Chairman-in-Office

Geography

Total area:

• 338,000 square kilometres, of which 10% is water and 69% forest; 
• 187,888 lakes, 5,100 rapids and 179,584 islands; 
• contains Europe's largest archipelago, including the semi-autonomous 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.
Climate:

Finland's climate is marked by cold winters and fairly warm summers. In the far north of the country, the sun does not set for some 73 days, producing the white nights of summer. In winter, the sun remains below the horizon for 51 days in the far north.

In summer, the temperature quite often reaches 20 degrees Celsius or more and occasionally comes close to 30 degrees in the southern and eastern parts of the country. In winter, temperatures of -20 degrees are not uncommon in many areas. Finnish Lapland invariably has the lowest winter temperatures. The mean temperature in Helsinki in July is 17 degrees and in February -5.7 degrees.

People

Population:

• 5.3 million, 15.7 inhabitants per square kilometre 
• 71 per cent live in towns or urban areas, 29 per cent in rural areas 
• Principal cities: Helsinki (564,000), Espoo (235,000), Tampere (206,000), Vantaa (189,000), Turku (175,000) and Oulu (130,000) 
• About 1,25 million people live in the Helsinki metropolitan area. 
• Finland has a Sami (Lapp) population of 8,700.

Languages: Finland has two official languages, Finnish and Swedish.

Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language, is spoken by 91,5 per cent and Swedish by 5,5 per cent of the population. Sami (Lappish) is the mother tongue of about 1,700 people.

Religion: 82,4 per cent Lutheran and about 1,1 per cent Orthodox.

History and governance

Some important events in the history of Finland:

1155 - The first crusade to Finland by the Swedes. Finland becomes part of the Swedish realm.
1809 - Finland is handed over to Russia by Sweden and becomes an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian emperor.
1906-07 - Finland's national assembly, the Eduskunta, became the first parliament in the world to adopt full gender equality. All men and women were granted the right to vote and also to stand for election.
1917 - Finland's declaration of independence on December 6.
1919 - The present constitution is adopted and Finland becomes a republic.
1939-40 - The Soviet Union attacks Finland, which leads to the winter war.
1941-44 - Fighting between Finnish and Soviet Forces resumes in the Continuation War. Some territory is ceded to the Soviet Union but Finland is never occupied and preserves its independence and sovereignty.
1955 - Finland joins the United Nations.
1995 - Finland becomes a member of the European Union.

The head of state is the President of the Republic. The President is elected for a six-year term by direct popular vote. The incumbent, President Mrs. Tarja Halonen, was elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2006.

Parliament:

Parliament consists of one chamber with 200 members. The members are elected for a four-year term by direct popular vote under a system of proportional representation.

The Government:

The President of the Republic, Tarja Halonen, appointed Finland's 70th Cabinet on 19 April 2007. The coalition government headed by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Centre Party, consists of 20 ministers. The Centre Party and the National Coalition Party have eight ministerial posts each. The Green League and the Swedish People's Party each have two ministers.

The economy

In 2006, Finland's Gross National Product (GNP) per capita was around 31,700 euros.

Exports:

There are three almost equally important exports sectors in the Finnish economy: electro technical industry products account for about 24.7 per cent of exports; metal products, machinery and transport equipment account for about 33.7 per cent; and wood and paper products account for about 20.2 per cent. The fourth biggest export sector is the chemical industry. In 2006, the volume of exported goods grew by 17 per cent. Trade with developing countries accounted for about 15.7 per cent of total exports in 2006.

Imports:

Finnish industry is particularly dependent on imports of raw materials, machinery and components that it needs for manufacturing products for both domestic and export markets. In 2006, raw materials and investment goods accounted for 37.6 per cent and 21.0 per cent of imports respectively, while the share of energy of total imports was 15.5 per cent. Consumer goods, including textiles, clothing and cars, made up just over 26 per cent of total imports. In 2006, imports increased by 17 per cent. Trade with developing countries accounted for 16.7 per cent of imports in 2006.

Currency:

The Finnish currency unit is the euro. Finland was one of the 12 EU countries that started using euro currency in 2002.

Sources:

Statistics Finland
National Board of Customs,
Population Register Center
State Provincial Office of Lapland
Localfinland.fi

Updated November 2007