Scandinavia

Region in northwestern Europe, comprising Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, grouped together because of their historical and cultural affinities; Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Finland are also usually included. Norway and Sweden occupy the geologically distinct Scandinavian Peninsula (c. 777,000 sq km/300,000 sq mi), bordered by the Gulf of Bothnia, the Baltic Sea, the Kattegatt and Skagerrak straits, the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Except for the Lapps and Finns, Scandinavian peoples speak a closely related group of Germanic languages.