Profile
Background and figures as recorded in the CIA World Factbook.
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. During the next 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.
- Capital
- Helsinki
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Population
- 5,550,449
- Area
- 338,145 sq km
- Location
- Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia
- Climate
- cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic…
- Natural resources
- timber; iron ore; copper; lead; zinc; chromite…
- Languages
- Finnish (official) 85.9%; Swedish (official) 5.2%; Russian 1.7%; other 7.2%
- Religions
- Lutheran 66.6%; Greek Orthodox 1.1%; other 1.7%; none 30.6%
- Independence
- 6 December 1917 (from Russia)
- Administrative divisions
- 19 regions (maakunnat, singular - maakunta (Finnish); landskapen, singular - landskapet (Swedish));
- Currency
- euros (EUR)
- Export partners
- USA 11%; Germany 11%; Sweden 10%; Netherlands 7%…
- Import partners
- Germany 14%; Sweden 12%; China 9%; Norway 8%…
Source: CIA World Factbook — a work of the US government, in the public domain