Scandinavia vs. Nordic Countries Part I: What is the difference?

I have always defined Scandinavia as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.  Following that logic, I define Scandinavian Peninsula as the peninsula occupied by Norway and Sweden.  The reason behind my definition is simple: linguistic similarity.  Standard Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish are so similar that Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes can communicate with each other in their own language.  More information on the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish) in a later blog http://arcticchill.wordpress.com/2010/03/21/scandinavian-languages-danish-norwegian-and-swedish/ .

My other reason for defining Scandinavia as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden is historical.  These 3 countries’ history and culture are very much intertwined.  I would rather not go into detail other than the fact that all 3 of them were in the Kalmar Union for over 100 years.  Saying more than that would take forever and probably start a war of words. 

So that is how I define Scandinavia.  The question that needs to be answered now is do Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes have the same definition?  Time to surf the web for some official answers.  Here is my research in chronological order, with some steps omitted:

1.  The embassy of Denmark in Washington DC http://www.ambwashington.um.dk/en , has a link to the official website of Denmark.

2.  Denmark’s official website http://www.denmark.dk/en has a section on Visit Denmark.

3.  The Visit Denmark section on Denmark’s official website http://www.denmark.dk/en/menu/Visit-Denmark/ recommends those thinking about going to Denmark to go straight to http://www.visitdenmark.com .

4.  According to VisitDenmark.com http://www.visitdenmark.com/usa/en-us/menu/presse/about-us/our-partners/scandinavian_airlines.htm Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is the national airline of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden!

5.  Logically, SAS has head offices in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden http://www.flysas.com/en/Generic/Help_Contact/Contact_us/SAS_Head_offices/ .  I try to get more information from SAS.  It turns out that SAS is owned by SAS Group  http://www.sasgroup.net/SASGROUP_MEDIACENTER/CMSForeignContent/SAS%20Media%20kit.pdf .

6.  The governments of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden together own 50% of the SAS Group http://www.sasgroup.net/SASGROUP_IR/CMSContent/20%20largest%20shareholders.htm .

7.  The Finnish government owns 55.8% of Finnair, Finland’s national airline http://www.finnairgroup.com/group/group_1.html .

Scandinavia is often confused with Nordic countries.  But the definition of Nordic countries is rather clear: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland http://www.norden.org/en/nordic-council/the-nordic-council .  In fact, these 5 countries and their autonomous territories cooperate with each other in the Nordic Council.

Therefore, Scandinavia is Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.  Scandinavia is part of the Nordic Countries.  Nordic Countries are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland.

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