Finland
is situated in northern Europe and is a republic which
became independent in 1917 and a member of EU since 1995.
The population of Finland today is a little over 5
million. The climate is marked by cold winters and warm
summers. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish.
About 90% of people are Christian. Terrain: mostly low,
flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low
hills Geography : long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is
northernmost national capital on European continent;
population concentrated on small southwestern coastal
plain
Religions : Evangelical
Lutheran 89%, Greek Orthodox 1%, other 10% ...
Languages: Finnish 93.4%
(official), Swedish 5.9% (official) Lapp- and Russian
minorities
Finland (Suomi, Finnland,
Finlande, Finlandia) is the home country of sauna and
Sibelius Every Finnish school has internet connections
and 68% of all Finnish people uses internet (44% of
Finnish households have internet connections). Almost 80%
of Finnish people have a mobile phone. People in Helsinki
buy about 3000 subway (metro) tickets with a mobile phone
every day. You can even pay your soft drinks with a
mobile phone in some places!
There are 187 888 lakes
and 450 600 summer cottages in Finland. Saimaa is the
biggest lake area in Europe. Finnish nature is extremely
beautiful, especially in Lapland (wonderful fells i.e.
arctic treeless mountains, 200 000 reindeer, the midnight
sun during summer and the Northern Lights - Aurora
Borealis - during winter). The archipelago of Turku is
said to be the most beautiful in the whole world.
The island group between the Finnish mainland
and the Åland islands is the largest archipelago in
the world. There are more islands and islets than people
there!
The Snow Land offers the
possibility of overnight stays in igloos, to make snow
sculptures and to celebrate in the igloo restaurant with
ice-tables, the biggest snow castle in the world, the
largest wooden church in the world and the biggest indoor
aqua park in Europe. The airport of Helsinki-Vantaa has
been selected as the best airport in the world. Our
luxurious boats cruising from Helsinki and Turku to
Stockholm are the best ones on the Baltic.
Readers of The Guardian
and The Observer in Britain voted Finland the best
European country for travel in June 2001.
