Suomi

	Helsinki
	5,463,596 (2014)
	338,145 km² 130,558 mi²
	1,328 m 4,357 ft Halti (alternatively Haltia Haltitunturi Haltiatunturi)

Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It gained complete independence in 1917. During World War II, Finland successfully defended its independence through cooperation with Germany and resisted subsequent invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, Finland transformed from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is among the highest in Western Europe. A member of the European Union since 1995, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro single currency at its initiation in January 1999. In the 21st century, the key features of Finland's modern welfare state are high quality education, promotion of equality, and a national social welfare system - currently challenged by an aging population and the fluctuations of an export-driven economy.

cold temperate
potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes

Europe
Northern Europe

Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia

long boundary with Russia
Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent
population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain

mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills

Halti (alternatively Haltia Haltitunturi Haltiatunturi)
1,328 m
4,357 ft

Baltic Sea
0 m
0 ft

Halti (alternatively Haltia Haltitunturi Haltiatunturi)	Mount Everest

timber
iron ore
copper
lead
zinc
chromite
nickel
gold
silver
limestone

air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributing to acid rain
water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals
habitat loss threatens wildlife populations

130,558 mi²
338,145 km²


117,304 mi² 303,815 km²	13,255 mi² 34,330 km²


1.12 %	0.76 %	3.32 %	1.37 %	1.9 %	4.4 %	2.42 %	0.07 %

2563 km
1593 mi

Norway 709 km/441 mi
Sweden 545 km/339 mi
Russia 1309 km/813 mi

1,250 km/777 mi

73.10 %

7.32 %

7.43 %

barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes
dairy cattle
fish

metals and metal products
electronics
machinery and scientific instruments
shipbuilding
pulp and paper
foodstuffs
chemicals
textiles
clothing

5,463,596	+0.45%	50.8 %	49.2 %
	0-14 16.3 %	15-64 63.9 %	65+ 19.8 %
	16.16 / km² 41.85 / mi²	84.09% 4,594,119	16% 869,477
	78.10 yrs	83.70 Years	80.95 Years


0.49 %	0.12 %	0.74 %	1.03 %	1.41 %	14.49 %		0.07 %

Finnish (official) 89%
Swedish (official) 5.3%
Russian 1.3%
Other 4.4%

Lutheran 78.4%
Orthodox 1.1%
Other Christian 1.1%
Other 0.2%
None 19.2%

Finn 93.4%
Swede 5.6%
Russian 0.5%
Estonian 0.3%
Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%
Sami 0.1% (2006)

Suomi

Finland

Finlande

Finlandia

フィンランド

Republic

Unicameral Parliament or Eduskunta (200 seats; 199 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 1 member in the province of Aland directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms)

White with a blue cross extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag); the blue represents the thousands of lakes scattered across the country, while the white is for the snow that covers the land in winter	"Maamme" (Our Land)	Lion National colors: blue, white
President Sauli NIINISTO (since 1 March 2012)	6 December 1917 (from Russia) Independence Day, 6 December (1917)	ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSMA, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
Helsinki 60 10 N, 24 56 E UTC+2 HELSINKI 1.18 million

19 regions (maakunnat, singular - maakunta (Finnish)
Landskapen, singular - landskapet (Swedish))

148 (2013)

Helsinki, Kotka, Naantali, Porvoo, Raahe, Rauma

5.5
beds/1,000 population (2011)

2.91
physicians/1,000 population (2009)

Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (consists of the court president and 18 judges); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 21 judges including the court president and organized into 3 chambers); note - Finland has a dual judicial system - courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction, and administrative courts with jurisdiction for litigation between individuals and administrative organs of the state and communities

18 years of age
universal

Finnish Defense Forces (FDF)
Army (Puolustusvoimat), Navy (Merivoimat; includes Coastal Defense Forces), Air Force (Ilmavoimat) (2013)

Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy with per capita output almost as high as that of Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, or Sweden. Trade is important, with exports accounting for over one-third of GDP in recent years. Finland is historically competitive in manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Finland excels in export of technology for mobile phones as well as promotion of startups in the ICT, gaming, cleantech, and biotechnology sectors. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Finland had been one of the best performing economies within the EU before 2009 and its banks and financial markets avoided the worst of global financial crisis. However, the world slowdown hit exports and domestic demand hard in that year, with Finland experiencing one of the deepest contractions in the euro zone. A recovery of exports, domestic trade, and household consumption stimulated economic growth in 2010-12, however, continued recession within the EU dampened the economy in 2012-14. The recession affected general government finances and the debt ratio, turning previously strong budget surpluses into deficits, losing its coveted triple-A credit rating, and on pace to breach EU debt limits in 2015. Finland's main challenge will be to stimulate growth while faced with weak export demand in the EU and its own government austerity measures. Longer-term, Finland must address a rapidly aging population and decreasing productivity in traditional industries that threaten competitiveness, fiscal sustainability, and economic growth. The depreciating ruble will retard exports to Russia.

218,440,622,388.3
$USD

39,981.1
$USD

-0.40
%


foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, computers, electronic industry products, textile yarn and fabrics, grains	Sweden 15.8% Germany 15.3% Russia 14.8% Netherlands 8.7% Denmark 4.2%	electrical and optical equipment, machinery, transport equipment, paper and pulp, chemicals, basic metals; timber	Germany 12.2% Sweden 11.2% Russia 8.1% US 6.7% Netherlands 6.2% UK 5.5% China 4.5%

euros (EUR) per US dollar 0.7489 (2014 est.)		1.2% (2014 est.)

454,000 km 282,102 mi	5,919 km 3,678 mi	8,000 km 4,971 mi (includes Saimaa Canal system of 3,577 km; southern part leased from Russia; water transport used frequently in the summer and widely replaced with sledges on the ice in winter; there are 187,888 lakes in Finland that cover 31,500 km); Finand also maintains 8,200 km of coastal fairways
12 per 100 people country code - 358 submarine cables provide links to Estonia and Sweden	139.66 / 100	92.38 / 100 .fi; note - Aland Islands assigned .ax

a mix of publicly operated TV stations and privately owned TV stations
in 2008, the 2 publicly owned TV stations expanded services and the largest private TV station has introduced several special-interest pay-TV channels
cable and satellite multi-channel subscription services are available
all TV signals have been broadcast digitally since September 2007
analog broadcasts via cable networks were terminated in February 2008
public broadcasting maintains a network of 13 national and 25 regional radio stations
a large number of private radio broadcasters (2008)