Scandinavia is often used to refer to Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Denmark. However, this is actually a mistake, as it only refers to Sweden, Norway and Denmark. According to historians, the name Scandinavia was adopted in the 18th century. Its development led to the first literacy and linguistic Scandinavia. Before this period, the word Scandinavia was used only by scholars and historians through the writing of Pliny the Elder. It was used as a vague term in the southern part of the peninsula and in Scania
In politics, the term Scandinavism was first used by a student in 1830. The term was later used as a unifying term for Sweden, Denmark and Norway in the 19th century through poems such as “I am Scandinavian” by Hand Christian Andersen in 1939. Andersen became an important activist for Scadinavism after a visit to Sweden.
Scandinavian history
The region is located in northern Europe and the inhabitants possess culture, languages and legacies similar to the ancient Germanic tribe. They are descendants of the original occupants of the region. Scandinavia is used to refer to the three northern European kingdoms that are now independent nations. The countries are Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The islands of Salvabard and Jan Mayne which are part of the Republic of Norway are not included to be part of Scandinavia. However, the island of Faroe and the Danish overseas territories are considered part of Scandinavia because of their historical associations with the Scandinavian countries. The English definition of Scandinavia is “A geographical region that is sometimes called the Scandinavian peninsula”.
Scandinavian languages
The inhabitants of the Scandinavian region are the descendants of the Germanic tribe who first inhabited the southern parts of Scandinavia. They spoke a Germanic language that changed with the ancient Norwegian after its evolution. The Faroese and the Icelanders were the descendants of the Norse language and are considered Scandinavian. The Finns populate Finland with the highest percentage, but the Swedes are a minority and represent only 5 percent of the Finnish population. A small percentage of Sami live in the far north of the Scandinavian region. Therefore, the three primary languages (Swedish, Norwegian and Danish) have blended to form a standard dialect continuum called Scandinavian languages. The three languages are said to be mutually intelligible to each other.
