Just a country. Seems like a nice one though, which I'd like to visit.
In a way, I see it as being the leftovers of america. All the loud arogant grabby people got the warm and temperate lands, and the nicer, passive people ended up getting pushed up into the freezing north. I think the majority of cold countries seem to have nice people though. I guess if the weather is your greatest enemy, you don't need to have any others.