Norway is one of world's leading shipping countries. Government All but Finland are monarchies, run by elected governments. Finland is a republic. The land Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland are often known as Scandinavia. In the west, it is rugged and mountainous.
Towns are few, and most people live along the coast earning a living by fishing, or from forestry.
Southern Sweden and Denmark are much gentler landscapes with rich farmland on the sands and gravels deposited by the ice. Farming in Denmark is intense and highly mechanized. The people Fifty years ago, these countries were relatively poor. But the people now enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Sweden is famous for precision machine parts and cars such as Volvo.