Finland is located in Northern Europe, bordering the
Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between
Sweden and Russia.
Prior to 1917, when it won its independence, it belonged variously to Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and to Russia from 1809 to 1917. It is generally considered to be part of Scandinavia in cultural outlook.
Finland has a total land area of 338,145 square kilometers, of which 338,145 square kilometers is land and 33,672 square kilometers is water. In comparative size, Finland is slightly smaller than Montana.
Countries bordering Finland include Norway, Sweden, and Russia.
The countryside of Finland is generally low, flat, rolling plains with many lakes and low hills. Its topography has caused it historically to be vulnerable to foreign occupation. Its climate would be subarctic, if not for the mild effect caused by the North Atlantic Current, the Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes.
Most of the population of Finland lives on the small, southwestern coastal plain. The great majority of the population is Finn (93 percent). Other ethnic nationalities include Swede (5.7 percent), Russian (0.4 percent), Estonian (0.2 percent), Roma (0.2 percent), Sami (0.1 percent).
The predominant religion is Lutheran National Church (84.2 percent). Other religions practiced in Finland include: Greek Orthodox (1.1 percent), other Christian (1.1 percent), other religions (0.1 percent), none (13.5 percent).
The official languages are Finnish (92 percent) and Swedish (5.6 percent). Other languages spoken are Sami and Russian.
Finland is a republic. The government operates under the constitution established in 1919. The chief of state is a president, the head of government is a prime minister who directs the cabinet, called the Council of State, which is appointed by the president and responsible to parliament. The legislative branch is a single-chamber Parliament (Eduskunta), whose members are elected by popular vote proportional to the provincial populations of the six provinces. The judicial branch is the Supreme Court (Korkein Oikeus), with judges appointed by the president.
Finland's capital is Helsinki, the northernmost national capital on the European continent.
The currency since 1999 has been the Euro (€).
Web Sites
- CIA: The World Factbook
- U.S. Department of State
- Library of Congress
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- BBC News Country Profile
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