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What If There Were MORE Nordic Countries?
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Mar 31, 2025
Go to https://mondly.app/generalknowledge to get 96% off lifetime access to 41 languages and start learning today. In this video I explore the concept: "What if the Nordic world had more than just five countries? Going into the possibility of new Nordic nations - Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Karelia, Svalbard, and even a Sámi state joining the current countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland as sovereign nations. Greenland is already on the path to independence, but a desire from the United States to buy and annex it might put it into question. The Faroe Islands have their own strong identity, but could they stand on their own being so small? And what about Karelia, a region once part of Finland, now in Russia - could it break away and return to its Nordic roots? Then there’s Svalbard, where anyone can move and work freely - could it become the world’s most unique independent country? And finally, what if the Indigenous Sámi people had their own nation across their native territories? Become a member on Patreon & get your name in the credits + exclusive content! https://www.patreon.com/generalknowledge TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 What if there were MORE Nordic Countries? 00:59 Greenland 02:52 Mondly 04:26 Greenland Continuation 06:23 Faroe Islands 09:28 Karelia 12:59 Svalbard 15:51 Sami 17:18 Summary Stay up to date on more content from me: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@general.knowledge.yt Twitter: https://twitter.com/GKonYoutube
View Video Transcript
0:00
Today there are five Nordic countries, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland
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But the concept of the Nordics extends past those countries. It also includes other regions like the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland
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and the autonomous region of Åland, as well as the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard
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and the Russian region of Karelia, Marmutsk and this peninsula, part of which used to belong to Finland as well
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Not the peninsula, just the Karelian region. So this got me thinking, what if instead of just having those five official Nordic countries
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we were to have more? What if Greenland was independent, as well as Svalbard
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maybe even the Faroe Islands and Karelian. Essentially, what if there were more Nordic countries
0:49
Let's start with Greenland. Greenland has been on the news a lot lately. Again
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the US government is reinforcing its idea that they want to buy it off of Denmark. It seems insane
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and it is, but the reality is that throughout history, the US have bought most of their
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territory, it's just that if the owner doesn't want to sell it, it doesn't make much sense to try
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and buy it. Plus, while Greenland is technically a part of Denmark, it's very much its own place
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I mean, hey, they have their own really cool flag, although breaking the Nordic cross norm
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and a super cool coat of arms of a polar bear on a blue shield. Greenland is the largest island on
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earth. It's located between the Arctic and the Atlantic Oceans. Today, it hosts a pretty small
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population of around 56,000 people, but it has been inhabited for thousands of years
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primarily by Inuit people whose ancestors migrated from North America via the Arctic
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In around 982 AD, Norse settlers led by Eric the Red established colonies in Greenland
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which remained until they disappeared on their own in around the 15th century
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These settlements coexisted with Inuit communities for centuries. After being rediscovered by European explorers later on, Greenland became a Danish colony in the 18th century, transitioning to a Danish county in 1953 and later gaining home rule in 79, followed by self-rule in 2009
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These milestones granted Greenland autonomy over most of their internal matters, such as resource management and even judicial affairs, while Denmark retains control of defense and foreign relations
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Greenland's government has pursued gradual steps towards greater independence, but this process has kind of been slowed down by their desire to make sure that they would be economically sustainable in independence
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Now the hypothetical of having three new Nordic countries is interesting for a lot of reasons
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but one of them is the languages that would be spoken in these new countries
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access to all languages right now. But the devolving of autonomy kind of shows that they are effectively
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independent already. They just need to establish a foreign office, some embassies, and maybe figure
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out some military solution to assure their defense Economically they rely heavily on fishing which accounts for most of its exports as well as tourism which is steadily growing due to an
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interest in the dramatic Arctic landscapes. Greenland also has a lot of untapped resources
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like rare earth minerals, elements, fossil fuels, drawing significant international attention because
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of that reason as well. Climate change is having a profound effect as melting ice creates new
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opportunities for mining and shipping while threatening the traditional ways of life as well
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The strategic location is why it's suddenly so interesting to the United States, not only due
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to its direct location across from Russia through the Arctic, but its important Arctic position
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overall. During World War II and the Cold War, Greenland had a similar geopolitical prominence
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and the US even came to establish military bases there at the time. Maybe that can be a compromise
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right now for them wanting to buy it. Greenland has never been fully independent, but their pursuit
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of autonomy reflects a pretty strong mixed Inuit and Norse identity of their own and a growing
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confidence in managing their future. If it was its own country, it would be the 12th largest in the
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world, ahead of Saudi Arabia and just behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Population-wise
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though, it would be the 187th behind the tiny island of Bermuda. Their GDP per capita is pretty
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high due to the small population, the 21st in the world, but 140th in GDP, the same as the small
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African country of Burundi. If they join the EU and NATO upon independence, I think their economic
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sustainability and defense situation would be guaranteed and a stable country would continue
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The only thing they would have to fix is their flag in order to keep up with the Nordic trend
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Now let's move to another autonomous region of Denmark, which are the Faroe Islands. They already
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They have a Nordic flag, a white field with a red Nordic cross, bordered in blue
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Their coat of arms is as cool as Greenland's except instead of a polar bear, they have
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a ram. The Faroe Islands consist of 18 rugged volcanic islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, situated
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between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. With a population of approximately 54,000 people, most of whom live on the largest island
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Dremoy, the pharaohs maintain a distinct identity rooted in their Norse heritage, in the pharaohese
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language, which is closely related to Old Norse. I mean, think about that
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They basically have the same population of Greenland, but they're 155 times smaller
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The island's history dates back to early Norse settlements in the 9th century, with
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governance passing between Norway and Denmark over time. Although, generally, the initial colonization is attributed to Irish monks and a specific
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abbot named Saint Brendan in the year of 565, so I guess Ireland could make a really wild claim for
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it. But anyway, most serious and continuous colonies were Norse and following the Treaty of
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Kiel in 1814, they became a part of Denmark. The islands gained home rule in 1948, establishing
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significant autonomy in domestic affairs, including control over education, healthcare, and infrastructure, foreign policy, and defense remain under Denmark's purview, just like in
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Greenland's case. Efforts towards further independence have been a recurring topic in
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Faroese politics, but then again, just like Greenland, economic considerations, including reliance on Denmark, kind of stopped any talk of becoming independent. The Faroese economy is
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deeply tied to fishing and aquaculture, which account for over 90% of exports. In recent years
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the islands have pursued economic diversification, including renewable energy initiatives and tourism
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as well. The Faroe Islands are also known for traditional practices, such as the Grindadrap
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the controversial community-driven whale hunt, which kind of draws international attention for
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negative reasons. But their culture contrasts with that of Greenland because, as far as I know
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there's no native Inuit heritage mixed in. They are purely Nordic. It would be the 171st
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smallest country in the world by area, 187th smallest by population. Their GDP per capita is
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again super high due to the small population, ranking 11th in the world, but their GDP proper
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would be one of the smallest worldwide, matching Andorra in the 160th place. While they don't have
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the potential strategic resources of Greenland, as well as their strategic position, I think they
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could still potentially thrive as their own country. It's more unlikely that they would succeed
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but still Denmark development subsidies could be replaced by European Union ones if they joined it and while Greenland may be the target of some who would want to conquer it no offense but I don think anybody would want to conquer the Faroe Island so they wouldn have to worry too much about having their own defense And following those two we move on to the even more
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unlikely cases that are on our list. Let's start with Karelia. Karelia is a region of Russia. It
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flies this flag, a horizontal triband of red, blue and green and it's technically a constituent
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Republic of the Russian Federation. It has a small independence movement that flies this version of
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the Nordic Cross, a dark field on top of which rests a black cross with a red border. Finland
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also has a region called North Karelia over here, which flies a super cool flag of two arms and
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swords beneath the crown, plus South Karelia which has a similar one. In general, Karelia is a
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culturally and historically significant region in Northern Europe. It spans precisely these regions
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of eastern Finland and northwest Russia, it is renowned for its lakes, forests and wood
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architecture, serving as a key cultural crossroad between the Fino-Ugric and Slavic worlds
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Finnish Karelia encompasses regions like North and South Karelia, like we saw, while Russian
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Karelia includes the Republic of Karelia, as well as the Karellian Ismuts, a region
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that has been contested, especially during conflicts between Sweden, Russian and Finland
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Its history is marked mostly by that role in war and shifting borders
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It was a battleground during the Winter War and the continuation war between Finland and the Soviet Union
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After World War II, Finland ceded much of Karelia to the USSR, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Karelians to other parts of Finland
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The loss remains a point of cultural and emotional significance for many Finns and native Karelians
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Upon the creation of an independent Karelia, perhaps those in exile in Finland could return, making up a true nation-state in the new country
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Culturally, they have profound influence on Finnish national identity already, is the birthplace of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic compiled from Karellian folk songs
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Russian Karelia, meanwhile, is a home to a mix of Russian, still Karellian, and Vepsian populations, totaling around 600,000 people
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When Karelians had to flee into Finland after the Winter War, around 400,000 did so, so the total population of this new hypothetical country could surpass the 1 million mark
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The region's economy relies on forestry, mining, and hydroelectric power, while natural beauty kind of attracts some tourism as well
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In my hypothetical country, I also added the region of Murmansk slash the Kola Peninsula too, as they would be cut off from Russia in this scenario, and so it would make more sense to join Karelia
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plus the territorial claims of the Karelian National Movement, the main independence movement, claims these territories
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wishing for the restoration of Karelian independence and the creation of comfortable living conditions for the indigenous peoples
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the Karelians, the Vepsians, the Pomors, and because they reached so far north, in this case, the Sami as well
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With this addition, the new country's territory would be over 317,000 square kilometers
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the 69th largest in the world, surpassing Poland. Population-wise, including Murmansk and the
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Finnish exiles, it would be around 1.2 million, one of the smallest worldwide, behind the small
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islands of Mauritius, for instance. The GDP per capita of the Karelian Republic within Russia is
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pretty low, only $10,000. I think their economy is equally small, but after becoming independent
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and deepening ties with other Nordic countries, as well as the EU, I think their economic situation
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would vastly improve. And finally we get to the last one on our list and if you thought that
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Karelia was a crazy idea, wait until you hear about this one, Svalbard. Svalbard has a really
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fascinating rule due to its history which is that anyone can freely move to, live and work in the
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islands regardless of their nationality. So while it has basically nobody living there, it could
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harbor people from all over the world and sort of be a country for all those in exile. Despite this
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open rule, Svalbard is a part of Norway. It's an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean located between
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mainland Norway and the North Pole. Its size is around 60,000 square kilometers. It would be the
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123rd largest country behind Latvia but ahead of Togo. It comprises nine main islands with
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Spitsbergen being the largest. The region is governed under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty which
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recognizes Norwegian sovereignty while granting citizens of all signatory nations equal rights
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to economic activities and residents Those signatory nations are 48 including crazy ones like Portugal Saudi Arabia New Zealand North Korea or the Dominican Republic which kind of have nothing to do with the region Svalbard
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has a small diverse population of around 2,500 people, centered in Longyearbyen, the capital
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Historically, it was a hub for whaling in the 17th and 18th centuries, later becoming
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important for coal mining. While the mining has declined, their economy now focuses on
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tourism, scientific research, and satellite operations. Visitors are drawn to a unique
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Arctic environment. It's characterized by glaciers, fjords, polar bears, and the northern lights
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Oh, and the Global Seed Vault is located near the city. It's a vital repository safeguarding the
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world's crop diversity, and I think they have a sample of every single seed that exists
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Geopolitically, their strategic Arctic location has heightened its importance in international relations, despite the small size, it plays a big role in global discussions on the Arctic
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If it were to become independent, it would most likely struggle tremendously to be self-sufficient
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but starting with a super low population might help their case. After all, it would be the
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smallest country in the world population-wise, only ahead of the Vatican, and sure there wouldn't
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be any money to pay for anything, but if you only have 2,000 people, you don't need that much
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infrastructure or services, so maybe they could afford to support the people that live there now
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and then slowly scale up as the population would grow. Using its tourism as a main attractor and
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its important arctic position for new shipping trade routes, for instance. It has no official
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flag, only a couple proposed ones, like this super cool one from 1930, reminding us almost of Bavaria
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or this light blue field with the Norwegian Nordic Cross. And so in this scenario the Nordic
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countries number would expand from only 5 to 9. But I would be wrong to finish this video without
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mentioning a potential 10th Nordic country which would actually take a little bit of territory from
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not only the ones that exist now but also one of these hypothetical ones. And that would be a Sami
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sovereign country. The Sami people are an indigenous group inhabiting Sápmi, a cultural region spanning
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the areas of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and also Karelia. Sami governance includes the
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distinct parliaments already in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, an independent Nordic Sami state
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could encompass all of this, potentially addressing cultural preservation, issues, self-determination, as well as resource rights that are an issue right now. A potential country
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could either be very small, only up north and in their de facto living area, or much bigger
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and encompass all their historic territory. Historically speaking, there's not a very strong
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movement for the establishment of a truly independent Safmi state, but in this hypothetical
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scenario, I think it's an interesting thing to consider, additionally to the other four
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It's difficult to speculate how many people it would have and what their economy would
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be like. I would argue they would struggle even more than Svalbard in that aspect
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They do, however, have a super cool flag, breaking the Nordic cross-trend in a way that
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is similar to Greenland's. Their flag is a left-centered bicolor of red and blue with two vertical stripes of green
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and yellow along the border, between the red and blue, and around it is a circle and inverted
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colors as well. So those would be the additional 4 or 5 Nordic countries
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What do you think about this? Do you think it's at all realistic that any of them will achieve independence
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Would you like to see it happen? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching this video, remember to check out my other videos and subscribe if
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you want to catch future ones. I will see you next time for more general knowledge
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Am I getting sick
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Maybe. My voice is a little coarse. I don't know. It's weird
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I haven't recorded a video in like two weeks. I just had them done from before
18:04
So maybe I just forgot how to speak. Today I chose this mug, which I have shown before
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but it's just a guy like hanging out in the he's hanging out in his garden and I chose it because
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the days are finally getting a little longer and so we all have a reason to live again because it's
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not dark all the time so yeah and thank you again to Mongly for sponsoring this video remember
18:32
if you want to try out their services go to mongly.apps slash general knowledge and you can
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