On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 00:47:52 +0100, "IMM" wrote:



I usually do. (Remembering of course that Finland is not in
Scandinavia).......

Depends.....

"Scandinavia is the cultural and historic region of the Scandinavian
Peninsula. The Scandinavian countries are Norway, Sweden and Denmark, which
mutually recognize each other as parts of Scandinavia. The collective label
"Scandinavia" reflects the cultural similarity between these countries
despite their political independence.

The usage and meaning of the term outside Scandinavia is somewhat ambiguous:
Finland and Iceland are occasionally counted as parts of Scandinavia.

Not if you talk to a Finn they aren't. The Finnish language bears no
relation to the Scandinavian languages, and people are most certainly
not that similar in cultural terms. There is a minority primarily
Swedish speaking population in Finland and both languages are used
officially - e.g. road signs, government documents and the like.

Finnish is an Finno-Ugric language with a similar root to Hungarian
and more recently Estonian - the Scandinavian languages have quite
heavy German influence among other languages.

The Finns will tend to coin their own words for new things rather than
diluting with English. I read recently that for technology words
they have over a 90% rate of this, whereis with German and French it
is in the 50s.


In a German mindset, Norway, Sweden and Finland are usually included, but
Denmark is not.

Incorrect in fact, but perhaps because of Schleswig Holstein and
Denmark.


In a British mindset it includes Norway and Sweden, and is sometimes
included with the Baltic region.

Only one that doesn't travel.

Sometimes Swedes and Finns talk of the Baltic region (or Balticum) as
their countries plus the others bordering the Baltic.




The term the Nordic countries is used unambiguously for Norway, Sweden,
Denmark, Finland and Iceland."

Which is why I always tend to use it..... believe me, it's a
sensitive issue.

You have to remember that several of these countries occupied each
other for long periods up until the early 20th century.


..andy

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