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Finland

The Republic of Finland is located in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe, bordering Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north, Estonia to the south. The nation borders the Baltic Sea to the southwest, the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, and the Gulf of Finland to the south. It is the 8th largest country of Europe. Helsinki is the capital of Finland.

HISTORY:- The Sami people were the earliest inhabitants of Finland. Later the Finnish speaking people overpowered the Sami group in the first millennium B.C and forced them to move in the northern arctic regions. Swedish king Eric IX conquered Finland in 1157 and Christianity was introduced. In the Finnish War in 1809, Alexander I of Russia conquered the region. He converted Finland as the autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire in 1917. Russian became the official language. After Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence in 1917. In 1939, Soviet Union invaded Finland. After Germany’s defeat in the Eastern Front, Finland was pressurized to sign a peace treaty with Soviet. Later in the Lapland War of 1944, Finland overthrew Germany out of the northern Finnish territory. Ahtisaari won the first direct presidential election in 1944.

GEOGRAPHY:- Finland is among the few countries of the world, whose surface area is still expanding. Finland is located at 64 00 N, 26 00 E in the northern Europe. The country possesses total 338,145 sq km area on the surface of the world, in which 304,473 sq km is captured by land area. The coastline is 1,250 km long bordering the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia, and the Gulf of Finland. The lowest point is located at the Baltic Sea (0 m) and the highest point is Haltiatunturi (1,328 m). Finland is mainly composed of low, flat to rolling plains disjoined by lakes and low hills. Finland has 60,000 lakes.

CLIMATE:- The climate of Finland is cold temperate. The sub-arctic climate is moderated by the North Atlantic stream, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes.

GOVERNMENT:- Finland is a republic. The constitution was adopted on 1st March 2000. The legal system is based on the Swedish law. The three major branches of the government are:

Executive branch comprises the President (chief of state), the Prime minister (head of government), Deputy Prime minister, and cabinet. The President is elected by a popular vote on a six-year term. The President appoints the Prime minister and the Deputy Prime minister. The council of ministers is appointed by the President and the cabinet is responsible to the parliament.

Legislative branch comprises the unicameral Parliament (200 seats).

Judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court. The judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President.

Prominent Finnish political parties include Social Democratic Party, Center Party, National Coalition (Conservative) Party, Leftist Alliance, Swedish People's Party, Green League, Christian Democrats and True Finns. Suffrage is universal at the age of 18.

President Tarja Halonen

Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen

ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS:- Finland is divided into 6 provinces: Aland, Etela-Suomen Laani, Ita-Suomen Laani, Lansi-Suomen Laani, Lappi and Oulun Laani.

CULTURE:- In Finnish culture, the influences of North American culture is prominent. Mika Waltari and Frans Eemil Sillanpää are the two most popular Finnish writers. Frans Eemil Sillanpää won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1939. Ilkka Remes’s thrillers are famous globally. The spiritual song of the Sami- Joik is a very popular music genre of Finland. Apart from the Sami music, folk music is also very popular. Popular American numbers like hip-hop, jazz, rock is also famous among the Finns. A special dance form- tango is also very famous in Finland. Finnish cuisine is influenced by European, Fennoscandian and Western Russian cuisine while the table manners are adopted from Europe. Formula One, ice hockey and football are hugely practiced. The national sport is Pesäpallo (very close to baseball).

ECONOMY:- Finnish economy is dependent highly on industrialization. It has a free market economy. Its per capita GDP is as higher as UK, France, Germany, and Italy.

GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $185.9 billion; per capita $35,500.

Real growth rate: 3.9%.

Inflation: 2.7%.

Unemployment: 6.6%.

Arable land: 7%.

Agriculture: Barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish.

Budget:

Revenues: $62.02 billion

Expenditures: $58.16 billion (2007)

Public debt: 31.3% of GDP (2007)

Debt – external: $271.2 billion (30 June 2007)

Labor force: 2.68 million; agriculture and forestry 8%, industry 22%, construction 6%, commerce 14%, finance, insurance, and business services 10%, transport and communications 8%, public services 32%.

Industries: Metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing.

Natural resources: Timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone.

Exports: $92.62 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp (1999).

Imports: $76.36 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains.

Major trading partners: Sweden, Germany, Russia, UK, U.S., Netherlands, Denmark, China (2006).

Monetary unit: Euro

LANGUAGE:- Finnish (92%) and Swedish (6%) are the official languages. Sami and Russian are spoken by a minority population.

CITIES:- The capital Helsinki is the largest city. Other major cities are Espoo, Tampere , Vantaa, Turku.

POPULATION:- The estimated Finnish population is 5,238,460 with a growth rate of 0.1%.

Density per sq mi: 44

Literacy rate: 100% (2000 est.)

RACE:-

Finn 93.4%

Swede 5.6%

Russian 0.5%

Estonian 0.3%

Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%

Sami 0.1% (2006)

RELIGION:-

Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%

Orthodox Church 1.1%

Other Christian 1.1%

Other 0.1%

None 15.1% (2006)

HEALTH:-

Birth rate: 10.39 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate: total: 3.5 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.82 years

HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)

Total expenditure on health per capita (Intl $, 2005): 2,299

UNICEF:- UNICEF Finland supports over 15 nations in their regular and emergency programmes. Through ‘Ylen Hyvä’ campaign UNICEF Finland, Finnish Red Cross, FinnChurchAid and Yleisradio collect funds. UNICEF Finland works with the Asian nations prevent HIV.

TRANSPORTATION:-

Railways: total: 5,741 km (2006).

Highways: total: 78,189 km; paved: 50,633 km; unpaved: 27,556 km (2006).

Waterways: 7,842 km (2004).

Ports and harbors: Hamina, Hanko, Helsinki, Kotka, Naantali, Pori, Porvou, Raahe, Rauma, Turku.

Airports: 148 (2007).