March (territory) - Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Denmark means "the march of the Danes".

In Norse, "mark" meant "borderlands" and "forest"; in present-day Norwegian and Swedish it has acquired the meaning "ground".

Markland was the Norse name of an area in North America discovered by Norwegian Vikings.

The forests surrounding Norwegian cities are called "Marka" - the marches, e.g. the forests surrounding Oslo are called Nordmarka, Østmarka and Vestmarka - i.e. the northern, eastern and western marches.

In Norway, note also:

• the Norwegian county Finnmark, "the borderlands (or, the forests) of the Sami" (known to the Norse as Finns)
• Hedmark ("the borderlands of heath")
• Telemark ("the borderlands of the Þela tribe" ).

In Finland, note:

• Noormarkku (Swedish: Norrmark), a former municipality of Finland
• Pomarkku (Swedish: Påmark), a municipality of Finland
• Söörmarkku (ruots. Södermark), is a village in Noormarkku, Finland
• Markku, an island in archipelago of Finland