Scan-duh-nay-vee-ah! Look at this Arctic wonderland -- fjords,
saunas, fjords, lutefisk, blondes, vikings, blond vikings?, fjords, Ikea, babies in government
issued boxes, Santa, death metal, and fjords. But like, where exactly are the borders of
Scandinavia -- because not off of this stuff is in it. Scandinavia is just three countries exactly:
Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Three kingdoms to be more precise, all of
which are on the Scandinavian peninsula -- well, except Denmark, and errrr plus Finland. Wait, this doesn't help at all. Forget that. The three countries on this peninsula can
be collectively called Fennoscandia -- but if you do everyone will look at you weird
because no one except the nerdiest of geography nerds uses that word. *Fennoscandia*. So, Scandinavia is a term that's one part
geography, one part history, and one part linguistics -- which is why people will argue
about who exactly is included. Finland is normally excluded because she used
to be considered one of the Baltic sisters with historical ties to mother Russia. And Denmark, though on the other side of the
sea is included because of her relationship 'it's complicated' with Sweden. They've had something like 15 to 21 wars between
them depending on how you want to count it. And it's complicated-er because they mostly
fought over Norway. And who wouldn't? She beautiful -- and rich. Anyway, when outsiders say Scandinavia they
probably mean The Nordic Countries. That's these three *plus* Finland *and* Iceland. Though you can hardly blame people for confusion
when organizations like the American Scandinavia Foundation lists everyone as members. And all the Nordic Countries sometimes advertise
abroad under the banner of Scandinavia anyway. This is the 'Holland' approach to international
relations: if there is a fun name that everyone likes and keeps using wrongly, just go with
it. The Nordic countries get along well enough
that they've made an official union: The Nordic Council, a Viking cool kids club, that other
Northern European places occasionally unrealistically dream of joining. Though the Baltic sisters do get to sit with
them, but not actually vote on anything. The Nordic Council is largely a collection
of committees that tries to get its members to cooperate on common problems like the Arctic
environment and social welfare, and business in the region. And also finds time to make a surprisingly
long and hilariously specific list rules for how their logo can be used. Including a 'respect distance' the sovereignty
of which must not be violated. But the biggest deal of the Nordic Council
is that citizens of these five countries get to live and work in any of the others. (Which, if you've seen the EU video -- adds
yet another semi-overlapping bubble of complexity to an already complex region) The immigration rule, however, doesn't apply
to Icelandic horses which are 1. Super adorables And 2. Banished from returning to Iceland should
they ever leave. But that's a story for another time. Now, it wouldn't be a political union in Europe
without some special territorial weirdness to mention, mainly: - Aland: an autonomous region of Finland,
that speaks Swedish. - And The Faeroe Islands and Greenland, both
countries in the Kingdom of Denmark. Greenland is really the odd girl out in the
Nordic club, given that she's in the wrong hemisphere and that Greenlanders aren't historically
or linguistically related to Nords. Also, her flag ruins the otherwise consistent
design motif. But she's part of Denmark because Vikings. Lastly there's Svalbard, an unincorporated
territory of Norway, that must be mentioned because it has prepared for the apocalypse
with a seed bank of every plant to rebuild all of agriculture should it be necessary. And it's also guarded by armored bears. So that's that -- next time you say Scandinavia,
and you're not 100% sure who that includes, just say the The Nordic Countries instead. Hello Internet, this is my first sponsored
video and that sponsor *is* Squarespace. Squarespace is the easiest way to create a
beautiful website, blog, or online store for you and your ideas. I'm very happy to have them as a sponsor because
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do with Brady. If you are looking to have your own website
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Is it bad that the only thing I wanted to know was why Icelandic horses are banned from Iceland once they leave?
Here's the Answer for anyone else curious:
"As a result of their isolation from other horses, disease in the breed within Iceland is mostly unknown, except for some kinds of internal parasites. The low prevalence of disease in Iceland is maintained by laws preventing horses exported from the country being returned, and by requiring that all equine equipment taken into the country be either new and unused or fully disinfected. As a result, native horses have no acquired immunity to disease; an outbreak on the island would be likely to be devastating to the breed. This presents problems with showing native Icelandic horses against others of the breed from outside the country, as no livestock of any species can be imported into Iceland, and once horses leave the country they are not allowed to return."
Vikingabröder, tillsammans tar vi jänkarna!
Come at us bro! We have armored bears.
God I love his voice
Everytime I hear Svalbard mentioned, I think of Iorek. I'm glad CGP Grey mentioned it too.
I really wish CGP had his own CrashCourse series, I'd love to see weekly editions of his videos
Woohoo Scandinavia And The World already taught me almost everything in this video :D
Maybe (probably?) it's because I'm from Sweden, but was this news to people?
Everyone should see the ending screen: http://i.imgur.com/Q7kL66a.jpg