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|image_map = Nordic countries orthographic.svg |map_caption = |admin_center_type = Capitals |admin_center = |membership = | 5 countries ||||| | 3 territories ||| }} |languages_type = Languages |languages = |area_rank = 7th |area_magnitude = |area_km2 = 3425804 |percent_water = |population_estimate = 26,613,758 |population_estimate_year = 2015 |population_estimate_rank = 46th |population_census = 25,478.559 |population_census_year = 2000 |population_density_km2 = 7.62 |population_density_sq_mi = |population_density_rank = 225th |GDP_PPP = $1.117 trillion |GDP_PPP_year = 2013 |GDP_PPP_rank = 17th |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $42,850 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 6th |GDP_nominal = $1.702 trillion |GDP_nominal_year = 2014 & 2015 |GDP_nominal_rank = 12th |GDP_nominal_per_capita = $53,977 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 6th |Failed state index = |Gini_year = |Gini_change = |Gini = |Gini_ref = |Gini_rank = |HDI_year = |HDI_change = |HDI = |HDI_ref = |HDI_rank = |currency = |time_zone = |utc_offset = }} The Nordic countries are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, where it is most commonly known as Norden. It consists of five countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) as well as their autonomous regions (the Åland Islands, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland). The Nordic countries have much in common in their way of life, history, their use of Scandinavian languages and social structure. Politically, Nordic countries do not form a separate entity, but they co-operate in the Nordic Council. Especially in English, ''Scandinavia'' is sometimes used as a synonym for the Nordic countries, but that term more properly refers to the three monarchies of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Scandinavian Peninsula on the other hand covers mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northernmost part of Finland.〔("Scandinavia" ). In'' Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary''. Retrieved 10 January 2008: "''Scandinavia'': Denmark, Norway, Sweden—sometimes also considered to include Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, & Finland." (''Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary'' defines ("Nordic" ) as an adjective dated to 1898 with the meaning "of or relating to the Germanic peoples of northern Europe and especially of Scandinavia."), "Scandinavia" (2005). ''The New Oxford American Dictionary'', Second Edition. Ed. Erin McKean. Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-517077-6: "a cultural region consisting of the countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark and sometimes also of Iceland, Finland, and the Faroe Islands"; (Scandinavia ) (2001). ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', Sixth Edition. Retrieved January 31, 2007: "Scandinavia, region of N Europe. It consists of the kingdoms of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark; Finland and Iceland are usually, but incorrectly, considered part of Scandinavia"; (Scandinavia ). (2007). ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved January 31, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: "Scandinavia, historically , part of northern Europe, generally held to consist of the two countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Norway and Sweden, with the addition of Denmark"; and (Scandinavia ). (2006). ''Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia''. Retrieved January 30, 2007: "Scandinavia (ancient Scandia), name applied collectively to three countries of northern Europe—Norway and Sweden (which together form the Scandinavian Peninsula), and Denmark". (Archived ) 2009-11-01.〕 At 3,425,804 square kilometers, the combined area of the Nordic countries would form the 7th-largest country in the world. Uninhabitable icecaps and glaciers comprise about half of this area, mostly in Greenland. In January 2013, the region had a population of around 26 million people. The Nordic countries cluster near the top in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, and human development. Although the area is linguistically heterogeneous, with three unrelated language groups, the common linguistic heritage is one of the factors making up the Nordic identity. The North Germanic languages Danish, Norwegian and Swedish are considered mutually intelligible. These languages are taught in school throughout the Nordic countries; Swedish, for example, is a mandatory subject in Finnish schools, whereas Danish is mandatory in Icelandic, Faroese and Greenlandic schools. Besides these and the insular Scandinavian languages Faroese and Icelandic, which are also North Germanic languages, there are the Finnic and Sami branches of the Uralic languages, spoken in Finland and in northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, respectively, and Greenlandic, an Eskimo–Aleut language, spoken in Greenland. The Nordic countries also share, more or less, the Nordic model of economy and social structure: market economy is combined with strong labour unions and a universalist welfare sector financed by heavy taxes. There is a high degree of income redistribution and little social unrest. ==Etymology and concept of the Nordic countries== The Nordic countries is used unambiguously for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, including their associated territories (Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Åland Islands). The term is derived indirectly from the local term ''Norden'', used in the Scandinavian languages, which literally means "The North(ern lands)". Unlike ''the Nordic countries'', the term ''Norden'' is in the singular. The demonym is ''nordbo'', literally meaning "northern dweller". Scandinavia refers to either the cultural and linguistic group formed by the three monarchies Denmark, Norway and Sweden, or the Scandinavian peninsula, which is formed by mainland Norway and Sweden as well as the northwesternmost part of Finland. Especially outside of the Nordic region the term Scandinavia is often used incorrectly as a synonym for the Nordic countries. First recorded use of the name by Pliny the Elder about a "large, fertile island in the North" (possibly referring to Scania.〔''Caplex. Leksikon, atlas, tabellverk.'' Oslo: Cappelen, 1997.〕 Fennoscandia refers to the area that includes the Scandinavian peninsula, Finland, Kola Peninsula and Karelia. This term is mostly restricted to geology, when speaking of the Fennoscandian Shield. Cap of the North consists of the provinces and counties of Lapland in Finland, Finnmark, Nordland and Troms in Norway and Lapland and Norrbotten in Sweden. This Arctic area is located around and north of the Arctic Circle in the three Nordic European countries Norway, Sweden and Finland, and the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Barents Region is formed by the Cap of the North as well as the Northern Ostrobothnia and Kainuu regions of Finland, Swedish provinces of Lapland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Russian Oblasts of Arkhangelsk and Murmansk, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, as well as the Republics of Karelia and Komi. This area co-operates through the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and Barents Regional Council. Northern Europe includes in addition to the Nordic countries the Baltic states, with the definition sometimes expanded to include the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. File:Scandinavian_States.svg|Nordic countries (orange and red) and Scandinavian monarchies (red) File:Fennoscandia.png|Fennoscandia File:Barents-region.PNG|The Barents Region File:Satellite image of Northern Europe.png|A satellite photograph of Northern Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Nordic countries」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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