Later history
A 19th-century Scandinavist poster image of (from left to
right) Norwegian, Danish and Swedish soldiers joining hands
Further information: Christianization of Scandinavia, Kalmar Union, Scandinavism, Pan-Germanism,
and Nordic Council
While Vikings were raiding the rest of Europe, their own Scandinavian homeland was undergoing
increasing centralization. This is evidenced by the number of larger settlements being built. Some of
these settlements became seats for royal mints and bishoprics.[7]
By the mid-11th century, the North Germanic tribes had been converted from paganism
to Christianity and were under the rule of centralized states. These states were the kingdoms
of Norway, Sweden and Denmark.[7][8] The Scandinavian settlements in Greenland disappeared in the
15th century.[85] Modern groups descended from the North Germanic peoples are the Danes,[93] Faroese
people, Icelanders,[32] Norwegians[94] and Swedes.[95][1][9][10][11][96][35][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] These
groups are often referred to as Scandinavians .[3][13][16][29][38] Although North Germanic, Icelanders and the
Faroese, and even the Danes,[12] are sometimes not included as Scandinavians .[3][13][96][101] North
Germanic peoples are sometimes called Nordic peoples by historians.[2][107][108] Along with the Germans,
the English and the Dutch, they constitute one of the main branches of the Germanic peoples.[109][110][111]
The Nordic countries, especially Iceland, are along with the nations of East Asia considered some of the
most ethnically homogenous countries in the world.[95][93]
In the Late Middle Ages, the countries most associated with North Germanic cultures were briefly united
under the Kalmar Union. With the rise of romantic nationalism in the 19th century, many prominent
figures throughout Scandinavia became adherents of Scandinavism, which called for the unification of
all North Germanic lands.[112] Both during the First Schleswig War and the Second Schleswig
War between Denmark and Germany in the 19th century, large numbers of Swedes fought for Denmark
to counter a perceived German threat against the North Germanic peoples.[113] In Norway, many
prominent public figures favoured pan-Germanism from the mid-19th century, seeking to create a pan-
Germanic state in unity with other "Germanic tribes". Pan-Germanism lost currency in Norway in 1943,
when the Axis Powers were being pushed back on Eastern Front in the midst of World War II.[112]