The national flags of Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark all feature the characteristic off-center “Nordic cross.” The offset cross design (symbolizing Christianity) traces back to Denmark. Legend holds that Denmark’s Dannebrog (red with white cross) fell from the sky during the 1219 Battle of Lindanise (in present-day Tallinn, Estonia), securing victory for King Valdemar II.

Nordic sauna culture is ubiquitous – in fact, “steaming in saunas is a way of life for most Nordics”. Finland alone has about 3.3 million saunas for 5.5 million people. Across the eight Nordic lands (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Åland), saunas are treated as sacred, everyday rituals – not novelty spa experiences.

The Setos are an indigenous Finno-Ugric people whose home is Setomaa, a region straddling southeastern Estonia and western Russia. Setomaa was historically known as Petserimaa – after Estonia’s independence it was split, leaving two-thirds of the land (including the old capital Petseri, now Pechory) on the Russian side. In modern times roughly 10,000–13,000 people in Estonia identify as Seto (only a few hundred remain across the border). Today’s Setos speak a local South-Estonian dialect and (unlike most Estonians) follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

The Tallinn Song Festival Grounds Arch: In 1960, Estonia unveiled a striking new open-air stage in Tallinn – an immense arched “singing stage” built to host the nation’s beloved Song Festival. This soaring shell structure (locally called the Laulukaar, or “singing arch”) was unlike anything seen in the Soviet Union at the time. Architect Alar Kotli, who co-designed it with Henno Sepmann, reportedly envisioned the arch as a giant “bugle” amplifying the voices of the choir. He even built a cardboard model to demonstrate how the curved form could project sound. The arch’s elegant shape was also a bold engineering feat: a hyperbolic-paraboloid (saddle-shaped) canopy of concrete and steel, stretched between two giant arches.

For over a century, one song has captured the soul of the Estonian nation perhaps more than any other. “Mu isamaa on minu arm” (“My Fatherland Is My Love”) is often called Estonia’s unofficial anthem – a song so cherished that it traditionally closes every Estonian Song Festival with tens of thousands joining voices. Born as a 19th-century poem and later transformed into a powerful patriotic hymn, “Mu isamaa on minu arm” became a musical embodiment of Estonia’s identity and resilience. During the Soviet occupation (1944–1991), when Estonia’s flag and official anthem were banned, this song served as a surrogate national anthem and a subtle act of defiance.

Greenland, the world’s largest island, is an Arctic land of dramatic icecaps and rich cultural heritage. Despite its vast geography, Greenland’s population is just around 56,000 – about 88% of whom are Inuit, known as Kalaallit in the West Greenlandic. These Indigenous Greenlanders have maintained a vibrant way of life in harmony with the harsh but beautiful environment for millennia. From ancient Inuit traditions to Norse Viking tales and a colonial past under Denmark, Greenland’s history and culture weave a remarkable story of resilience and unity.