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,

International rankings

• IMD International: World Competitiveness Yearbook 2004, Rank 8 out of 60 economies (countries and regions)
• OECD: Programme for International Student Assessment 2003, Rank 1 out of 41 countries
• Reporters without borders: Second world press freedom ranking (October 2003), Rank 1 out of 166 countries (tied with Iceland, Netherlands and Norway)
• Save the Children: State of the World?s Mothers 2004, Rank 2 out of 119 countries (tied with Denmark)
• Transparency International: Corruption Perceptions Index 2004, Rank 1 out of 146 countries
• UNDP: Human Development Index 2004, Rank 13 out of 177 countries
• World Economic Forum: Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006 - Growth Competitiveness Index Ranking, Rank 1 out of 117 countries