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PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 17:
Political Features of Northern Europe
The countries of Northern Europe include Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.
Although Iceland lies nearly 1000 miles to the west of Norway, it is still considered part of Northern
Europe. The region is often referred to by geographers as the Nordic region because of its northerly
location. Iceland lies just to the south of the Arctic Circle. The northern portions of Norway, Sweden,
and Finland are crossed by theArcticCircle.As a group of countries, Norway, Sweden, andDenmark
are referred to as Scandinavia. But only Norway and Sweden are found on the Scandinavian
Peninsula. Denmark is not part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. It lies to the south of Norway and
Sweden and forms its own peninsula which extends from Germany. The peninsula that forms the
mainland of Denmark is known as the Jutland Peninsula. Finland is one of Europe’s northernmost
countries.A thirdof the country is located in theArcticCircle.FinlandbordersSweden to thewest and
theRussian Federation to the east.
ACTIVITY 1:
The countries and capital cities of Northern Europe are listed in the
Information Organizer
below.
Using the political map of Europe in your classroom atlas, locate each country and capital city.On the
activity map on the next page, 1) label each country in Northern Europe, and then 2) label each
country’s capital city at the starred location. 3) After you have labeled each country and capital city,
trace each nation’s boundarywith a different colored pencil.
InformationOrganizer for Northern Europe
Country
Capital City
SquareMiles
Population
Iceland
Reykjavik
0
39,768
0,
280,000
Norway
Oslo
125,050
4,515,000
Sweden
Stockholm
173,732
8,875,000
Finland
Helsinki
130,559
5,180,000
Denmark
Copenhagen
0
16,638
5,360,000
ACTIVITY 2:
Refer to the
InformationOrganizer
to answer the following questions.
Be sure to use the entire chart to find the answers.
Some answers will require the use of your math skills.
1.What is themost populated country inNorthernEurope?
2.What country has the lowest population?
3.Which country covers themost land area?
4.What country is themost densely populated?
(Hint:The population is the numerator and the
squaremiles is the denominator.)
5.Calculate the total population of
NorthernEurope to the nearest million people.
Click
&
Learn
Use the Internet to
travel to each of
the capital cities of
NorthernEurope.
Create a postcard
describing a site
visited for each city.
Add the postcards
to your travel
journal.
Northern Europe
