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FINLAND
The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland) is a Nordic
country in northeastern Europe, bordered by the Baltic Sea to the southwest,
the Gulf of Finland to the southeast and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west.
Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia and a maritime
border with Estonia. The Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are
under Finnish sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy .
History
Conclusive archaeological evidence exists indicating that the area now
comprising Finland was settled around 8000 BC, during the Stone Age, as the
inland ice of the last ice age receded. The earliest inhabitants are thought
to have been hunter-gatherers, living primarily off what the forests and sea
could offer. Pottery is known from around 4200 BC. Trade following the
waterways is indicated by the spread of asbestos and soapstone from Eastern
Finland, and by founds of flint from south Scandinavia and Russia, chisels
from Lake Onega, and spearheads from north Scandinavia.
Old Scandinavian sagas and some historians like Denmark's Saxo Grammaticus
and the Arab Al Idrisi tell that there were Finnish kings before Sweden
conquered Finland.
Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden is
traditionally connected with the year 1154 and the alleged introduction of
Christianity by Sweden's King Erik. Swedish became the dominant language of
administration and education; Finnish chiefly a language for the peasantry,
held useful mainly for printing religious literature.
In 1808, Finland was conquered by the armies of Russian Emperor Alexander I
and thereafter remained an autonomous Grand Duchy in personal union with the
Russian Empire until the end of 1917. To counteract Russian replacing
Swedish, and also to sever the cultural and emotional ties with Sweden,
Finnish was ardently promoted by both the imperial court and the Finnish
government and a strong nationalist movement, known as the fennomania.
Milestones in this development were the publication of what would become
Finland's national epic, the Kalevala, in 1835; and Finnish getting an
legally equal status with that of Swedish in 1892.
On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia,
Finland declared its independence. The independence was recognized by
Bolshevist Russia within a month, but the following civil wars in Russia, in
Finland and activist expeditions to White Karelia and to Aunus complicated
the relations. The Finnish–Russian border was agreed on first with the
Treaty of Tartu in 1920.
The social frontier between the ruling and the working class has been
broader in Finland than in most comparable countries. Into the 19th century
there was a most obvious language barrier; then during the 19th century
Finland developed a proud University-educated meritocracy that felt as being
the true representation of "the people" since they spoke the people's
language and since a great deal of their ancestors really had been poor
peasants.
In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter Civil War that coloured
domestic politics for many years. The Civil War was chiefly fought between
the educated class, supported by Germany and the big class of independent
small farmers, against propertyless rural and industrial workers who despite
universal suffrage in 1906 had found themselves without political influence.
During World War II, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice: in the Winter
War of 1939-1940 and again in the Continuation War of 1941-1944 (with
support from Germany). This was followed by the Lapland War of 1944-1945,
when Finland forced the Germans out of northern Finland.
Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations
and restraints on Finland vis-à-vis the Soviet Union as well as further
territorial concessions by Finland (compared to the Moscow Peace Treaty of
1940).
After the Second World War, Finland was in the grey zone between western
countries and Soviet Union. The "YYA Treaty" (Finno-Soviet Pact of
Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance) gave Soviet Union some
leverage in Finnish domestic politics. Many politicians used their relations
with the USSR to solve party controversies, which meant that the Soviet
Union got more power; other people worked single-mindedly to oppose the
communists.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991 Finland was surprised, but they used it
immediately to their advantage. Finland was free to follow her own course
and joined the European Union in 1995. Even today Russia's influence can be
seen; Finland supports federal country development more than the other
Nordic countries.
Politics
Finland has a primarily parliamentary system, although the president also
has some notable powers. Most executive power lies in the cabinet (Council
of State) headed by the prime minister chosen by the parliament. The Council
of State is made up of the prime minister and the ministers for the various
departments of the central government as well as an ex-officio member, the
Chancellor of Justice.
Constitutionally, the 200-member, unicameral parliament, the Eduskunta (Finnish)
or Riksdag (Swedish), is the supreme legislative authority in Finland. It
may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of
State, and override presidential vetoes. Its acts are not subject to
judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or
one of the Eduskunta members, who are elected for a four-year term on the
basis of proportional representation through open list multimember districts.
The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and
criminal jurisdiction and special courts with responsibility for litigation
between the public and the administrative organs of the state. Finnish law
is codified and its court system consists of local courts, regional
appellate courts, and a Supreme Court.
The parliament has, since equal and common suffrage was introduced in 1906,
been dominated by Agrarians, Social Democrats and Communists; although all
of the political spectrum is more influenced by anti-Socialist currents than
in similar countries having less contact with the Soviet Union.
The constitution of Finland and its place in the judicial system are unusual
in that there is no constitutional court and the supreme court doesn't have
an explicit right to declare a law unconstitutional. The constitutionality
of laws in Finland is verified by a simple vote in the parliament. Any
Finnish court of law does, however, have the obligation to give precedence
to the constitution when there is an obvious conflict between the
constitution and a regular law. The only other European countries that lack
a constitutional court are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (which
doesn't have a written constitution).
Provinces
Finland consists of 6 provinces (lääni, läänit or län). The province
authority is part of the central government's executive branch; a system
that hadn't changed drastically since its creation in 1634 to the new
divison of 1997. Since then, the six provinces are:
Southern Finland
Western Finland
Eastern Finland
Oulu
Lapland
Åland
The Åland Islands enjoy a high degree of autonomy. According to
international treaties and Finnish laws, the regional government for Åland
handles some matters which belong to the province authority in Mainland
Finland.
Another kind of provinces are those echoing the pattern of colonization of
Finland. Dialects, folklore, customs and people's feeling of affiliation are
associated with these historical provinces of Finland, although the
re-settlement of 420,000 Karelians during World War II and urbanization in
the latter half of the 20th century have made differences less pronounced.
Local government is further organized in 450 municipalities of Finland.
Since 1977, no legal or administrative distinction is made between towns,
cities and other municipalities. The municipalities cooperate in 20 regions
of Finland.
Geography
Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands; 187,888 lakes and
179,584 islands to be precise. One of these lakes, Saimaa, is the 5th
largest in Europe. The Finnish landscape is mostly flat with few hills and
its highest point, the Haltitunturi at 1,328 m, is found in the extreme
north of Lapland. Beside the many lakes the landscape is dominated by
extensive boreal forests (about 68 percent of land area) and little arable
land. The greater part of the islands are found in southwest, part of the
archipelago of the Åland Islands, and along the southern coast in the Gulf
of Finland. Finland is one of the few countries in the world that is still
growing. Owing to the isostatic uplift that has been taking place since the
last ice age, the surface area of the country is growing by about 7 sq.
kilometres a year.
The climate in Southern Finland is a northern temperate climate. In Northern
Finland, particularly in the Province of Lapland, a subarctic climate
dominates, characterised by cold, occasionally severe, winters and
relatively warm summers.
A quarter of Finland's territory lies above the Arctic Circle, and as a
consequence the midnight sun can be experienced — for more and more days,
the further up north one comes. At Finland's northernmost point, the sun
does not set for 73 days during summer, and does not rise at all for 51 days
in winter.
Economy
Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per
capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. The
Finnish standard of living is high. Its key economic sector is manufacturing
- principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications (especially
Nokia), and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports
equaling almost one-third of GDP. 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. Rapidly increasing
integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11 countries
joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on January 1, 1999 - will dominate
the economic picture over the next several years. Growth was anemic in 2002
but slowed down in 2003 because of global depression.
Demographics
There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish, spoken by 92% of the
population, and Swedish, mother tongue for 5.5% of the population. Ethnic
Finns and Finland Swedes are generally considered to comprise a common
nation. The Finland-Swedes are concentrated in the coastal areas; and there
is a slight cultural difference between the culture of the Ethnic Finns,
focused on lakes and woods, and the more outward-oriented coastal culture of
the Finland-Swedes. This difference may be considered as an ethnic division,
but the difference is slight and not more pronounced than the difference
between East Finnish and West Finnish culture.
Other minority languages include Russian and Estonian. To the north, in
Lapland, are found the Sami, numbering less than 7,000, who like the Finns
speak a Finno-Ugric language (Sami).
Most Finns (84%) are members of the Lutheran Church of Finland, with a
minority of 1% belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church (see Eastern
Orthodoxy). The remainder consist of relatively small groups of other
Protestant denominations, Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews beside the 14%
who are unaffiliated.
After the Winter War (confirmed by the outcome of the Continuation War) 12%
of Finland's population had to be re-settled. War reparations, unemployment
and uncertainty regarding Finland's chances to remain sovereign and
independent of the Soviet Union contributed to considerable emigration,
abating first in the 1970s. Until then, half-a-million Finns had emigrated,
chiefly to Sweden, although half of the emigrants ultimately re-migrated
again.
Now, since the late 1990s, Finland receives refugees and immigrants in a
rate comparable with the Scandinavian countries, although the accumulated
number remains far lower in Finland. A considerable share of the immigrants
has come from the former Soviet Union claiming ethnic (Finnic) kinship.
However, over twenty languages are now spoken in Finland by immigrant groups
of significant size — that is: with at least a thousand speakers.
Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of
the country, which is even more pronounced after the 20th century
urbanization. The biggest and most important cities in Finland are Helsinki,
Tampere, Turku and Oulu, with Oulu being the only city in central–northern
Finland with more than 100,000 inhabitants.
Public Holidays
All official holidays in Finland are established by acts of Parliament. The
official holidays can be divided into Christian and secular holidays. The
main Christian holidays are Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension Day,
Pentecost and All Saints Day. The secular holidays are New Year's Day, May
Day and Midsummer Day.
In addition to this all Sundays are official holidays but they are not as
important as the special holidays. The names of the Sundays follow the
liturgical calendar and they can be categorized as Christian holidays. When
the standard working week in Finland was reduced to 40 hours by an act of
Parliament it also meant that all Saturdays became a sort of de facto public
holidays, though not official ones. Easter Sunday and Pentecost are Sundays
that form part of a main holiday and they are preceded by a kind of special
Saturdays.
The Nature and the Finnish Summer
In the summer the sun hardly sets in Finland, especially in the in the far
north where it does not set at all. This allows activity until late in the
evening, or even through the night.
Finland has very many lakes and forests, and it is very good for fishing and
canoeing. There are several large lakes, including lakes Saimaa, Inari and
Päijänne. Walking is quite a popular activity in the summer. There are no
very high mountains in Finland, so climbing is somewhat limited. The highest
mountain is Halti near Enontekiö. Halti is 1328 metres high.
Attractions
Finland is famous for its many lakes, nearly 200,000 of them, not including
the small ones. Finland is also known to have the best water quality in the
world, and green deep woods and forests around the sea, rivers and the water
ways. Finland is a typical country for people feeling sick from civilization
or big cities. It is ideal for individualists, who just like sitting on the
shore of a lake, fishing, watching reindeer or moose and enjoying silence.
In wintertime Finland provides excellent opportunities for cross-country
skiing and some for alpine skiing too. Many of the popular ski resorts are
situated north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland, but there are exceptions
like Kuusamo (to some, the Finnish "winter capital") in the northeast.
Santa Claus is commonly known to be from near the Arctic Circle in Finland.
In the town of Rovaniemi there is the Santa Claus Village for tourists to
visit.
Among many other number ones, Finland leads the world in environmental
sustainability, water quality, reading standards and press freedom. It
provides the best atmosphere for business and it ranks highest in
competitiveness and tech-savvyness.
Finland also enjoys the world's lowest infant death rate and it is the least
corrupt nation of all, and Helsinki is the cleanest capital in Europe and
No. 2 among the world's safest cities.
Northern Finland and Winter Sports
In the winter there is a large snowcastle with an Ice hotel built every year
in the northern town of Kemi. Rovaniemi is a good place from which to see
the Aurora Borealis or Northern lights. Tourists in the north of the country
in winter often enjoy trips in reindeer sleighs with Sami drivers, or in dog
sleighs.
It is also possible to ski, with downhill resorts at Saariselkä and Levi,
and many cross country ski tracks throughout the northern part of the
country. Ice hockey is a popular sport in winter. Many of the bays in the
country are frozen in winter, and it is possible to go ice yachting, or ice
skating on the ice. Most lakes are also frozen, so ice fishing (pilkkiminen)
is quite popular.
Language
The Finnish language is extremely difficult to understand for foreigners.
However, the Finns are very apt with foreign languages - you can manage with
English almost everywhere. Swedish is an offical language and therefore
widely spoken. Many Finnish people speak German as well.
The Cities
Helsinki is the capital of Finland with its beautiful surroundings, and
information about tourism there can be found in tourism in Helsinki. Other
Finnish places are worth visiting, including Tampere, Turku, Oulu and
Kuopio.
Transportation
The Finnish rail system is called VR and is quite excellent, offering
slower-speed InterCity and express trains throughout the country and the
faster Pendolino trains connecting the major cities. There are very large
discounts (even 50%) available to those under 26, as is customary in Europe.
Connection by rail is possible to Russia, and to Sweden by bus, due to rail
gauge differences. It's possible to take the Silja and Viking Line boats
from Helsinki to Stockholm, Sweden, Tallinn, Estonia or Åland island.
Finnair and other airlines provides access by air for longer trips.
Provinces of Finland
Finland consists of 6 provinces (läänit/län), following a 1997 redesign that
reduced their number from 12.
The province authority is part of the central government's executive branch;
a system that hasn't changed drastically since its creation in 1634. The
State of Finland is since the late 19th century bilingual. Its governmental
offices and agencies use both domestic languages in contacts with the public.
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