighted in dark blue. This one is particularly easy for me personally to remember because I find Finnish culture to be rather interesting. The language is unlike that of any other Nordic country (although I believe it is somewhat related to the language spoken by the Sámi--the indigenous peoples living in the northernmost parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and a small part of Russia), and they produce some really quality metal! Also, Angry Birds and Nokia are from Finland, so you have very likely been exposed to some Finnish-made product.
Finland is between Sweden and Russia, and it's easy to remember this fact when you look back at the country's history. From 1250 to 1809 CE, Finland was under Swedish rule; from 1809 until 1917, it was the Grand Duchy of Finland under the Russian Empire. Only since then has it been an independent nation, and there are still a small percentage of Swedish-speaking Finns in the country. Remembering that bit of history can help remember the location of Finland (as well as Sweden and Russia) on a map. If that fails, I always remember that the eastern border of Finland kind of looks like a face.
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| Finland's eastern border... |
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| ...Looks like a face. "Moi" is a Finnish greeting. |
The small Åland Islands, labeled in the first image highlighting Finland, are between Sweden and Finland in the Gulf of Bothnia. Despite the fact that the official language of Åland is Swedish, it is an autonomous region of Finland.
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
Sweden, of course, is just to the west of Finland, and is highlighted in yellow in the above map. We all know it as the land of IKEA, Minecraft, Swedish meatballs, and Swedish Fish; as well as musical artists like ABBA, Ace of Base, Rednex, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Icona Pop, Avicii, Basshunter, Amon Amarth, Sabaton, etc. (I could go on). The best way to remember the location of Sweden is really just to recall its history with Finland, which helps me remember that it is Finland's next-door neighbor (it's also right next to Norway, and if you've ever seen Metalocalypse, you'll know that Skwisgar Skwigelf is from Sweden and Toki Wartooth is from Norway - the two Scandinavian members of the group, from countries that are right next to each other).
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
West of Sweden is Norway, which has thousands of islands along its coast, and is highlighted in red above. These islands help me remember that Norway is the Nordic nation that faces the ocean, as do its numerous oil fields in the North Sea. It is also the 2nd greatest exporter of fish in the world, which makes sense for a nation with such an extensive coastline.
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| Map courtesy of amaps.com |
Directly north of the Scandinavian peninsula is a group of large Arctic islands called Svalbard (awesome name), which is governed by Norway. Svalbard is the location of the world's largest seed vault, which, as the name implies, holds seeds of plants from all around the world. This obviously would be useful during an apocalypse, but mainly the seed vault helps prevent a lack of biodiversity in other gene banks. Basically, it's a giant external hard drive for plants. Norway also governs a small island called Jan Mayen, located near Greenland and Iceland. This volcanic island is mostly uninhabited aside from members of the Norwegian Armed Forces or the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, but it is deemed an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
I tend to see Denmark, highlighted above in purple, as sort of the "odd one out" of Scandinavia, since it is located on the mainland of Europe rather than on Fennoscandia (the region comprised of Finland, Sweden, and Norway). You could remember that is is below the rest of Scandinavia by remembering that it starts with a "D" for "down". Denmark is made up of a peninsula and an archipelago in the Baltic Sea, and is located just below Norway and Sweden. Germany is the only country that shares a land border with Denmark; it forms the southern Danish border.
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| Map courtesy of amaps.com |
Denmark governs two autonomous regions: Greenland and the Faroe Islands. You are probably familiar with the location of Greenland, which is just east of Canada, and strictly geographically speaking is a part of North America. The Faroe Islands, labeled two maps above (the map before the one featuring Greenland), are almost due north of Scotland, west of Norway and east of Iceland. The region has been the center of some controversy as of late due to its legal whaling practices. The Faroese argue that the practice, called the grindadráp, is an ancient and traditional part of their culture, and that it is sustainable, regulated, and conducted in a way that is as humane as possible (special lances are used that cut the whales' spinal cords, ensuring that the animals do not suffer as they meet their demise). However, animal rights groups call for an end to the practice - another instance in which cultural traditions clash with modern ideals. A delicate situation, but at least now we can remember the location of the Faroe Islands, right?! Heh heh… heh…
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| Map courtesy of worldatlasbook.com |
Finally, Iceland, highlighted in maroon, is pretty much straight west from the coast of Norway, and is closer in proximity to Greenland than the rest of the Nordic countries. It's known for its volcanoes; you may remember the Eyjafjallajökull eruption of 2010, and in Jules Verne's book Journey to the Center of the Earth, the protagonists enter the Icelandic volcano Snæfellsjökull.
Hopefully this post has helped you learn and remember the locations of the Nordic countries. I firmly believe that it is easier to learn "boring" facts like dates and the locations of places on a map when you relate them to something more interesting. That is why I tried including small bits of information such as histories or trivia-type facts. Thus a place like Jan Mayen becomes memorable as an Important Bird Area rather than just some island somewhere. I'll try to do this with each country as we progress through the rest of Europe. Come back next time (whenever that may be) for the British Isles and the Baltics!
Resources Consulted/Cited:
The Crop Trust. "Svalbard Global Seed Vault." Accessed November 24, 2015. https://www.croptrust.org/what-we-do/svalbard-global-seed-vault/.
"Europe Map - Outline." World Atlas Book. 2011. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.worldatlasbook.com/europe/europe-map.html.
"Finland." Wikipedia. November 22, 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland.
"Free Map of World." Maps and Graphics. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.amaps.com/mapstoprint/OUTLINE MAPS/free_map_of_world.htm.
Føroya landsstýr. Whales and Whaling in the Faroe Islands. 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.whaling.fo/en/home/.
"Geography FAQs -- National Geographic." National Geographic. 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/siteindex/geography-faqs/.
Grey, CGP. "Where Is Scandinavia?" YouTube. March 25, 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsXMe8H6iyc.
Humon. "How the North Works." Scandinavia and the World. August 17, 2010. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://satwcomic.com/how-the-north-works.
LastWeekTonight with John Oliver. John Oliver. May 3, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KndYcoWoSo
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "FACT SHEET: The international fish trade and world fisheries." April 2010. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/fact_sheet_fish_trade_en.pdf.
Winter, Stuart. "We kill whales because its communal, natural and sustainable' say Faroe Islands officials." Express. August 18, 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/599187/We-kill-whales-because-communal-natural-and-sustainable-Faroe-Islands-officials.
Wikipedia. "Jan Mayen." November 11, 2015. Accessed November 24, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Mayen
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