From eating lutefisk to cheering for the Vikings, Nordic culture is embedded in Minnesota.

Norway's Crown Prince Haakon told Gov. Tim Walz in a recent visit that it makes him "proud" to see how Minnesotans with Norwegian ancestry "take care of their culture and history."

The countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway make up what is known as "Scandinavia," while Finland, Iceland and Greenland are considered "Nordic" countries.

Lily Obeda, who teaches Scandinavian Emigration at the University of Minnesota says many people in the region moved to Minnesota because it was considered a frontier area in the 1860s.

The Homestead Act was signed in 1862, which allowed European settlers to buy a large plot of land for very little money. Iowa and Wisconsin had been settled much earlier, so Minne

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