Finland

Finland

Known as Suomi to its people, Finland is one of the most northerly countries in the world. An aerial view of this land would show a spectacular pattern of forests, swampy peatland, massive lakes and islands scattered in the lakes. Most of it is covered in pine, spruce and birch trees and for up to half of the year it is carpeted in snow. Finland has a distinctive language and culture that marks it apart of Scandinavian countries. Finland is bordered by Russia to the east, Norway to the north and Sweden to the north-west .

Ethnicity

There are 5.518 million people living in Finland

• 88% Finnish
• 5% Swedish
• 1% Russian
• 1% Estonian
• 5% Other

Economy

Finland is one of the most expensive Euro using countries. Finland has a very modern economy with a comparable per capita output to other westernised countries. Most of the population works in either service, manufacturing or refining. Trade and manufacturing in Finland mainly consists of wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications and electronics.Finland is a part of the EC (European Community) and the EU (European Union). Finland is ranked one of the world’s happiest countries because it tries to dedicate all of the policies to benefit everyone. There is very little corruption and most Finnish people will say that there is a good impression of freedom and autonomy. The education in Finland is free and one of the best in the world, even though they have shorter days, this is because the teachers decide the curriculum. 62% of the population is between the age of 15 and 64 years old. 

Food

Finland has some delicious food and some very interesting sweets that Finnish people adore. The biggest meal of the day is often at lunch. Some of these dishes can include Lohikeitto (salmon soup), Leipajuusto (bread cheese), Karjalanpiirakka (rice pies), Graavilohi (cured salmon), Korvapuusti (cinnamon buns), Poronkaristys (sautéed reindeer) which is more common in Lapland and is a must have if you go to Finland. Salmiakki is a sweet but salty black liquorice that is very popular and found everywhere in Finland, it may not fit everyone’s taste buds. Mämmi is a very traditional food eaten around the time of Easter. To buy alcohol in Finland you must go to the state monopoly store called Alko. As you may have guessed Vodka is very popular amongst the people of Finland especially at parties.

Some more dishes can include:

-Lohikeitto (salmon soup)

-Leipajuusto (bread cheese)

-Karjalanpiirakka (rice pies)

-Korvapuusti (cinnamon buns)

-Poronkaristys (sautéed reindeer)

Places

Being the capital of Finland, Helsinki has a lot of amazing places for tourists to visit. Finland is also the land of Santa Claus in the northern part called Lapland.It is a magical place and between September and March you will be able to see the northern lights in Northern Finland. Suomi (Finland in Finnish) is nicknamed the land of a thousand lakes but this isn’t an exaggeration with 188,000 lakes. Some cities to visit in Finland are:

• Helsinki, the amazing capital of Finland
• Turku, walk along the Aura river and stroll the markets.
• Tampere is the economic and urban hub of Finland

Some places to visit are:

• Lapland the land of Santa Claus, Lapland
• Helsinki Cathedral, Helsinki
• Turku Castle, Turku
• Market Square, Helsinki
• Moomin Museum, Tampere

History

Yes, Finns are descended from Vikings. In the 12th century until 1809 Sweden ruled Finland then the Russo-Swedish war happened and from 1809 to 1917 the Russian empire had control over Finland. In 1812 Helsinki took over the duty of capital from Turku. In June of 1921 the Åland Islands was peacefully taken from Sweden by Finland. On November the 30th 1939 USSR attacked but were unsuccessful on taking over Finland, this was because of the harsh Finnish climate in winter. Russian soldiers where not used to it, and it was called the winter war. Finnish people fought back in an informal way but still managed to hold back the 1 million Russian soldiers. Russia took over a part of eastern Finland called Karelia. Finland joined the EU in 1995.

Published on the 2nd of May 2021