Geology of Finland subsequent uplift and erosion would have eroded all of these sediments. In Finland, Caledonian nappes overlie shield rocks of Archean age. Despite occurring in about the same area the Scandinavian Caledonides and the modern Scandinavian Mountains are unrelated. The ice sheet that covered Finland intermittently during the Quaternary grew out from the Scandinavian Mountains. By some estimates the Quaternary glaciers eroded away on average 25 m of rock in Finland, with the degree of erosion being highly variable. Some of the material eroded in Finland has ended up in Germany, Poland, Russia and the Baltic states. Ground till left by
Demographics of Latvia the cross-roads of all the regional superpowers of their day, including Denmark (the Danes held on lands around the Gulf of Riga), Sweden, and Russia, with southern (Courland) Latvia being at one time a vassal to Poland-Lithuania as well as Latgale falling directly under Poland-Lithuania rule. Through all this time, Latvia remained largely under Baltic German hegemony, with Baltic Germans comprising the largest land-owners, a situation which did not change until Latvia's independence. Historically, Latvia has had significant German, Russian, Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian minorities. The majority (roughly two thirds) of Latvians, under Swedish influences, adopted Lutheranism, while the minority