During the last Ice Age,
large parts of the
area were covered with thick glaciers. When the ice retreated it laid bare the typical fjords of Norway west of the Scandinavian
Mountains. The northern plains became tundra and Sweden and Finland got stuck with zillions of lakes and endless forests.
Early
habitation started 12.000 BP when reindeer hunters from present-day Germany followed their pray northwards with the receding
ice caps.
A few millennia later Uralic Fins and
Sami moved in
from Russia and the Baltics.
Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway share a common history, culture and language, the Old Norse.
Finland's culture was largely formed
by the Swedish and later the Russian occupation.
During the Viking Age the superior longships allowed the Scandinavians
to raid, colonize and trade in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and even North America.
The Scandinavian countries
have a high standard of living based on the typical Nordic welfare model.
For a preview click the country's highlight.
