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May 16, 2007 at 01:10 PM |
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 You won't be ready for a PhD on Finland, but 'Finland at a glance' will give you enough info on this country to impress at least your pals.
Geography
| Total area: |
- 338,000 square kilometres, of which 10% is water and 69% forest;
- 187,888 lakes, 5,100 rapids and 179,584 islands;
- Europe's largest archipelago, including the semi-autonomous province of Åland
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| Distances: |
1,160 km north to south, 540 km west to east
Finland's land border with Russia (1,269 km) is the eastern border of the European Union.
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| Climate: |
The climate of Finland is marked by cold winters and fairly warm summers. In the far north of the country the sun does not set for about 73 days, producing the white nights of summer. In winter the sun remains below the horizon for 51 days in the far north.
In summer the temperature quite often rises to +20 Celsius or more and occasionally goes close to +30 in southern and eastern parts of the country. In winter, temperatures of -20 Celsius are not uncommon in many areas. Finnish Lapland invariably has the lowest winter temperatures. The mean temperature in Helsinki in July is +17 Celsius and in February -5.7 Celsius.
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People
| Population: |
- 5.3 million, 15.5 inhabitants per square kilometre
- 62% live in towns or urban areas, 38% in rural areas
- Principal cities: Helsinki (561,000), Espoo (232,000), Tampere (204,000), Vantaa (187,000), Turku (175,000) and Oulu (129,000)
- About one million people live in the Helsinki metropolitan area.
- Finland has a Sami (Lapp) population of 6,500.
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| Languages: |
Finland has two official languages: Finnish and Swedish.
Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language, is spoken by 91,6% and Swedish by 5,5% of the population. Sami (Lappish) is the mother tongue of about 1,700 people.
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| Religion: |
83% Lutheran and about 1% Orthodox |
History and governance
| Some important events in the history of Finland: |
| 1155 |
The first crusade to Finland by the Swedes. Finland becomes part of the Swedish realm. |
| 1809 |
Finland is handed over to Russia by Sweden and becomes a autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian emperor. |
| 1917 |
Finland's declaration of independence on December 6. |
| 1919 |
The present constitution is adopted and Finland becomes a republic |
| 1955 |
Finland joins the United Nations |
| 1995 |
Finland becomes a member of the European Union |
| The head of state is the President of the Republic. The President is elected for a six-year term by direct popular vote. The incumbent, President Mrs. Tarja Halonen, was elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2006. |
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Parliament:
Parliament consists of one chamber with 200 members. The members are elected for a four-year term by direct popular vote under a system of proportional representation.
After the parliamentary elections on 18, March 2007, the seats were divided among eight parties as follows:
| Party |
seats |
% of votes |
| The Centre Party |
51 |
23.1 |
| The National Coalition Party |
50 |
22.3 |
| The Social Democratic Party |
45 |
21.4 |
| The Left Wing Alliance |
17 |
8.8 |
| The Green League |
15 |
8.5 |
| The Swedish People's Party |
9 |
4.6 |
| The Christian Democrats |
7 |
4.9 |
| The True Finns |
5 |
4.1 |
| Others (province of Åland representative) |
1 |
2.3 |
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The Government:
The President of the Republic, Tarja Halonen, appointed Finland’s 70th Cabinet on 19 April 2007. The coalition government headed by Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, Centre Party, consists of 20 ministers. The Centre Party and the National Coalition Party have eight ministerial posts each. The Green League and the Swedish People's Party both have two ministers.
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The Economy
| In 2005, Finland's GNP per capita was around 30 800 euros. |
| Countries |
exports
% by region |
imports
% by region |
EU-countries
Euro Zone
Rest of Europe
OECD
Nafta countries
Asia
Middle East
Central and South America
Africa
Oceania |
56.8
29.3
16.7
67.6
7.1
9.1
5.2
2.2
2.2
1.0 |
58.7
32.5
18.1
69.2
4.9
14.7
0.3
2.2
0.6
0.7 |
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| Countries |
exports
% by region |
imports
% by region |
Germany
UK
US
Sweden
Russia
France
Netherlands
Italy
Belgium
Estonia
Spain
China
Japan |
10.6
6.7
5.8
10.8
11.0
3.4
4.8
3.1
2.3
2.6
2.5
3.0
1.7 |
14.9
4.5
4.2
10.6
13.9
3.6
4.0
3.6
2.2
3.1
1.5
6.0
3.3 |
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Exports:
There are three almost equally important exports sectors in the Finnish economy: electrical and optical equipment account for about 28% of exports; metal products, machinery and transport equipment account for about 31.1%; and wood and paper products account for about 20.3%. The fourth biggest export sector is the chemical industry. In 2005, the volume of exported goods grew by 7%. Trade with developing countries accounted for about 16% of total exports in 2005.
Imports:
Finnish industry is particularly dependent on imports of raw materials, machinery and components that it needs for manufacturing products for both domestic and export markets. In 2005, intermediate and capital goods accounted for 36.7% and 22.4% of imports respectively, while the share of energy of total imports was 13.8% Consumer goods, including textiles, clothing and cars, made up just over 25% of total imports. In 2005, imports increased by 15%. Trade with developing countries accounted for 14.2% of imports in 2005.
Currency:
The Finnish currency unit is the euro. Finland was one of the 12 EU countries that started using euro cash in 2002.
Source: National Board of Customs,
except GNP information source: Statistics Finland
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Last Updated ( Jun 22, 2007 at 09:16 PM )
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