Scandinavian Mountains

The Scandinavian Mountains or the Scandes is a mountain range that runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. The western sides of the mountains drop precipitously into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, forming the fjords of Norway, whereas to the northeast they gradually curve towards Finland. To the north they form the border between Norway and Sweden, reaching high at the Arctic Circle. The mountain range just touches northwesternmost Finland but are scarcely more than hills at their northernmost extension at the North Cape (Nordkapp). The mountains are relatively high for a range so young and are very steep in places; Galdhøpiggen in South Norway is the highest peak in mainland Northern Europe, at ; Kebnekaise is the highest peak on the Swedish side, at , whereas the slope of Halti is the highest point in Finland, at , although the peak of Halti is situated in Norway. The Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands terrestrial ecoregion is closely associated with the mountain range. Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skandinaviska fjällkedjan, Skanderna (encyclopedic and professional usage), Fjällen ('the Fells', common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ('the Keel'), and in Norwegian Den skandinaviske fjellkjede, Skandesfjellene, Kjølen ('the Keel') or Nordryggen ('the North Ridge', name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In South Norway there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such as Dovrefjell, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, and Rondane. The mountain chain's highest summits are mostly concentrated in an area (of mean altitude of over 1,000 m) between Stavanger and Trondheim in South Norway, with numerous peaks over 1,300 m and some peaks over 2,000 m. Around Trondheim Fjord, peaks decrease in altitude to about 400–500 m rising again to heights in excess of 1,900 m further north in Swedish Lapland and nearby areas of Norway.