Scandinavia. Full story

The term "Scandinavia" goes back to medieval Latin. For the first time, this word was mentioned by the ancient Roman scientist Pliny Sr. in his encyclopedic work "Natural History".
Traditionally, Scandinavia includes three countries - Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Some authors in Scandinavia include Iceland, historically closely related to Norway and Denmark, but the Icelanders themselves (as well as the Swedes, Norwegians and the Danes) do not consider Island part of the Scandinavia.
Here are the history of these three countries - fascinating, sometimes cruel and instructive. The rulers, battles, battles and the very spirit of this earth, the so-called "northern courage,-all this creates the unique appearance of the Scandinavian countries and their special path in history, in some ways close to Russia, and somewhat infinitely distant