General travel info to Scandinavia / www.goscandinavia.com
Useful and superfluous facts for the Nordic Traveler:

Denmark
Population: 5.4 million
Capital: Copenhagen, pop. 1.8 million (including suburbs)
Average temperature in July: 15.6 C/60 F
Food fact: Pork is king in Denmark. The Danes eat 106 kilos (234 lb) of pork meat per person each year, compared to 73 kilos (161 lb) for the Swedes. They also have the cheapest beer in Scandinavia.
Geography fact: There is no hill higher than 200 meters (650 ft), so Denmark leads the way in Nordic flatness. Maybe that’s why there are so many bicycles everywhere .
Tourism website: www.visitdenmark.com

Finland
Population: 5.2 million
Geography fact: Some 70 percent of the country is covered in trees. That’s fortunate, because the Finns buy and borrow books enthusiastically. On average, a Finn will borrow 20 volumes per year from public libraries.
Tourism website: www.visitfinland.com

Iceland
Population: 290,000
Capital: Reykjavik (pop. 182,000 including suburbs)
Average temperature in July: 10.6 C/51 F
Geography: Has a lot of it. Here one finds active and inactive volcanoes, lava fields, geysers, waterfalls and mystical geothermal pools, but few people and few trees...
Food fact: This island has the most expensive food and drink in the region, but it probably also boasts the liveliest party-town, in its capital Reykjavik.
Tourism website: www.icelandtouristboard.com

Norway
Population: 4.6 million
Geography fact: Bergen, one of the most beautiful places on earth, is also one of the rainiest. Umbrellas can be purchased from coin-operated dispensing machines.
Food fact: Of all the Scandinavian peoples, the Norwegians eat the most fish and shellfish, on average 55 kilos (121 lb) per year.
Tourism website: www.visitnorway.com

Sweden
Population: 9 million
Average temperature July: 17.6 C/64 F
Geography fact: The northern city of Kiruna, at 7,700 square miles, is half as large as Switzerland.
Food fact: Swedes eat an average of 84 kilos (185 lb) of potatoes per year. The arrival each Spring/Summer of new potatoes, “färskpotatis” in grocery stores is a happy occasion.
Tourism website: www.visit-sweden.se

Attributions: Some of the facts here have been gleaned from the Nordic Statistical Yearbook and various tourist authorities. However, all errors are the sole property of Nordic Reach magazine. These errors may not be copied or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher.