Scandinavia is a region located in Northern Europe. Locally, the term is used to describe the area occupied by the countries of Norway, Denmark and Sweden. However, others use the term to describe the Scandinavian Peninsula, while others include other regions including Iceland, Finland, the Aland Islands and the Faroe Islands.
The term “Scandinavia” was first used as a term to describe Denmark, while Norway and Sweden were added later. It was first used sometime during the 18th century to describe a common heritage.
As would expect in such a large region, there are a variety of languages spoken throughout Scandinavia. This includes North Germanic languages and Sami languages. As more people migrated to the area, other languages including Yiddish, Finnish and Romani have been spoken for over 100 years. Other common languages spoken throughout Scandinavia include Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Faroese and Icelandic. There are several minority languages that are also protected through the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, including Romani, Chib, Romanes, Romani and Yiddish.
The region of Scandinavia is spread across 358,325 square miles. It has an estimated population of over 21 million, based on numbers taken in 2017. This makes the total population density over 58 people per square mile. The population of each of the countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden has risen at an annual rate of approximately 1%. The region of Scandinavia is expected to continue to see this rate of slow and steady growth into the future.