. The earth and its inhabitants .. . I HE great northern peninsula comprises two distinct states, though ruled by one sovereign, and otherwise bound together by ties of a - very intimate character. Still they watch with careful jealousy over their mutual political independence, and even in their social usages the two peoples arc sharply contrasted. From the geogra- phical point of view also Norway and Sweden [Norge and Scerige) form equally distinct natural regions, the one consisting mainly of plateaux and highlands rising abruptly on the Atlantic side, while the other forms an extensive incl
. The earth and its inhabitants .. . I HE great northern peninsula comprises two distinct states, though ruled by one sovereign, and otherwise bound together by ties of a - very intimate character. Still they watch with careful jealousy over their mutual political independence, and even in their social usages the two peoples arc sharply contrasted. From the geogra- phical point of view also Norway and Sweden [Norge and Scerige) form equally distinct natural regions, the one consisting mainly of plateaux and highlands rising abruptly on the Atlantic side, while the other forms an extensive incline falling gradually towards an inland sea. But this physical contrast and their separate autonomy do not prevent the "VVesterfold and Austerfold, as, they were formerly called, from forming a unity distinct from that of other European lands, and which should therefore be studied as a whole. The term Scandinavia, or Island of Scandia, formerly restricted to the southern extremity of Sweden, has been gradually extended to the entire peninsula independently of its political divisions, and this very community of name seems to point at a general and permanent fusion of the two regions. The natural frontier of the peninsula connects the northern extremity of the Gulf of Bothnia directly with the Yaranger-fiord, on the Frozen Ocean, and although political treaties have caused the line to recede in the most eccentric manner westwards, thus allowing Russia to cut off Finmark almost completely from the rest of Scandinavia, such conventional limits traced across extensive wastes have but little practical importance. Even within its present reduced limits, Scandinavia is one of the most extensive regions in Europe, ranking in size next to Russia. Owing to its position on an inland sea giving access to Western and Central Europe, and on the Atlantic placing it in relation with the rest of the world, it could not fail to exercise a certain influence in determining the balance of power
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
