Facts about Finland 


Contents:

Total area 

  • 338,000 square kilometres, of which 10% is water and 69% forest

  • 187,888 lakes

  • Seventh largest country in Europe and second most northern country in the world

  • Europe’s largest archipelago, including the semiautonomous province of Åland

Distances:

  • 1,160 km north to south, 540 km west to east

  • Finland’s land border with Russia (1,269 km) is the eastern border of the European Union
      

Population  

  • 5.2 million

  • population density is 17 per km²

  • 65% live in towns or urban areas, 35% in rural areas

  • Principal cities: Helsinki, 560,000 (the metropolitan area including the neighbouring towns of Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen has a population of 963,000) Tampere, 199,000 and Turku, 174,000

  • Finland has a Sami (Lapp) population of 6,500
     

Explore Finnish Municipalities & Cities at "Surf Finland":
http://www.netek.fi/surf/
  

Languages 
Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish (spoken by 6% of the population). 

The Finnish Language (Virtual Finland): http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/finnlang.html

Research Institute for the Languages of Finland:
http://www.kotus.fi/inenglish/
 

Religion 
  • 89% Lutheran and about 1% Orthodox
     

Climate - seasonal variations 
Despite Finland’s northerly geographical position, the climate is not as freezing as one might think. During summer the lake- and seashores offer excellent opportunities for swimming and sun-bathing. Spring and fall are short and offer a pleasant balance to the winter season.

Finnish Meteorological Institute: http://www.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/en/index.html
 

Economy and business - a well connected country

The first ever GSM call was made in Finland and the country has never been the same since! Finns are at the top of mobile phone use and there are a record number of internet connections per person. The schools are also extremely well-eqquiped with IT-technology.

Finland has, from an agricultural country with a rather narrow industrial sector focusing on the forest industry, grown within 50 years to a complex market economy. This structural change has also brought about a dramatic expansion in the service sector, covering about 2/3 of the total output today. Certain high-tech fields, such as computers and mobile communication have also grown spectacularly in the last five to ten years. Also Finnish design is well know all over the world, with everything from architecture, glass and scissors, to diving computers and mobile phones as a part of the product range.

Statistics and more information:

Virtual Finland >> 
Statistics Finland >>
TT - The Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers: http://www.tt.fi/english/
   

Some political facts
´
  • The head of state is the President of the Republic. The incumbent president, President Ms. Tarja Halonen, was elected in 2000.
  • Finland is a parliamentary democracy. The present coalition government, formed in Juni 2003, is headed by Prime Minister Mr. Matti Vanhanen, the leader of the Centre Party.

Parliament of Finland: http://www.eduskunta.fi/
Government of Finland: http://valtioneuvosto.fi/
 

Finnish newpapers in English

More information on Finland

 
Updated January 11th, 2005
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