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Northern Europe as defined by the United Nations (marked blue):      Northern Europe      Western Europe      Eastern Europe      Southern Europe

Location of the Nordic countries

Northern Europe is a term for the northern part of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:^[1][2]

•  Denmark
  •  Faroe Islands
•  Estonia
•  Finland
  •  Åland Islands
•  Iceland
• Ireland
•  Latvia
•  Lithuania
•  Norway
  • Svalbard and Jan Mayen
•  Sweden
•  United Kingdom
  • Channel Islands:  Guernsey and  Jersey
  •  Isle of Man

Nordic countries or Nordic region include only a subset of the mentioned countries.

A Dutch map of Northern Europe, printed in 1601.

Before the 19th century, the term 'Nordic' or 'Northern' was commonly used to mean Northern Europe in a sense that included the Nordic countries, European Russia, the Baltic countries (at that time Livonia and Courland). The United Kingdom and Ireland are sometimes considered part of Northern Europe, but could also be included in Western Europe.

[edit] Earlier eras

In earlier eras, when Europe was dominated by the Mediterranean region (i.e. the Roman Empire), everything not near this sea was termed Northern Europe, including Germany, the Low Countries, and Austria. This meaning is still used today in some contexts, such as in discussions of the Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term (Ultima) Thule was used to mean a mythical place in the extreme northern reaches of the continent.

Northern Europe:
Country	Area (km²)	Population (2008 est.)	Population density (per km²)	Capital
Åland (Finland)	1,552	26,008	16.8	Mariehamn
Denmark	43,094	5,470,919	124.6	Copenhagen
Faroe Islands (Denmark)	1,399	48,500	32.9	Tórshavn
Estonia	45,226	1,342,409	31.3	Tallinn
Finland	336,593	5,301,992	15.3	Helsinki
Guernseyd[›]	78	65,573	828.0	St Peter Port
Iceland	103,000	316,252	3.1	Reykjavík
Ireland	70,280	4,339,000	60.3	Dublin
Isle of Mand[›]	572	80,058	129.1	Douglas
Jerseyd[›]	116	95,871	773.9	Saint Helier
Latvia	64,589	2,366,515	36.6	Riga
Lithuania	65,200	3,601,138	55.2	Vilnius
Norway	324,220	4,725,116	14.0	Oslo
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (Norway)	62,049	2,868	0.046	Longyearbyen
Sweden	449,964	9,142,817	19.7	Stockholm
United Kingdom	244,820	60,587,300	246.0	London

Geography: Northern Europe consists of the scandinavian peninsular, the peninsular of Jutland, the baltic plain that lies to the east and the many islands that lie offshore from mainland northern europe, greenland and the main European continent. The area is defined by the volicanic islands of the far northwest, notabley Iceland and Jan mayen, the mountainous western seaboard, extending from the mountainous sections of the british isles to the scandinavian mountains, the central north mountains and hills of Sweden (which are the foothills of the scandinavian mountains) and the large eastern plain, which contains, Lithuania ,latvia, Estonia and Finnland. The region has a south west extreme of just under 50 degrees north and a northern extreme of 81 degrees north. The entire region's climate is effected by the Gulf stream which has a mild influence on the climate. From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates. In the north and central climates are generally subarctic or arctic and to east climates is mostly subarctic and temperate/ continental. As the climate and relief varies vegetation is also extremely variable, with sparse tundra in the north and high mountains, boreal forest on the north-eastern and central regions temperate coniferous forests (formerly of which a majority was in the scottish highlands and south west norway) and temperate broadleaf forests growing in the south, west and temperate east.

[edit] References and notes

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