Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Finland Almanac
Official Name:
Republic of Finland.
Population:
Finland is home to 5.2 million people (40 per square mile). The majority
are Finnish in descent (93.4 percent). Other ethnicities include Swedish (5.5 per-
cent), Russian, Estonian, Roma, and Sami (less than 1 percent each). The official
languages are Finnish, spoken by 91 percent, and Swedish, spoken by 5.5 percent.
Small minorities speak Sami and Russian. Finland is 83 percent Lutheran, 1 per-
cent Orthodox, 1 percent other Christian, and 15 percent unaffiliated.
Latitude and Longitude:
64°N and 26°E, similar latitude to Nome, Alaska.
Area:
130,500 square miles (nearly twice the size of Washington state).
Geography:
Finland is bordered by Russia to the east, Sweden and Norway to the
north, the Baltic Sea to the west, and Estonia (across the Gulf of Finland) to the
south. Much of Finland is flat and covered with forests, with the Lapland region
extending north of the Arctic Circle. Finland is home to thousands of lakes and
encompasses nearly as many islands: It has 187,800 lakes and 179,500 islands (the
last time I counted).
Biggest City:
Helsinki is the capital of Finland and has a population of 602,000; 1.1
million people—about one in four Finns—live in the Helsinki urban area.
Economy:
Finland's Gross Domestic Product is $198 billion and its per-capita GDP
is $36,700. Manufacturing, timber, engineering, electronics, and telecommunica-
tions are its chief industries, with mobile phones among its top exports.
Currency:
€1 (euro) = about $1.30.
Government:
Finland has both a president, responsible for foreign policy, and a
prime minister, who—along with the 200-member Parliament (Eduskunta)—is re-
sponsible for domestic legislation. President Sauli Ninisto began his six-year term
in March of 2012. Jyrki Katainen was elected as prime minister in April of 2011.
Flag:
The Finnish flag is white with a blue Scandinavian cross. The blue represents
the lakes of Finland and the white its winter snow.
