SWEDEN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Of course, there are always the more popular images of Sweden that come up for most people: Swedish meatballs, Vikings, Swedish fish, IKEA-broken marriages, buxom blonde bombshells, and the Swedish chef. But there’s one thing that comes to my mind when I think of Sweden: Anthony Bourdain’s absolute loathing hatred for the band ABBA. Every single time he’s went to Sweden, he mentions this to the shocked chagrin of his Swedish hosts. Oh, and snow and cold.

Sweden is another country that was named by someone else: the Dutch in this case. However, the Old English and ultimately Latin, Old Norse and other similar languages referred to this area as being the land of the Swedes. The word Swede itself may have stemmed from a Proto-Germanic word meaning “one’s own,” referring to the Germanic tribe itself.

Sweden is located in northern Europe, part of the Scandinavian countries. Surrounded by Norway to the west, Finland to the east, and Denmark to the southwest, it also has a coastline along the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia. It’s across the water from Germany and Poland on the southern end and Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to the east. The border between Sweden and Norway is quite mountainous and the longest uninterrupted European border. Because Sweden is so long, its climate and landscape varies quite a bit from agricultural in the south and gets more forested the farther north you go. Despite its being such a northern country, southern winters are nothing like the far north; its proximity to the water keeps it fairly mild (similar to how Long Island, NY doesn’t get quite the cold temps as other areas of the state do). The northern 15% of the country is in the Arctic Circle, where there are days when the sun never sets in the summer and never rises in the winter.

The earliest people were hunter-gatherers, probably chasing some reindeer, probably doing a little fishing. The Swedes entered their Viking era from about the 8th century to the 11th century. Their accomplishments and tragedies are carved in runestones around Scandinavia. The epic poem Beowulf even chronicled the wars between Svealand (Sweden) and Göteland (Gothia). As Sweden moved into the Middle Ages, it somehow avoided the feudalism and slavery that embraced much of the rest of Europe. People here were more or less a group of free farmers with a handful of larger cities here and there. However, it was still poor and bartering seemed to be how things were dealt. During the 1300s, the country couldn’t escape the devastating effects of the Black Death. It would take nearly 500 years for the population numbers to recover from these losses that only took two years to unfold. The Hanseatic League formed after this, an agreement among many of the countries that touched the Baltic Sea that essentially swept the seas of piracy and encouraged trade among themselves, and Stockholm became a very popular place to be because of this. However, Sweden broke apart when things started to change and went out on their own, entering into their own golden era. Sweden grew during the 1600s and gained land and influence, including the introduction of Protestantism. They entered several wars, including Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and with Russia. The last war Sweden took part in was in 1814 with the Battle of Leipzig, which was in relation to the Napoleonic Wars. The mid-1800s saw the beginning of modernization and industrialization, and many Swedes were also looking at areas abroad. Many came to the US during this time, and many of those ended up in areas in the Midwest, especially Minnesota (the city of Lindström, MN is known as America’s Little Sweden). Officially, Sweden was neutral during WWI and WWII, but was often thought to have been under Germany’s influence. After the wars, Sweden tried to strengthen its diplomatic and economic ties with other countries in Europe. There have been some periods of economic instability, and in recent years, there has also been some real challenges on the socio-political front regarding immigration in recent years.

Stockholm is capital and largest city in not only Sweden, but in all of the Nordic countries. It’s located on the eastern side of the country where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. The central part of the city is stretched across 14 different islands that make up the Stockholm archipelago. There are actually tons of smaller islands that dot the waterways all over this region. It’s not only the center of government, but also of media, culture, education along with being the corporate headquarters for many multinational companies.

A Volvo at an IKEA in Sweden... thanks, Reddit!

Sweden has a high GDP and high standard of living. Its exports include hydropower, timber, arms (weaponry, not body parts -- don’t be creepy), iron ore, and they depend on foreign trade. They have strong industries in technology (especially mobile phone technology) and the automotive industry. Several Swedish companies are internationally known: IKEA, Volvo, Ericsson, Sony Ericsson Mobile (my Japanese host father worked for them for many years), Electrolux, and Securitas. Sweden also has a low income inequality and is one of the few members of the EU that does not use the euro, opting for their own krona currency instead.

Lutheranism was introduced at the end of the 1500s to replace the Norse paganism that most of the people followed. Other religions, like Roman Catholicism and Judaism, expanded into Sweden during the 1700s. However, the country loosened its religious constraints during the 1800s and allowed for other denominations and secularism. Because of immigration, there is a sizable Muslim population in Sweden. And according to a study in 2015, only 21% believe in a god (which is down 14% from seven years earlier).

Sweden’s official language is Swedish, but it was only given its official status in 2009. The language is closely related to Norwegian and Danish. Because of the large number of Finns in Sweden, the Finnish language has been recognized as a minority language along with Sami, Yiddish, Romani, and Meänkieli (a group of Finnish dialects spoken in northern Sweden). Arabic is also spoken by many people in minority communities. After WWII, English gained its standing as a global language and especially one to learn for the sciences and technology.

Swedish scientists have invented and developed quite a few scientific discoveries. Some of their works have completely changed the way we work in the world, and some are names we all recognize (at least if you haven’t been living under a rock). Some of the names and inventions that might sound familiar include Anders Celsius (created the 100-point temperature scale), Gustaf Erik Pasch (invented the safety match), Martin Wiberg (invented a bunch of things but is known for his work with computers in 1875), Alfred Nobel (invented dynamite and namesake of the Nobel Prizes), Jonas Offrell (invented the revolver around the same time Samuel Colt was doing the same thing), Helge Palmcrantz (invented a type of machine gun), Lars Magnus Ericsson (inventor and owner of telecom tech company), Carl Rickard Nyberg (invented the blowtorch), Inge Edler (helped develop ECG technology for the heart), Nils Bohlin (developed 3-point seat belt system), and a ton of other things used in the medical field and technology.

Up next: art and literature

NORWAY: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

I have had a keen interest with Norway for quite some time now. I think it started when I worked at Concordia Language Villages and was introduced to the Norwegian camp called Skogfjorden. I worked at the Japanese camp, but one year, we had a girl who worked with us who also had worked at the Norwegian camp. The first time I ever heard the Norwegian language was when she read me the Norwegian version of the famous book “Everybody Poops.” It was such a memorable moment for me. 

 

The name Norway as we know it in English comes from the Old English name for it: Nor∂rveg(r), which roughly meant “northern way.” The Norse have two names for their country: Noreg in Nynorsk, and Norge in Bokmål. (I’ll explain the difference in a minute. Keep reading.) It was eventually Latinized as Northuagia, Northwegia, Norwegia, Nortmannus, Norwei, Norwey, and finally Norway.

Norway is located in northern Europe and considered part of the Scandinavian countries. Its western shore touches the Norwegian Sea, which is just east of the North Atlantic Ocean and north of the North Sea (that’s really north!). Just across the Skagerrak Strait on Norway’s southern coast is the country of Denmark. And much of its eastern border is shared with Sweden. However, in the far north, Norway wraps around the northern end of this region and borders Finland and Russia. Norway also includes the islands known as Svalbard (almost due north in the Barents Sea), the smaller island Jan Mayen (in the Norwegian Sea between Norway and Greenland), and the island of Bouvet (in the South Atlantic Ocean north of Antarctica). The Swedish border is lined with the Scandinavian Mountains while the western coast is carved out with fjords and coastal ravines. There are areas that experience permafrost all year round (not a place for me), but the southern portions of the country enjoy some decent dry and moderately warm summers. Norway is a haven for many animals that thrive in the northern climes.

The earliest artifacts of life in Norway were found along the coast. As the cultures and civilizations grew and developed better weapons and tools, they also began to trade (and start fights). Much of their subsistence was tied to fishing and the sea and some agriculture. Starting in the 8^th century, the Vikings became the big thing. The Vikings were seafarers who also explored and traded, often with force. In 872, Harold Fairhair (according to tradition) was the one who united Norway and ruled as its first king. From about the 10^th century, the Norse philosophies began to give way to Christian ones. During the mid-1300s, the Black Death killed off more than half of the population. Denmark, Sweden (which also included parts of Finland at that point), and Norway entered a union called the Kolmar Union. A little over a hundred years later, Sweden left. Norway and Denmark actually remained together until 1814. Protestantism was introduced during the mid-1500s. Norway was hit with several famines between the end of the 1600s and 1800. The country decided to declare its own independence in 1814 and named Christian Frederick as its first king. This was a period of nationalism that followed this, which was when many of their cultural arts started to expand. During WWI, Norway tried to remain neutral, but Britain picked them for their team. They tried to remain neutral again in WWII, but Germany invaded and picked first. Norwegian forces pushed the Germans back and became allies with the UK and US. Oil was discovered in 1969. During the 1980s and 1990s, Norway’s economy grew through a series of reforms set by conservative policies, and all of their foreign debt was paid off. There were a couple of terrorist attacks in 2011 and I remember watching it on TV. It was done by some crazy dude that looks like the character Silas from The Da Vinci Code (Silas’ picture pulls up if you go to Google Images and search for “guy from Da Vinci Code.”)

The capital of Norway is Oslo, located on the southern coast along the Oslofjord. This city of about a million people (according to estimated 2017 stats) was first settled around the year 1000. However, it wasn’t established as the capital city until 1299. Today, Oslo is a major world city and serves as a center for commerce, government, education, and the arts. Several museums, galleries, and theatres are found throughout this compact city. Not surprising, but winter sports are quite popular in Norway, and there are several venues for skiing, ice hockey, but also for football/soccer.

Norway is the second richest country in Europe. It consistently ranked toward the top of lists of stable, high-functioning countries. Using a combination of capitalism and social democracy, Norwegians enjoy a high quality of life. Public healthcare is free (for the most part), and there are no tuition fees to study at the university level, even for international students (for the most part). Parents even have 46 weeks of paid parental leave (which is about 46 more weeks than the US offers), and the country generally has a low unemployment rate. However, the cost of living is very expensive in Norway (Norway has some of the highest gas prices in the world at over USD$9!), even though there are many corporate headquarters in Norway, and it has a number of natural resources and natural gas. 

The Church of Norway used to be the official religion, and the constitution still requires that the king adhere to Lutheranism. Many people are still “affiliated” with a church for its basic rites, but by 2010, those who attend on a regular weekly basis have dropped to an estimated 2%. Roman Catholicism is the second most followed denomination and a number of other denominations are found here as well. As Norway became more diverse in its population, other Eastern religions have also been represented here. Norse Paganism, and that especially of the Viking Age, flourished before the introduction of Christianity. It was forbidden in many areas, but it remained alive in some of its traditions, celebrations, names of people, and names of days of the week. 

Norway has two official languages: Norwegian and Sami. And when it comes to Norwegian, there are two versions: Bokmål and Nynorsk. While both are used in education, government, churches, and the media, the vast majority of the people write in Bokmål rather than Nynorsk (which are both only used for written Norwegian). And many people speak a different dialect that differs quite a bit from the written form. Norwegian is quite similar to Danish, Swedish, Finnish, and Icelandic, and all of these are generally mutually intelligible. Many Norwegians study English as a second language, but some choose French, German, or Spanish instead.  

The US state of Minnesota has the largest population of Norwegians outside of Norway. I learned about this when I used to work there during my summers. Many of their traditions and names trace back to their Norwegian roots. You’ll also find a ton of Lutheran churches up there, too. Norwegians have also had their hand at exploring and relocating to other areas too, like Greenland and Dublin, Ireland. The country has certainly contributed to the world of literature, art, music, and politics. I’m pretty excited to learn about some of famous composers, authors, and artists I didn’t realize were Norwegian.

Up next: art and literature

LATVIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Latvia, to me, has always conjured up images of cold, snowy woods with struggling families bundled up sitting close to preserve heat, drinking hot chocolate laced with booze. In July. (Just kidding. It’s probably in May.) All I know is that my husband tried to find a set of headlight covers for my Mitsubishi Outlander, and the cheapest ones we could find were in Latvia, and they weren’t cheap. 

The country of Latvia is named after the Latgalians, one of the original Baltic tribes who inhabited the area. The name for this country in other languages is usually some derivative of Latonia or Lettland, which is based on the original word Latgalian. 

  

Located in northeastern Europe, Latvia is surrounded by Estonia to the north, Russia to the east, Belarus to the southeast, and Lithuania to the south. It also has a fairly long coastline along the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga. Roughly half the area of Latvia is forested land—in fact, there is still much of these lands (including wetlands, lakes, and rivers) that are untouched. And subsequently, Latvia is one of the world’s most environmentally friendly countries. 

  

This country also enjoys a temperate climate albeit cold in the winters. However, the winters can be slightly milder closer to the coast and harsher the farther inland you go. The summers are still not quite as warm in Latvia: the average July temperatures are only about 67ºF. But they do experience four distinct seasons, each about the same length. 

  

There were several Baltic tribes, including the Latgalians and the Livonians, who were settled in this area as early as 3000 BCE. During the Medieval period, the city of Riga became an important port city and trading center. The three centuries after the Medieval Era was a period in Latvia’s history that saw many changes. Livonia at that time encompassed the modern-day countries of Estonia and Latvia, and they later succumbed to Polish and Lithuanian rule. Later on, Sweden entered into the fight for this area and won: it became known as Swedish Livonia. As German influence began to infiltrate their culture, Lutheranism spread as well. The 19^th century brought changes to Latvia’s social structure in the form of land reform as well as movements to promote a Latvian nationalism against Polish, Russian, and German social and political influence. However, Latvia became swept into the Russian expansion. At the same time, they did see a gain in its economy and infrastructure with the building of ports, banks, factories, schools, parks, streets, museums, theatres, and railway. Latvia remained under Russian control throughout WWI; after the war, they fought for their own independence and won. However, they were again part of the Soviet Union during WWII and immediately invaded Poland. Nazi Germany invaded Latvia to fight the Russians, and by the end of WWII, tens of thousands of Latvians had been killed. Even after the end of the war, Latvia remained under Soviet control; nationalists were shipped out to Siberia and the rest were forced into collective farms. When Russia broke apart in 1991, Latvia was once more its own country. Those who were citizens (and their descendents) before 1940 were granted citizenship again. However, those who arrived during the Soviet years (including many former Russian nationals) were not granted the same citizenship status. They were, however, able to naturalize in and become citizens later, but there are still many non-citizens still living in Latvia. The country did join the European Union and has become a cultural capital of Europe. 

  

The capital city is Riga, the largest city in the country. It’s a port city located on the Gulf of Riga just at the mouth of the Daugava River, which runs through Latvia, Belarus, and Russia. The city itself was founded in 1201, and parts of its old city center are considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Riga has been the host of several international music, film, sports, cultural, and governmental events. In the eight centuries it’s been a city, Riga has been under control of 12 different governments. Riga is also the center of government, housing an international airport and public transit, museums, universities, parks, theatres, and stadiums. Riga is renowned for its architecture, especially art nouveau buildings. 

Latvia had a fairly growing economy until the global economic crisis of 2008 proved too much. Rising housing costs was one reason their economic bubble burst and soon their unemployment rose to nearly 22%—the highest in the EU. Latvia’s economy is fueled by transportation and transit of goods. The three main ports of Riga, Ventspils, and Liepaja are some of the busiest ports in Europe. Latvia deals with the transport of crude oil and its products, but also deals with hydroelectric power and is also the location of one of the largest underground gas storage facilities in Europe. 

  

Most people here speak Latvian, the country’s official language. Latvian is one of the Baltic languages, related to Lithuanian. The Livonian language is nearly extinct and is protected by law along with Latgalian, which has become a dialect of modern Latvian. There are still a number of Russian speakers in Latvia. All schools use Latvian as the language for education, but they also teach English (which is widely understood and used in business and in touristy spots) and either German or Russian. 

  

By far, the vast majority of Latvians are Christian. And more specifically, Lutheranism is the largest denomination, followed by Roman Catholicism and Russian Orthodox. There are also a smaller number of Latvians who practice a type of paganism called Dievturi, which is stemmed from Latvian mythology. Latvia also has a significant number of people who don’t practice any particular religion at all. 

  

Latvians have made some very important discoveries and inventions that have helped shape the course of the world. For example, Latvian scientist Juris Upatnieks invented 3D holography. (Star Wars has everything to thank for this.) And one Latvian tailor invented a type of material you’re probably wearing right now: Jakobs Jufess came up with jeans (Levi Strauss was the one who supported his invention financially). Although they didn’t invent ice hockey (that is widely attributed to England or Scotland), Latvia is also one of three countries where ice hockey is the most popular sport (the other two are Finland and Canada—I would’ve thought there’d be more). Their culture overall is similar to Lithuania and other areas in the region, and I’m very excited to try the Latvian recipes I picked out.

Up next: art and literature

ICELAND: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

I have been fascinated with Iceland and have wanted to visit ever since I read about its hot springs as a kid. I remember seeing pictures in elementary school of people in their swim suits sitting in these hot springs with snow all around, and the steam from the hot springs would hang heavily in the air around them. It looked crazy, but at the same time, I wanted to try it. And then when I watched the 2013 version of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” I definitely wanted to visit since part of the movie took place and was partly filmed in Iceland. The landscape is absolutely beautiful in a lonesome kind of way. 

 

Common folklore surrounding Iceland’s name says that it was originally from the Old Norse Ísland, meaning “land of ice.” It was used as a deterrent to keep people from settling on the island, making people think that it was the island covered in ice.  Whereas Greenland was given its name to make people think it was actually green and to settle there instead. The truth is that Greenland is the one covered in ice and glaciers, not Iceland as its name makes you believe.   

Iceland is an island country bordering the North Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland Sea.  The island of Greenland lies to the west, and the Danish-controlled Faroe Islands lie to the southeast. The Hebrides Islands of Scotland lie just south of the Faroe Islands. The Norwegian island of Jan Mayen is about 370 miles north of Iceland. While it is politically considered a European country, geographically, it straddles the European plate and the North American plate. 

Celtic monks and Scandinavian explorers were the first people who arrive on the island.  However, Swedish Vikings were the first to navigate around the island.  When the Scandinavians, Scottish, and Irish were arriving in the island to settle it, roughly a quarter of the island was then covered in forests, compared to about one percent today. There was very little arable land on the island, and explorations in Greenland started to take place around this time as well. During the Middle Ages, it was controlled by a unified Scandinavia, and it was also during this time when the Black Death struck the island – not once, but twice.  King Christian III of Denmark introduced Lutheranism to the island after the Reformation was established on the European mainland. The 17^th and 18^th centuries dealt Iceland several hard blows: a number of volcanic eruptions devastated the island; Denmark imposed strict trade restrictions on Iceland; problems with pirates, famines, smallpox epidemics; and, diseases resulting in the deaths of nearly half the livestock in the country.  During the latter part of the 1800s, Iceland began the fight for its own independence. In 1918, Iceland became the Kingdom of Iceland, but remained special friends with Denmark. After WWII, they finally became the Republic of Iceland in 1944. The US set for forces in the country in 1951 as part of the Cold War, and I couldn’t believe that we finally moved the last of our forces out in 2006. (Why didn’t we hear about this on the news? This gives me no hope that we can remove our troops from any other place anytime soon.) The 1970s were filled with Iceland’s “Cod Wars” with the UK over how far out in the ocean their fishing rights go. Starting in the 1990s, Iceland started to establish itself as a significant member of the international community in politics and economics. 

Iceland’s capital city is Reykjavik, located on the island’s southwest corner. Literally meaning “bay of smoke,” it’s named in reference to the smoke emanating from island’s natural hot springs. Originally mentioned as farmland, it became a small settlement during the 9^th century but wasn’t officially established as an actual town until 1786.  In comparison, it’s “founding” is only five years older than Washington, D.C. 

Historically, Iceland’s economy has depended a lot on the fishing industry, and they’ve had a significant impact on the whaling industry as well. These days, they have started to expand its industries a bit to include software, finance, and biotechnology, ecotourism (including whale watching). Before the global economic crisis of 2008, Iceland was the 7^th most productive country in the world per capita. Iceland also capitalized on renewable energy, and their utilization for hydroelectric and geothermal power has made it the world’s leading producer of electricity. Because of Iceland’s cold environment and lack of arable land, the only vegetables produced here are potatoes and other green vegetables that are grown in a greenhouse.  They also produce a large amount of mutton and dairy products. This country also consistently ranks high in terms of having one of the freest markets, productivity, and most innovative. And unlike other countries (especially in North America and Western Europe), Iceland uses the flat tax. 

The vast majority of Icelanders speak Icelandic, which descended from Old Norse, a Northern Germanic language. The closest language to Icelandic is Faroese, the language spoken in the Faroe Islands. I think the coolest thing about Icelandic is their use of two symbols that were leftover from runic letters, namely the thorn [Þ] and the eth [Ð, ð], which sound like the “th” sound. (I wonder if I could just spell my name as Bð instead of Beth? Would anyone get it?) I had only previously seen these symbols when I studied Old English and learned IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). In Iceland, English and Danish are required courses in school. Other languages you’ll hear spoken in Iceland are French, German, Swedish, and Norwegian.  A really fascinating thing I learned was about Icelandic names. Most people have a given name (“What will we call the baby?”) and a family name (your “last name”). But in Iceland, many people’s last names reflect the relation between themselves and their mother or father. It’s why you’ll notice a lot of last names will end in –dóttir (daughter) or -son (son) as in the last name Jónsdóttir or Grímsson. And phone directories are listed in alphabetic order by first name, not last name. 

Roughly three-quarters of the people here lay claim to attending the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland. It’s interesting that the current bishop is not only a woman, but the first woman to hold this position. There are a smaller number of people who practice other Christian denominations.  Iceland also has a small number of people who list Buddhism, Germanic neopaganism, Islam, or Bahá’í as their religion, and about 11% are unaffiliated or practice some other religion.  

Several years ago, I read a TIME magazine article about the deCODE Genetics project.  They were a pharmaceutical company that ran genetics testing on people in order to predict and help diagnose a variety of diseases. It turns out that since most of the people in the country had their genetics ran, there was a very cool side effect of this: now people can trace their genetics back over 1100 years. I also recently read that in 1975, 90% of the women in Iceland went on strike for their rights, and when I say went on strike, that’s exactly what they did: walked off the job, out of their homes, and essentially shut down the country. The very next year, their voices were heard. Parliament passed a measure ensuring equal pay, and five years later, they elected the first woman president. Iceland is quite the role model for getting things done. If they want something to change, they figure out a way to do it in a democratic way. It’s quite commendable, and I’m looking forward to finding out what other incredible things Iceland has done.

Up next: art and literature

FINLAND: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

My first experience with anything Finnish was the Finnish camp Salolampi at Concordia Language Villages in northern Minnesota (a group of total immersion language and culture camps).  I worked at the Japanese camp (Mori no Ike) for three summers in my early twenties. During orientation and other events, we would gather with all of the other camps and a few times; I met with some of the people who worked at Salolampi on occasion. I was fascinated with the northern European camps (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Finnish camps). Maybe I can go back one of these summers and work in their kitchen as a baker or something.

Salolampi, the Finnish camp of Concordia Language Villages. 

The name Finland goes back to references found on three rune-stones. It’s believed it was named after a tribe of people called the Finns. The Finnish word for Finland is Suomi, believed to be a Proto-Baltic cognate for the word for “land.”

Finland lies in northern Europe, just east of the Scandinavian states (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) and north of the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). It’s bordered by Sweden and Norway to the west and north, Russia to the east, and Estonia to the south (and across the Gulf of Finland). This makes Finland one of the northernmost countries. In fact, only one world capital is farther north than Finland’s (and that’s Reykjavík, Iceland). Finland is the land of lakes and islands: it has over 179,000 islands and 188,000 lakes (take that, Minnesota and your ten thousand lakes.) Ice Age glaciers and their retreat formed many of these lakes and the flat, gravelly hillsides seen in much of Finland. Mountains are found in the far northern areas of the country, known as Lapland, which lies in the Arctic Circle. With nearly 86% covered in taiga forests and wetlands, Finland is one of the most forested countries in Europe. 

Archaeological evidence suggests that settlers moved into Finland sometime during the Stone Age (around 8500 BC). During the mid-1200s, Finland fell under the rule of the Swedes. At this time, only the peasants of the southern portions of the country spoke Finnish, while the northern regions spoke Sami. Those of the upper crust of society and government spoke Swedish. After the Reformation, Finland converted to Lutheranism. During the 1700s, Finland was literally caught in the middle of several wars between Sweden on one side and Russia on the other. In 1809, Alexander I took Finland in the name of Russia, where it remained a dependency until they declared their independence in 1917. Finland fought a couple wars with Russia during WWII, resulting in the ceding of three areas.  Prior to hosting the 1952 Summer Olympics, which brought many international visitors, Finland generally had an agricultural-based economy. It really tried to remain neutral in the Cold War, dominated by its neighbor Russia. During the 1980s, Finland made several changes regarding its economy and regulations, now making it one of the most stable countries in Europe and in the world.

Finland’s capital city, Helsinki, lies just across the gulf 50 miles north of Tallinn, Estonia.  With roughly 1.4 million people in the metro area, Helsinki was chosen to be a World Design City and has also ranked highly in best cities and most livable cities lists. The name Helsinki was given to the area where the first settlers landed, named after the Hälsingland Province in Sweden where they came from. I was surprised to see that the average temperatures rival those of Chicago. (I keep trying to convince my husband we should move to Helsinki, because the weather is similar. He’s a native Chicagoan, and he’s still not convinced.)

The Angry Birds theme park in Tampere, Finland.

Due to the large forested areas in Finland, timber, paper factories, and agriculture are important sectors of their economy.  However, their northerly locale creates some difficulty in growing an array of crops because of the shorter growing season.  Technology and information-based jobs are also rising in Finland. The open-source operating system Linux was created by a Finnish software engineer; the phone app Angry Birds was also developed in Finland as well as Nokia phones. Some of the world’s largest cruise ships were built in Finnish shipyards.

About 75% of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, one of the largest churches in the world. In 2013, a little over 22% reported not following any religion at all.

Hei = Hello

In Finland, not only does Finnish have official status, but Swedish as well. In Lapland (the northernmost region), the Sami language also has official status there. Finnish is one of the few European languages that are not part of the Indo-European family of languages. The Finnish language is closer to Estonian and Hungarian than it is to the Scandinavian languages. You’ll also hear Russian, Estonian, Somali, English, and Arabic in the minority areas. The most popular foreign languages studied in school are English, German, and French. 

One of my favorite Internet memes.

About a quarter of the country lies above the Arctic Circle, which means that in the summer there, the sun does not fully set for nearly 73 consecutive days (sometimes called the “midnight sun.”).  In the winter, it doesn’t rise at all for close to 51 days in a row. Finland boasts one of the best educational systems in the world and one of the best healthcare systems as well. Finland’s press has also been ranked as one of the freest in the world. These things alone are probably what helped to rank Finland number two in the Gross National Happiness report by The Earth Institute. Much of their cuisine is based on fish and vegetables. They generally don’t eat as much red meat as other countries, but it is on the rise. However, the dish I chose uses beef, so call it what you will. It still sounds amazing. And I’m hungry just thinking about it.

Up next: holidays and celebrations

ESTONIA: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

There are a few countries that are tucked away in the mysterious corners of Europe, popping up after the massive creation of independent countries during the late 1980s and early 1990s.  Estonia is one of those countries that I only recognized as breaking away from Russia and that its capital Tallinn was mentioned in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series as a trafficking destination.  Despite those dismal attributes, I’m finding there are other far cooler things worth mentioning about this fascinating country. 

The name for the country in the Estonian language is Eesti, which is derived from the Ancient Roman word for the area Aesti.  Although other Scandinavian and Germanic names refer to the area as Eistland and Estland, later Latin versions of Estia and Hestia more likely lent its name to Estonia, as it’s called in English. Estonia lies in the northeastern corner of Europe, with Russia to the east, Latvia to the south, Finland directly to the north across the Gulf of Finland, and Sweden to the west farther across the Baltic Sea.  In fact, the distance between the capital Tallinn and the Finnish capital of Helsinki is merely a 51-mile ferry ride.  There is actually a proposal to build a tunnel for freight-only between the two cities (the shortest distance would be about 50 km/31.1 mi), which would make it the longest tunnel in the world (far longer than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel in Virginia that I traveled as a kid, which is 37 km/23 mi). 

The earliest peoples moved into the area after the last glacier melted, about 11,000 years ago.  The oldest settlement dated, the Pulli Settlement, is on the river Pärnu. Historians and anthropologists have noted the changes as the Aestii people moved through the Bronze and Iron Ages, utilizing tools and moving into a more agrarian society, often considering them the ancestors of Baltic peoples. Estonia also had its own Vikings, called the Oeselians, who mostly lived on the island of Saaremaa in the Baltic Sea.  This island is also known for being the site of a major meteor crash that formed the Kaali Crater. 

During the 12^th century, Denmark set its sights on Estonian lands and took it as its own.  They set up their capital in Reval (later known as Tallinn). Estonia, and more specifically the Livonian Confederation, was quite receptive to Martin Luther’s Reformation. The Livonian War of the mid-1500s, was drawn on religious lines among other things and ended up reducing their population by almost half. After the war, control of the country was handed over to Sweden, and the population boomed once again – until the plague hit, followed by the Great Famine three decades later. Roughly 20% of the population wouldn’t make it through those.

Russia later took control of the area, and after WWI and the Estonian War for Independence, they declared independence in 1918 from Russia.  However, Russia took it back during WWII, where it remained under their control until Germany invaded Russia and eventually reached Estonia. Then, to add to the tug-of-war occupation, Russia took it back several years later toward the end of the war where it remained occupied until 1991.

The capital city of Tallinn, is an important port city on the Baltic Sea.   Not only is it the capital but also the largest city in the country.  The old town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It’s also listed as one of the world’s most digital cities. Estonia on a whole can enjoy bragging rights for having one of the fastest Internet speeds in the world.  Tallinn, which used to be known as Reval, has very strong ties to the information technology industry, called by some as the Silicon Valley of Estonia.  In fact, much of the development for Skype and Kazaa was done in Estonia. Tourism is also an important industry in Estonia, famous for its castles, zoos, museums, cultural and historical arts centers, shopping, and sports venues. 

Estonia is considered a high-income country. It also has a low ratio of government debt to GDP as well.  Oil shale mining supplies roughly 90% of electricity for the country.  The country used to be dependent on agriculture, but in modern times, that has given way to food, construction, and electronics-based industries. The strongest trading partners tend to be other Scandinavian countries, as well as Russia, Germany, the UK, and the US. 

Most of the people here speak Estonian, a language closely related to Finnish, although there are strong borrowings from other Germanic languages. Many of the older Estonians may still also use Russian as a secondary language, left over from the previous Russian occupation.  The most commonly studied foreign languages in schools are English, Russian, German, and Finnish. 

Tere means Hello in Estonian.

Clearly, Lutheranism took a strong hold in Estonia from the early days just after Martin Luther hung his famous Ninety-Five Theses.  However, since then, other Christian denominations are also found in Estonia, as well as many followers of various earth-based religions, Islam, and Buddhism. Many Estonians also consider themselves to have no religion at all, or at least some kind of open preference for no one religion in particular. According to some polls, while many Estonians do technically list a religion when asked, many of those also feel somewhat blasé about the whole religion issue, causing Estonia to be listed as one of the least religious countries in the world.

Sounds like my kind of place: saxophones, coffee cups, silverware, martinis, WiFi, and more.

While small and somewhat unassuming, Estonians are doing some fairly progressive and cool things.  They were the first country to try online voting in national elections. They also have one of the largest catalogues of their own folk songs: coming in with over 133,000 written records. Another cool thing for residents of Tallinn is that they get to enjoy free public transportation. (I’m adding this to my list of reason why I should move to Tallinn.) Another thing that I like is that Estonia puts responsibility on pedestrians and bike riders alike in the requirement that if you are walking/riding at night, you have to wear reflective gear.  Makes sense.  All Estonian schools are hooked up to the Internet, and they also have super high literacy rates as well. (Adding this to the list as well…) I have my issues with the flat tax system, but they were the first country to enact this. It hasn’t worked in other countries that tried it after the economic crisis, but it seems to work in Estonia. Another thing that works for me about Estonia is their food. I’m already craving the recipes I picked out. So, without further ado, let’s go explore Estonia.

Up next: holidays and celebrations

DENMARK: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

It’s the land that brought us both Vikings and Legos. My mom and I have discussed this at length and decided this conversation had to have taken place (in fact, this is the actual transcript): “[Viking spokesman:] I know most people think the Vikings are somewhat defunct – what little they know, right? – but I have this idea. Why rape and pillage anymore? That was so 10^th century.  We’ll change our tactics: we’ll attack from inside homes. We’ve created this incredibly heinous weapon called the Lego. It looks just like a child’s toy – parents will be scrambling to buy as many of these possible, making us a lot of money. Kids will drop these all over the floor in their slobovian ways, and the adults will step on them and practically die in minutes. Kids are immune to the diabolical powers Legos hold. It’s practically perfect in our Danish mastery of taking over the world, one brick at a time.” Ok, maybe it might not be EXACTLY that way, but it sure seemed plausible to me.

Denmark lies on a peninsula just north of Germany in the North Sea and includes 407 islands (of which only 70 are inhabitable). Denmark also lays claim to the island of Greenland (off the coast of Canada) and the Faroe Islands, which are located between Scotland and Iceland.  Although it’s not exactly clear, the word Denmark is thought to be derived from the word “Dani” which refers to a group of people who were indigenous to the area, and the word “mark” which may refer to woodland or a border land. Denmark is also one of the handful of countries that border only one country.  Technically, it shares a land border with just Germany, but it is also connected by Sweden by bridge. 

As far as its early history goes, the people are ethnically related to the Germanic peoples from the south and Scandinavians to the north, and were invaded (and ethnically cleansed) by the Anglo-Saxons. Between the 8^th and 10^th centuries, some Danes (as well as some Swedes and Norwegians) were known as Vikings, who were ruthless, invading, pillaging, and generally taking over wherever they wanted.  They’re often depicted wearing helmets with horns coming from the sides in large boats with highly ornamented figurehead on the bow. (Just watch "How to Train Your Dragon.") Although they weren’t Danish, two of the most famous Vikings were Eric the Red and his son Leif Ericksson.  The Vikings were great explorers, credited with discovering Iceland and the eastern shores of Canada (especially Newfoundland). One of the early kings of Denmark and Norway is Harald Bluetooth. In fact, the Bluetooth icon is actually an overlay of the Nordic runes for the letters H and B (his initials).  Too bad I can never get a bluetooth connection to actually connect. It’s more like blurtooth.  It’s rumored that it was Harald Bluetooth who officially wrote the name “Denmark” on jelling stones, which are giant stones near the city of Jelling that have rune writing on them.  In following the footsteps of the Dutch East India Company, the Danes laid its own claims to regions in India as well (specifically the region of Tranquebar) and the islands known as the US Virgin Islands, known then as the Danish West Indies.  During WWII, Denmark signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, which they invaded Denmark anyway.  Nowadays, Denmark generally does peacekeeping missions in various countries. 

The capital city is Copenhagen, a city of about 1.9 million (about my size of city).  The name Copenhagen means “chapman’s haven” or “merchant’s harbour.”  It’s located mostly on the eastern shore of the island of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager. It’s also right across the sound from the Swedish cities of Malmö and Landskrona.  I’ve always imagined that it was super cold there, but because the island is situated where it is, it doesn’t normally get below 10º F in the winter and average temps in the summer are between 60-70ºF. I’d say this is one more reason why I should move here. It’s a world-class city with museums, universities, nightlife, sports teams, and of course, beer. Copenhagen is also home to one of the world’s best restaurants, Noma, ranked number one for three years in a row by Restaurant magazine. 

Denmark enjoys a fairly strong economy.  They have the lowest level of income inequality in the world and the highest minimum wage in the world as well (I read it’s roughly around $19/hr). And they’re really into green/clean energy and energy efficiency.  Denmark has utilized wind energy for a long time and is working on integrating this wind energy with the national grid. Right now, they’re also working on creating and integrating the electric plug-in car technology.  They also huge on being a “cycling society” – getting rid of so many cars on the roads daily and modifying their infrastructure to create bike lanes. 

The vast majority of the people speak Danish, which is related to Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish, and German.  Because the people of the Faroe Islands also speak Faroese and the people of Greenland also speak Greenlandic, these are also official languages as well.  There are quite a few German speakers near the German border, which makes German one of the more popular foreign languages to learn, along with English.

The vast majority – almost 80% of the population – are Lutheran.  Of course, Lutheranism is the established religion of Denmark.  There is a very small Muslim population, and recently there is a “new” religion called Forn Sithr which is basically centered around pre-Christian Norse paganism. 

In some ways, Denmark has long been a progressive country and is a country of many firsts and number-ones.  It was the first country to legalize pornography in 1969 as well as establish gender-neutral marriages twenty years later.  They also excel in the sciences, giving the world the famous physicist Neils Bohr and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.  Adopted in 1219, the Danish flag is the oldest flag in the world that is still used by an independent country.  There have been several studies which rank Denmark as one of the happiest countries in the world. The Danish royal family can trace its uninterrupted line all the way back to 934AD – the oldest royal family line in Europe.  The architect for the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia was designed by a Danish guy (Jørn Utzen), which was recognized as a World Heritage Site, and he was only the second recipient who was still living at the time of the induction. The longest suspension bridge in Europe (called the Great Belt Fixed Link) links the Danish islands of Zealand and Funen, making it also the third-longest in the world.  And Denmark has the oldest and second-oldest amusement parks in the world -- the Dyrehavsbakken opened in 1583 and Tivoli Gardens opened in 1843.  I’m very excited to cook food from Denmark, listen to my Spotify playlists for Denmark, and discover other really cool things about this country.  In fact, I’m going to go make my sourdough starter for my rugbrød right now.

Up next: holidays and celebrations