In 1960 the famous book "A Geography of Norden", edited by Axel Sömme was published. It has been out of press for many years. In connection with a Nordic Week organized in Finland 1979 by the Pohjola-Norden Society, a body devoted to fostering closer relations and cooperation between the Nordic family of peoples, the Geographical Society of Northern Finland invited a group of geographers from the Nordic countries to produce a new textbook on the geography of Norden. A concise treatise dealing with the main geographical aspects of the Nordic countries was obtained within one volume concluded by a regional synthesis. Iceland, Greenland, Svalbard, Jan Mayen and the Faroe Islands, and the seas around Norden are also extensively treated.
The structure of the book follows the customary division of geography into six main fields, which are arranged in such a way as to ensure that as far as possible the information in each one can be assimilated on the basis of that presented earlier in the book. To the same ends, the inter-Nordic summaries covering each of the special fields are located before the articles on the separate countries in that field. A chapter on the history of Norden is supplied at the beginning in order that the reader should start out with an understanding of the historical unity of the region and the special characteristics that stem from this.

This new geography of the northern countries will serve as an important source of information for geographers all over the world, and for everybody interested in the geography of Norden.