Countries in Northern Europe

As a region of Europe, Northern Europe features a hydrographic network in which not only Rivers but mainly Lakes are highlighted. Example of some lakes: Peipus, vener. Example of some rivers: Ume River, Indai River. The most prominent rivers are born in the region of the Scandinavian Alps for the production of electricity. This region encompasses Norway and Sweden, located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, in addition to Finland, Iceland and Denmark; it also covers Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which from 1990 onwards became independent of the then USSR. The inclusion of these countries in the region is justified by economic reasons and their ethnic and cultural proximity with the Finns. In Norway, Sweden and Finland, fishing activity and timber extraction predominate. It is in this region that the lowest temperatures of the entire European continent occur.

The Scandinavian Alps are the main mountainous formation of the region. They extend close to the coastline, North-South direction. Its elevations are accompanied by plateaus, with lakes and glacial valleys. These valleys were formed by the erosion of the ice; subsequently invaded by sea water. It’s the fjords, common in the Norwegian coastline. The true mountainous wall is accompanied by fjords to the West and flanked by plains that Turn towards Sweden on the coast of the Baltic Sea. In addition to Plains Some countries in the region have several depressions created by glacial erosion. In these depressions, several lakes have originated, as observed in Finland.

Before the nineteenth century, the term “Nordic” or “northern” was usually used to include European Russia, the Baltic countries (at that time Livonia and Courland) and Greenland. More recently, when Europe was subjected to the Mediterranean region (i.e. the Roman Empire), all regions close to the sea, including Germany, the Netherlands and Austria, became associated with the term. This significance is still used nowadays in certain contexts, as in discussions on Northern Renaissance. In medieval times, the term “(Ultima) Thule” was used to be inferior to a semiimtic site to the north end of the continent.

In the context of the European Union, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands are often seen as belonging to the “Northern Group”. Currently the meaning of the term is of a subjective nature, usually determined by the geopolitical vision of those who appoint. This also means that the definition is largely sociopolitical, since there is no justification for including England as part of northern Europe, while excluding the Netherlands.

How Many Countries in Northern Europe

As a region of Europe, Northern Europe is composed of 10 independent countries (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom) and 3 territories (Åland Islands, Faroe Islands, Isle of Man). See below for the list of North European countries and dependencies by population.  Also, you can find all of them in alphabetical order at this end of this page.

List of Countries in Northern Europe and Their Capitals

As noted above, there are ten independent countries in the Northern Europe. Among them, the largest country is United Kingdom and the smallest is Iceland. The full list of Northern European countries with capitals is shown in the table below, ranked by latest total population.

Territories in Northern Europe

Map of Countries in Northern Europe