Scandinavian Peninsula - Geography

Geography

Arguably the largest peninsula in Europe, the Scandinavian Peninsula is approximately 1,850 kilometers (1,150 mi) long with a width varying approximately from 370 to 805 kilometers (230 to 500 miles). The Scandinavian mountain range generally defines the border between Norway and Sweden. The peninsula is bordered by several bodies of water including:

• the Baltic Sea (including the Gulf of Bothnia) to the east, with the autonomous Åland islands between Sweden and Finland, and Gotland.
• the North Sea (including the Kattegat and Skagerrak) to the west and southwest
• the Norwegian Sea to the west
• the Barents Sea to the north

Its highest elevation was Glittertinden in Norway at 2,470 m (8,104 ft) above sea level, but since the glacier at its summit partially melted, the highest elevation is at 2,469 m (8,101 ft) at Galdhøpiggen, also in Norway. These mountains also have the largest glacier on the mainland of Europe, Jostedalsbreen.

About one quarter of the Scandinavian Peninsula lies north of the Arctic Circle, its northernmost point being at Cape Nordkyn (North Cape), near the town of Hammerfest, Norway.

The climate across Scandinavia varies from tundra (Köppen: ET) and subarctic (Dfc) in the north, with cool marine west coast climate (Cfc) in northwestern coastal areas reaching just north of Lofoten, to humid continental (Dfb) in the central portion, and marine west coast (Cfb) in the south and southwest. The region is rich in timber, iron and copper with the best farmland in southern Sweden. Large petroleum and natural-gas deposits have been found off Norway's coast in the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Much of the population of the Scandinavian Peninsula is naturally concentrated in its southern part, which is also its agricultural region. The largest cities of the peninsula are Stockholm, Sweden, Oslo, Norway, Gothenburg, Sweden, Malmö, Sweden and Bergen, Norway, in that order.