Top 10 ge­og­ra­phy of Scan­di­navia facts

Scandinavian Peninsula. Before the 18th century, it was thought in Sweden that sea levels were falling. On the initiative of Anders Celsius a number of marks were made in rock on different locations along the Swedish coast. In 1765 it was possible to conclude that it was not a lowering of sea levels but an uneven rise of land, later recognized as post-glacial rebound.

Scandinavian Mountains. The whole Scandinavia experiences uplift as a result of post-glacial rebound. In northern Europe, this is clearly shown by the GPS data obtained by the BIFROST GPS network. The average uplift is less than 1cm/year, but it may accumulate to 400m during next 10,000 years.

Greenland. On 8 April 1941, the United States occupied Greenland in order to defend it against a possible invasion by Germany. After the end of WW2, the United States wished to keep the island for strategic reasons and offered $100,000,000, but Denmark refused to sell.

In Helsinki. These powerful icebreakers are docked for the summer season at the port of Helsinki. Almost all of Finland trade comes through the brackish Gulf of Finland, which freezes easily during winter.

Approx 3700 m (12000 ft). Gunnbjørn Fjeld is Greenland's highest mountain. It is a nunatak, a rocky peak protruding through glacial ice. The mountain is named after Gunnbjorn Ulfsson, the Viking who was the first European to reach Greenland.

Norwegian queen. Queen Maud Land was the first part of Antarctica to be sighted. The name was initially applied in January 1930 to the land discovered by Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen and Finn Lützow-Holm during Norvegia expedition of 1929–30. It was named after the Norwegian Queen Maud of Wales, wife of the then-reigning King Haakon VII.

Oslo. In 1624, during the reign of King Christian IV the city was destroyed by a fire. It was rebuilt and renamed Christiania in the king's honor. Following a spelling reform, it was known as Kristiania from 1877 to 1925, when its original name was restored.

All Scandinavian capitals are seaports. All Scandinavian capitals - including Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen and Reykjavik developed as sea trade hubs.

Iceland, having area of 103 000 km², is larger than Ireland (84 406 km²). Other European islands are much smaller.

Stockholm. In the 12th century, the Malaren Bay, a major trade route into central Sweden, was cut off the Baltic Sea as a result of post-glacial rebound of Scandinavia. The trade ships had to unload the cargo in the bay mouth that became too shallow to sail, which led to foundation of Stockholm at this place. Today, Malaren Lake is 0.7 m above sea level.