Finland

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavalta Swedish: Republiken Finland) is a Nordic country in northeastern Europe, bounded by the Baltic Sea to the southwest, the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west. Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are under Finnish sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy. The Finnish name for Finland is Suomi; in Swedish it is Finland. The Latin language name is Fennia. Finland has a population of only five million people in three hundred thousand square kilometres,

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Finland

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There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish, spoken by 92% of the population, and Swedish, mother tongue for 5.5% of the population. Ethnic Finns and Finland Swedes are generally considered to comprise a common nation. The Finland-Swedes are concentrated in the coastal areas; and there is a slight cultural difference between the culture of the Ethnic Finns, focused on lakes and woods, and the more outward-oriented coastal culture of the Finland-Swedes. This difference may be considered as an ethnic division, but the difference is slight and not more pronounced than the difference between East Finnish and West Finnish culture.

Related Topics:
Official language - Finnish - Swedish - Mother tongue - Ethnic Finn - Finland Swedes - Nation - Ethnic - East Finnish - West Finnish culture

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Other minority languages include Russian and Estonian. To the north, in Lapland, are found the Sami, numbering less than 7,000, who like the Finns speak a Finno-Ugric languages. There are three Sami languages that are spoken in Finland: Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami.

Related Topics:
Russian - Estonian - Lapland - Sami - Finno-Ugric - Sami languages - Northern Sami - Inari Sami - Skolt Sami

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Most Finns (84%) are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with a minority of 1% belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church (see Eastern Orthodoxy). These two churches are the state church of Finland.

Related Topics:
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland - Finnish Orthodox Church - Eastern Orthodoxy - State church

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The remainder of the population consists of relatively small groups of other Protestant denominations, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews beside the 14% who are unaffiliated.

Related Topics:
Protestant - Roman Catholics - Muslims - Jew

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After the Winter War (confirmed by the outcome of the Continuation War) 12% of Finland's population had to be re-settled. War reparations, unemployment and uncertainty regarding Finland's chances to remain sovereign and independent of the Soviet Union contributed to considerable emigration, abating first in the 1970s. Until then, some 500,000 Finns had emigrated, chiefly to Sweden, although half of the emigrants ultimately re-migrated again.

Related Topics:
Winter War - Continuation War - War reparations - Sovereign - Independent - Soviet Union - Emigration - 1970s - Sweden

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Since the late 1990s, Finland has received refugees and immigrants at a rate comparable with the Scandinavian countries, although the total ethnic-minority population remains far lower in Finland than the rest. A considerable number of immigrants have come from the former Soviet Union claiming ethnic (Finnic) kinship. However, over 20 languages are now spoken in Finland by immigrant groups of significant size — that is, with at least a thousand speakers.

Related Topics:
1990s - Refugee - Immigrant - Scandinavia - Ethnic - Finnic

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Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of the country, which is even more pronounced after the 20th century urbanization. The biggest and most important cities in Finland are Helsinki metropolitan arean including cities of Espoo and Vantaa, Tampere, Turku and Oulu, with Oulu being the only city in central–northern Finland with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Related Topics:
20th century - Urbanization - Helsinki - Espoo - Vantaa - Tampere - Turku - Oulu

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After having one of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world in the 1970s, a concerted government programme to improve the Finnish diet and exercise has paid off. Finland is now one of the fittest countries in the world. http://www.guardian.co.uk/befit/story/0,15652,1385645,00.html

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