Which element is named after Scandinavia?

Scandium is the chemical element named after Scandinavia.

Scandium has the symbol Sc and atomic number 21. Swedish chemist Lars Fredrik Nilson discovered it in 1879 while examining rare-earth minerals. He named it scandium after Scandia, the Latin name for Scandinavia.

Its discovery helped confirm a prediction made by Dmitri Mendeleev. Mendeleev had left a gap in his periodic table for an element he called eka-boron, and scandium’s properties closely matched the predicted values. This became an important early demonstration of the usefulness of the periodic law.

Scandium is a silvery metal usually found in small concentrations alongside other minerals. It is used in some aluminum alloys, particularly for aerospace and sporting equipment, and scandium iodide is used in certain high-intensity lamps. Scandium is classified as a transition metal.