Did you know Finland has:
5.3 million people
1.8 million saunas (approx 500 are traditional smoke saunas)
5.2 million mobile phones (Nokia is a Finnish brand)
188.000 lakes (accounts for 10% of the total area)
180.000 islands
475.000 summer cottages
203.000 reindeer
200.000 salmon
35 national parks
and...
1 Santa Claus - the real one!
(source: www.visitfinland.com)
Basic facts
The country covers an area of 338,145 square kilometers and is the eight biggest country in Europe. However, only 5,3 million people live there. Finland is called “Land of thousand lakes” because of almost 200 thousand lakes. Amost 70 percent of area is forest. The biggest and most important cities in Finland are the cities of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area (consists of capital city − Helsinki and also Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen), Tampere, Turku and Oulu which is located close to Ylivieska. Finland has borders with Russia in the East, Norway in the North, Sweden in the West.
Climate
Finland is not only snow as many foreigners may think. Sub−arctic climate that dominates here is characterized by cold, occasionally even severe, winters and warm summers when temperature of 25 degrees Celsius above zero (77 degrees Fahrenheit) is nothing unusual. The country lies near enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be continuously warmed by the Gulf Stream, which explains the surprisingly warm climate. A quarter of Finland’s territory lies above the Arctic Circle, and as a consequence both the midnight sun and midday darkness can be experienced.
Language
As their mother tongue, most Finns speak Finnish. The other official language of Finland, Swedish, is spoken natively by a 5,5 percent minority and by many for whom Swedish is a second language. Not familiar to you? Don’t worry! Majority of Finns also speak English − fluently or communicatively.
Currency
The Finnish currency unit is the euro.
History
The first crusade to Finland was led by the King of Sweden in 1155, starting a union with Sweden that lasted for 600 years. In 1809 Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as a Grand Duchy. Swedish laws were retained and the country kept its own currency, mail and railway systems.
Helsinki became the capital in 1812 (replacing Turku in the south-west). The official national languages were – and still are - Finnish and Swedish. Amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, Finland declared its independence in 1917, establishing its present constitution and status as a republic in 1919.
Recent studies suggest that the ethnic roots of the Finnish people lie to the south-east of Europe, from where their ancestors migrated following the last Ice Age some 9,000 years ago.
(source: ww.visitfinland.com )
Governement and Politics
Finland has been an Independent Republic since December 6, 1917. Before that it was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. And before that it was part of Sweden. Finland is a Western democracy, with a President elected for a 6-year term (with a maximum of two terms), and a 200-member, single-chamber parliament elected every four years by direct elections on the basis of proportional representation. In the last election (March 2007), the seats were divided as follows:
Centre Party of Finland: 51
National Coalition Party: 50
Social Democratic Party of Finland: 45
Left Alliance: 17
The Green League: 15
Swedish People's Party in Finland: 9
Christian League of Finland: 7
True Finns: 5
Åland Island: 1
Government: The Government as of spring 2007 is a coalition of the Centre Party of Finland, The National Coalition Party, The Green League and the Swedish People's Party. The Prime Minister is Mr. Matti Vanhanen. 12 of the 20 ministerial posts are held by women.
President: The President is elected for a six-year term. The president for the current term (until February 28, 2012) is Ms Tarja Halonen.
(source: www.visitfinland.com )
Economy
Finland has a highly industrialized, free−market economy with a per capita output equal to that of other western economies such as France, Germany, Sweden or the UK. It is not only cellular phones produced here. The largest sector of the economy is services at 65.7 percent, followed by manufacturing and refining at 31.4 percent. Primary production is low at 2.9 percent, reflecting the fact that Finland is endowed with modest natural resources. The main exported natural resource is timber and main branches of industry are electronics, machinery, vehicles and other engineered metal products, forest industry and chemicals.
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