Facts about Finland
Government and history
Finland became independent in 1917. Tarja Halonen became Finland's first woman president in 2000 and was re-elected in January 2006. The role of the president is focused mainly on foreign policy.
The current prime minister Matti Vanhanen took over in June 2003 after his predecessor, Anneli Jaatteenmaki, resigned amid an election campaign scandal. Mr Vanhanen has made tackling unemployment one of his priorities and his government has succeeded in reducing the jobless rate. It has also cut taxes. The prime minister says he wants to boost benefits for the sick and the elderly.
Around two-thirds of Finland is covered in forest and about a tenth by water. In the far north, the sun does not set for around 10 weeks during the 'White Nights' of summer, while in winter it does not rise above the horizon for nearly eight weeks. Finland is the only Nordic EU member to use the euro as the national currency.
The country spends heavily on education, training and research - investment which pays dividends by delivering one of the best-educated and trained workforces in the world. This has been a key factor in the development of a modern, competitive economy in which a cutting-edge telecommunications sector has been added to the traditional timber and metals industries.
Society and Culture
Finnish people are generally shy and normally keep a distance from strangers. However, they do talk to you when there is a need to do so. Their culture combines indigenous heritage, as represented for example by the country's rare Finno-Ugric national language Finnish, with common Nordic and European culture. Because of its history and geographic location Finland has been influenced by the adjacent areas' various Finnic, Baltic and Germanic peoples as well as the former dominant powers Sweden and Russia.
There are still cultural differences between Finland's regions, especially minor differences in accents and vocabulary. Minorities, some of which enjoy a status recognised by the state, such as the Sami, Swedish-speaking Finns, Romani, Jews and Tatar, maintain their own cultural characteristics. Many Finns are emotionally connected to the countryside and nature, as large scale urbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Statistics
- Full name: Republic of Finland
- Population: 5.3 million (UN, 2009)
- Capital: Helsinki
- Area: 338,145 sq km (130,559 sq miles)
- Major languages: Finnish, Swedish
- Major religions: Christianity
- Monetary unit: 1 euro = 100 cents
- Main exports: Machinery and electronics, paper, chemicals
- GNI per capita: US $48,120 (World Bank, 2008)
- Internet domain:.fi
- International dialling code: +358