Northern Europe is the northern part or region of the European continent. A United Nations report published in 2011 defines Northern Europe as including the following ten countries and dependent regions:
- Denmark
- Faroe Islands
- Estonia
- Finland
- Åland Islands
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Norway
- Svalbard and Jan Mayen
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- Guernsey
- Isle of Man
- Jersey
Before the establishment of the Nordic Council in 1952, the term 'Nordic', or 'Northern', was commonly used to also refer to the Lutheran Baltic countries Estonia and Latvia, as well as the northern sections of European Russia.
The United Kingdom and Ireland are sometimes included in Western Europe; as is Iceland for historal, cultural, linguistic and political reasons (compare Greenland which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, but is geographically located in America, and is often considered to be in Northern Europe or the Nordic Countries, though rarely Scandinavia proper). The Baltic states are sometimes included in Eastern Europe due to their recent occupation by the Soviet Union.
Famous quotes containing the words northern and/or europe:
“[During the Renaissance] the Italians said, “We are one in the Father: we will go back.” The Northern races said, “We are one in Christ, we will go on.””
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Can we never extract the tapeworm of Europe from the brain of our countrymen?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)