Northern Europe

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Not to be confused with Nordic countries. ‹See Tfd›
Northern Europe
Satellite image of Northern Europe.png
A satellite photograph of northern Europe
Northern Europe as defined by the United Nations Statistics Division[1] (marked blue):
  Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Geographically, northern Europe is usually taken to consist of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the British Isles (United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) and Greenland (which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark). Greenland is geographically located in North America and is sometimes included in the northern Europe grouping or the Nordic countries, though rarely Scandinavia proper. Some northern parts of Russia are also in the northern part of Europe.

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.


A map of northern Europe after Ptolemy
A Dutch map of northern Europe, 1601




The region has a south west extreme of just under 50 degrees north and a northern extreme of 81 degrees north. The entire region's climate is affected by the Gulf Stream which has a mild influence on the climate. From the west climates vary from maritime and maritime subarctic climates. In the north and central climates are generally subarctic or Arctic and to the east climates are mostly subarctic and temperate/continental. As the climate and relief varies vegetation is also extremely variable, with sparse tundra in the north and high mountains, boreal forest on the north-eastern and central regions temperate coniferous forests (formerly of which a majority was in the Scottish highlands and south west Norway) and temperate broadleaf forests growing in the south, west and temperate east.

With the exception of the UK and Ireland, northern European countries are known for harsh winters. For example, the Winter of 2010-2011 in Europe began already in November. Temperatures can reach as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius in some parts of northern Europe.[2]


Countries in northern Europe are known to have large, developed economies and some of the highest standards of living in the world. All countries score highly on surveys measuring quality of life, such as the Human Development Index.

See also[edit]