Breakdown of Mer än hälften av befolkningen bor i norra Europa.
bo
to live
i
in
av
of, by / from (cause)
än
than
Questions & Answers about Mer än hälften av befolkningen bor i norra Europa.
Why is it just norra Europa and not det norra Europa?
This is the core rule for geographical proper nouns! Normally, when you put a definite adjective in front of a noun, you need the free definite article (like den or det). But with names of countries, continents, or cities, Swedish drops the free definite article. So it is just norra Europa (northern Europe) instead of det norra Europa.
Why do we use norra instead of norr here?
Norra is an adjective meaning northern, and because it modifies a specific geographical area in a definite context, it takes its definite form (ending in -a). Norr, on the other hand, is a noun or an adverb simply meaning north as a direction.
Why does Swedish say hälften av befolkningen instead of just hälft av befolkningen?
In Swedish, when talking about half of a specific group or thing, you must use the definite form hälften (literally the half). English just says half, but Swedish treats it as the specific half of this particular population.
Why do we use mer än instead of fler än for more than half?