Category: The Nordics

Your Daily 5 Nordic Facts : Finland

northernfever1 Comment
  1. For some bizarre reason, there isn’t a single payphone in Finland.
  2. Sauna is the most used Finnish word outside of the motherland.
  3. I thought it would be Sweden, but apparently Finland has world’s highest annual consumption of milk per capita – around 1 litre per person every day.
  4. The blue of the Finnish flag represents the water of the thousands of lakes in the country, whereas the white represents snow, of which Finland sees a shit ton of in winter.
  5. Despite being the eighth largest country Europe, it’s the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.

 

Sources that helped me find this stuff: FactRepublic.com,  LandLopers.com, Quora

Your Daily 5 Nordic Facts : Iceland

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  1. At about 39,000 square miles, Iceland is the same size as Cuba.
  2. There’s a volcanic eruption approximately every 4 years.
  3. Icelandic horses have two additional gaits as compared to all other breeds.
  4. Iceland was one of the last places on earth to be settled by humans.
  5. Raw puffin heart is an Icelandic delicacy.

Sources that helped me find this stuff: FactRepublic.com,  LandLopers.com, Quora

 

 

Your Daily 5 Nordic Facts : Sweden

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  1. In 1628, the Swedish nation built The Vasa, a huge warship, to reflect the country’s power. The boat sank a mile from shore within 20 minutes.
  2. In 1980 Norway banned the film Life of Brian for blasphemy. Sweden then marketed it as “The film that is so funny that it was banned in Norway!”
  3. As recently as 1979 homosexuality was considered to be an illness in Sweden. Swedes protested by calling in sick to work, claiming they “felt gay”.
  4. Sweden’s tourist association has created a “Call a Swede” phone number which is assigned to random ‘fact ambassadors’ with no training or expectations. The purpose is to provide an unfiltered view of Swedish life.
  5. The Ice Hotel, built every year out of ice from the Torne River, is required to include fire alarms, despite being made entirely out of frozen water.

 

Sources that helped me find this stuff: FactRepublic.com, Quora

 

 

 

Eyes On The Arctic : Need-To-Read Things

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In this weekly post, I collect all the need-to-read arctic related things that I’ve found over the past several days, and put them here in a handy bundle of links for you to pick, click and read.

12526-snowflake Plastic Tide Reaches The Arctic And Polar Bears

12526-snowflake Massive Iceberg In Greenland Breaking Up (Video)

12526-snowflake How Global Warming Is Destroying Our Best-Preserved Archeological Sites

12526-snowflake Ongoing Global Heatwave Is Setting All-Time Hottest Temperature Records All Over

12526-snowflake Beavers Are Moving Into The Arctic And You Can See It From Space

12526-snowflake As Arctic Warms Reindeer Herders Tangle With New Industries

12526-snowflake Nunavut Day Celebrations Include Facebook Beginning

12526-snowflake Welsh Students Create Ice-Rebuilding Machines

12526-snowflake Exploring The Arctic On A Sledge

 

Your Daily 5 Nordic Facts : Norway

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  1. On the island of Svalbard, carrying a gun outside populated areas is required by law because of the high chances you might find yourself face to face with a polar bear. If you don’t have a gun license, you’re not permitted to leave the settlement areas alone.
  2. Norway is just a bit bigger than the US state of New Mexico.
  3. If you publish a book in Norway, the government will buy 1000 copies (1,500 if it is a children’s book) and dole out them to libraries throughout the country.
  4. Linje Akvavit is a Norwegian flavoured liquor, and it’s production is a bit bloody weird. It’s shipped in oak barrels from Norway to Australia and back before being bottled. Apparently the constant movement and fluctuating temperatures give the liquor it’s special taste as well as accelerating its maturity.
  5. The US has more people of Norwegian descent than Norway.

 

Sources that helped me find this stuff: Sysselmannen.no, FactRepublic.com, Quora