Finland

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Finland is a country which I only briefly have visited along the boarder of Sweden. I still find I have a connection to Finland as my grandfather is Finnish. Yet again the video above created by Geography now is a great video for learning about Finland. I would highly recommend that you watch that video before reading the rest of this.
The first thing one should not about Finland is that it is not part of Scandinavia. It is located to the east of Scandinavia and west of Russia. The capital city is Helskinki which is the second northern most capital in the world after Reykjavik, Iceland. The Finnish language bears no resemblance to the northern germanic languages and is in fact part of its own language group.  It has over 180'000 islands part of the Åland archipelago, which is an autonomous region but belongs to Finland and... they speak Swedish. The Northern part of Finland is within the arctic circle which means it experiences the midnight sun during the Summer in the North and barely any sun during the Winter, however you may see the aurora borealis. It is also notable for being the home of Santa Clause.  

Finland is a relatively flat country apart from in the north where the highest peak is mount Halti (which technically belongs to Norway, but Norway plans on giving it to Finland this year because of its 100year anniversary of independence. Finland is within the top three countries for air quality, which may be because over 80% of the country is covered in forestry. This makes Finland the biggest producer of wood in the EU. There is over 188'000 lakes in 'lakeland'. Finland is the most 'swampy' country in the EU. The finish for swamp is 'suo' and the Finnish for Finland is 'Suomi'. There is perhaps a connection.

There is 5.5million people in Finland is the most sparsely populated country in the EU. The main language is finish as I have mentioned. Finnish is arguably one of the hardest languages to learn because of the immensely complicated grammar rules. Even so, Finland has arguably the best educated system in the world. Because of this, Finland has very good proficiency in english. Finland is also one of the remaining countries in the world that still has conscription. Which demands usually in the region of one year of military service. Åland is exempt but, they have to serve in some other part of the civil service. Saunas were invented in Finland and are a massive part of their culture.

Finland is a country which I would like to visit again and perhaps more thoroughly the next time.


Thanks !

Denmark

Before I mention anything, this is a very short video clip about the geography of Denmark which I found very useful and informative when writing this post. Credit to the geography now channel!

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Denmark is the southern most nordic country. It effectively connects Scandinavia with mainland Europe. Denmark is made up of 1419 Island, 74 of which are inhabited. The largest is Sjælland. The capital city is Copenhagen(Køvenhavn).

Denmark is an extremely flat country with its highest point being a mere 170m above sea level. Only 13% of its land is forested and the rest being used for agriculture. The majority of the land is rolling hills, sandy beaches and small green island which people tend to go to for camping holidays. Unlike the rest of the nordic countries, it rarely snows in Denmark. It does get cold enough but it doesn't actually snow because of the pressure systems.

The population of Denmark is roughly 5.7 million people. It is one of the most highly taxed countries in the world and was also shown to be the 'happiest' country in the world several times in recent years.  This was however stolen by Norway this year. The background cultural context of Denmark, like many of the other Nordic countries is vikings.

In Denmark people speak Danish. Denmark is where all of the northern germanic and germanic languages are thought to have been born. Originally people would've spoken proto-germanic around 300BCE, then moving onto proto-norse and then eventually onto old norse, east and west norse and gutnish and then further splitting into all of the modern northern germanic languages (Danish,  Swedish, Norweigan, Gutnish(spoken on the island of Gotland to an extent), Faroese and Icelandic). All of these languages are relatively intelligible with each other depending on which dialects you encounter. There is an old saying that many Swedish and Norwegian people will hold close to their hearts, 'Swedish and Norwegian sound like fairies are speaking, but that danish sounds like someone speaking with a potato stuffed down their throats. I have no comment on this. It is also perhaps worth mentioning that LEGO and loudspeakers were invented in Denmark.

Denmark has been part of many interesting projects, such as 'Øresundsbron' the oresunds bridge connecting Sweden with Copenhagen. This has greatly boosted the local economies by greatly shortening the commute between Malmö(Sweden) and Copenhagen. Getting to Denmark is fairly simple, one can fly to Copenhagen or take a train from anywhere in Europe. The airport in Copenhagen has excellent transport links to Sweden, Copenhagen city centre(by metro, train, bus or taxi) as well as the rest of Denmark.

Denmark is a country which I have visited on many occasions and would highly recommend that you all travel there.
Thanks!

Svalbard

The next country on my list is Norway. I decided however to initially look away from the mainland. Svalbard is unique in the world for many reasons.Svalbard is an archipelago located north of Scandinavia. I have visited the mainland of Norway many times but, I've never been to Svalbard. This is mainly because of its remoteness and as I'm a dependant to my family I've been unable to convince them to bring me there thus far.




The main town in Svalbard is called 'Longyearbyen'. Longyearbyen is the most northerly town (not settlement) in the world. Only beaten by Atlas which is not permanently inhabited. The Norwegian government has been able to keep Svalbard populated by making it a so called 'tax haven'. This means that the inhabitants do not pay tax there. However, even though there is always a reasonably sized population(roughly ~2500 people) they are not necessarily living there permanently. Scientific researchers move to Svalbard for perhaps a year at a time and then leave again. Nasa for example has a research base at 'Ny-Ålesund'. This has been hugely successful with people working there for a period of time and earing large sums of money. Tying in with science and research, the so called 'Doomsday Vault' is situated in Svalbard. This is basically an enormous seed vault. Which could save the world in a post-apocalyptic scenario. However, it saw its first withdrawal in 2015 due to the Syrian conflict.




Tourism is a major industry in Svalbard. Many people visit to experience the natural beauty. Many people may enjoy hiking or camping. Many people would recommend that one should visit three separate time: once during the winter, when there is 24 hours of night, once in the summer when there is 24 hours of day and, once in the middle twilight period between the two. Many people also come during the winter in order to see the Aurora Borealis. There is however, many more accessible places to view these.












Credit: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8803/29209961393_33b11db5b8_b.jpg





The physical geography of Svalbard is staggering. There are two main islands, with small 'lands' to divide them up.It is home to many glaciers, fjords, rivers and, mountains. The highest peak in Svalbard is 'Newtontoppen' at 1'713m. Its largest glacier is 'Austfonna' at 8,492 km² .

Svalbard, in conclusion is a place to which I'd love to travel. Getting there is however not that easy. Firstly, one can fly directly from Oslo to Longyearbyen, many of the Norweijan fjord cruises now make a stop in Longyearbyen in Svalbard. Personally I would prefer to fly there should I decide to visit.

Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed.

Jonah 



The land of ice and fire: Iceland

Iceland, the land of ice and fire. It is a small island located in the North Atlantic ocean, with a similar size to Hungary is not a very large country. Iceland is not only an incredible place to visit, but also a place of incredibly diverse geography and natural beauty. The country has a very small population of only ~300'000 people; with the capital of Reykjavik's population at ~120'000 people. Iceland is incredibly famous worldwide for its volcanos, natural hot springs and stunning natural beauty


Perhaps most recently in 2010 the eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and caused massive disruption in the European airspace for air travellers because, of the ash clouds which. could've damaged jet engines. Iceland has many other volcanos vastly larger than the aforementioned such as; Hekla and Katla. These volcanos have the potential to cause much greater destruction. They have the potential to cause so called 'volcanic-winters' which is when the volcanic ash in the atmosphere from the eruption blocks out the sunlight and can temporarily cool the Earth causing: crop failure, death of animals and famine. I find it incredible that such a small island has the potential to cause global effects.


Iceland is the least populated country in Europe (with only roughly 320'000 people) and yet it has become one of the most popular and trendy tourist destinations to visit. Iceland's airlines, both its flagship carrier(Icelandair) and Its budget airlines (WOW air) both have offers which offer low fares between Europe and North America with a stopover in between in Iceland for up to a week. This has been a hugely successful campaign bringing a lot of tourism to Iceland.


I, myself have never visited Iceland however, I intend to do so in the not too distant future. I would intent to visit the Blue Lagoon which is an enormous hot spring and is one of the most famous in the world. I would also intend to visit the other volcanic sites of Iceland such as Katla and Heckla. I would also intend to spend a couple days generally hiking around Iceland to observe its natural beauty. The documentary that I've linked above is a documentary by National Geographic and is a great source of information if you would like to learn more about Iceland.


Thanks for reading!
Jonah

The almost perfect country: Sweden and its almost perfect capital

Sweden is a country which has come to be considered a 'utopia' by many people in other countries. People seem to think that the people are perfect, there's no problems in their society, they have a beautiful country and they speak a weird language.


Sweden is a country which I feel a very strong and deep connection to. My mother's side of the family is from there. I've decided to focus on one of the countries from which I originate.




Sweden is an extremely diverse country, from the relatively mild climate in the south in Skåne to the extreme land of the midnight sun and midday moon in Norrland.

This week I thought I'd begin with the capital city: Stockholm. Home of the monarch, one of the oldest cities in Europe being first settled after the ice age and becoming established in the eleventh century.

 

 



Taken by me of Sandhamn

.With a population of only 2,226,795 it's a relatively small city in comparison to some other major cities like London or Frankfurt.


Stockholm is built upon an enormous archipelago. An archipelago being a large group of islands. The main city centre is situated on fourteen main islands. There is also may smaller islands such as 'Sandhamn'(See picture taken by me to the right). The archipelago (as with many other archipelagos) is slightly different to the mainland of Sweden. There are many more deciduous trees as well as, a much more rocky landscape across its entirety. Many of the islands are places where, many Swedes have their holiday homes - Sommar Stuga. Each island is unique in its own right. Most of the islands have full facilities(running water, internet, phone signal and electricity) however some islands don't have any.


The Archipelago has been an inspiration to many writers for example: ABBA wrote many of their songs in a small cabin somewhere in the archipelago. During the summer the archipelago is bursting with life from tourists and Swedes who move there during the summer months. It is easy to get around as there is roads to many of the larger islands(Värmdö) and otherwise very good boat connections exist. However, during the winter ice limits the accessibility of some of the islands, there is fewer people and many business close when there is fewer people. This has caused problems for the permanent inhabitants of the island, and because of this there has been drives to encourage people to permanently relocate or retire to the islands, it is very doable to commute from many of the islands to the city centre, with 45minute ferry rides from many of the islands directly into the city.


Tourism, as I have made obvious is the main driving force of the archipelagos economy. Thanks to the 'Allemansrätt' one can hike around the islands without the worry of being arrested for trespassing. This has made them particularly popular for people seeking a retreat but at the same time, not being too far from civilisation.




In conclusion, the Stockholm Archipelago is an amazing geographical landscape which is well worth visiting. Stockholm Arlanda airport has connections to most major cities in Europe and the world.


Thanks, and feel free to leave a comment !

Introduction

Hello, my name is Jonah. This is my blog about travel; more specifically the different destinations to which I would recommend you go to.
Feel free to leave comments, suggestions and requests!


Hope you all enjoy,
Jonah