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Finland is a country in Northern Europe that borders the Baltic Sea. Its official name is the Republic of Finland.
It covers an area of 338,145 square kilometres.
Helsinki is the country's capital and largest city.
Its official languages are Finnish and Swedish.
Its official currency is the Euro (€) (EUR).
Finland, a Nordic country, is one of the world's northernmost countries.
This "Land of the Midnight Sun" provides visitors with stunning scenery, exciting outdoor adventures, delectable cuisine, and some intriguing annual contests and customs.
The Sami (Lapp) people were the first inhabitants of Finland when the first Finnish speakers arrived in the first millennium B.C. The Lapps migrated north into what is now known as Lapland.
Today, the Republic of Finland is geographically located on a peninsula within the region of Scandinavia, but Finland is actually part of Fenland.
In and around Finland, there are exactly 179,584 islands, a world record. The land Islands, located off the southwest coast, are inhabited by Swedish-speaking people and have been autonomous since 1921.
Finland is Europe's eighth largest country, but it has the European Union's lowest population density.
Finland has 187,888 lakes (larger than 500 m2) within its borders. This is also a world record. Finland's largest lake, Saimaa, is Europe's fourth largest lake. The lake is also home to "The Saimaa," the world's rarest fresh water seal. Around 310 of these are still in the lake.
The eroding effects of heavy ice age glaciers resulted in a mostly flat Finnish landscape with few hills or mountains.
The terrain is steadily rising today due to post-glacial rebound (about one cm (0.4 in) per year). Finland is literally rising from the sea, expanding by about seven square kilometres (2.7 square miles) per year.
Finland's capital, Helsinki, is the world's northernmost capital city, second only to Iceland's Reykjavik.
Finland appears from the air like an intricate green and blue jigsaw puzzle, with its numerous lakes, rivers, and marshlands, as well as its 78 percent forestland.
Finland has a cold temperate climate that is potentially subarctic but is actually mild due to the moderating influence of the North Atlantic Gulf Stream current and the country's numerous lakes.
Finland is an egalitarian society with gender-neutral language and a history of sexual equality. It was the first country in Europe to grant women equal voting rights in 1906.
In April 2003, Finland elected its first female prime minister (Anneli Jäätteenmäki), making it the only country in Europe with both a female president (Tarja Halonen) and a female prime minister.
The official languages of Finland are Finnish (89%) and Swedish (5%). The indigenous language is the Sami language. 63 percent of the population speaks English.
The population of Finland is primarily urban (84 percent). Finland is also referred to as "Suomi" (common, Finnish).
Finland's education system is regarded as one of the best in the world, despite the fact that children do not attend school until the age of seven, and grades are not required until the eighth grade.
The Finns are modest and courteous, and they value speaking plainly and openly. They believe that their word is their bond and that verbal commitments are binding.
Finland has the highest annual milk consumption per capita in the world. That works out to about one quart per person per day. Furthermore, 17% of Finns are lactose intolerant.
The Finns enjoy their coffee as well. The average Finn consumes 12 kg of coffee per year, ranking first in the world. That is twice what Italians drink and three times what Americans consume.
The Finns consider their country to be the home of Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, who resides in the northern region of Lapland.
Finland has won more Summer Olympic medals per capita than any other country in the world. Only Norway has more Winter Olympic medals per capita than Finland.
The sauna holds a special place in Finnish culture. It is common practise to have a sauna in your home and share it with family and friends. Almost everyone visits a sauna once a week.
The sauna holds a special place in Finnish culture. It is common practise to have a sauna in your home and share it with family and friends. Almost everyone visits a sauna once a week.
Important business meetings may be followed by a sauna session in which the business conversation is continued in a more casual setting.
Every meal includes traditional breads such as ruisleip (a flat, crispy sour rye bread). Karelian pastry is a traditional Finnish dish made with a rye crust and rice filling.
Meat (pork, beef, and reindeer) and fish (salmon, whitefish, and herring) are also staples. Reindeer meat is particularly lean and nutritious. Kraftskiva (crayfish) season lasts from July 21 to early October.
Silla ja Vudet Perunat is a new potato and herring dish. Potatoes are a popular side dish at many meals.
A popular "packed lunch" is Kalakukko, a bread pastry filled with various meats or fish.
Popular fruit dishes include bilberries, lingon berries, and cloud berries, which are indigenous fruits.
Finland's press has been rated the freest in the world due to its commitment to equal rights and emphasis on transparency. Transparency International, based in Berlin, has ranked Finland as the world's least corrupt country since 1998.
Finland has been a member of the European Union since 1995, and it was the only Nordic country to join the eurozone at its inception in 1999.
The 120 km Päijänne Water Tunnel in Finland is Europe's longest and the world's second longest tunnel.
Finland's Lapland and other northern regions are known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun," with a quarter of the country located within the Arctic Circle. Every year, the sun does not set for 73 consecutive summer days and does not rise at all for 51 days during the winter (known as polar night).
In Lapland and other parts of Finland, the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) can be seen almost every season except summer. You can even spend the night watching them from a glass igloo.
Nokia is a Finnish telecommunications company and one of the world's largest mobile phone manufacturers. In Finland, mobile phone throwing is an official sport. Furthermore, there are no pay phones in Finland.
Mosquito hunting, swamp football, rubber boot throwing, and the Air Guitar World Championship are some other unusual sports. The Wife Carrying World Championship attracts competitors from all over the world. Your wife's weight in beer is the first prize.
Finland is the undisputed heavy metal capital of the world. It has the highest density of heavy metal bands per capita in the world.
The phone app Angry Birds was created by Rovio Entertainment in Finland. Other inventions include the heart-rate monitor, rescue toboggan, Linux operating system, salmiakki (salty liquorice), ice skates, and the Molotov cocktail. Sauna is the most commonly used Finnish word outside of Finland.
Finland was the first country to make Internet access a constitutional right for its citizens.
Speeding is expensive in Finland. Your ticket fine is calculated based on your annual income. A wealthy driver was once fined over $200,000 for a single speeding violation.
In Finland, they have an annual failure day. It is a day dedicated to people's failures, and the reason to celebrate is to recognise that success and failure go hand in hand.
In 1991, four Finnish students in Helsinki created the world's first graphical web browser. Erwise was its name.
In Finland, nearly 100% of bottles are recycled, and nearly 90% are returned for recycling after use.
Finland was the first country in the world to make broadband access a legal right for all citizens in 2010.
Finland is also known as Europe's Prison Break Capital. In 2013, 1084 escapes were recorded in Finland for every 10,000 prisoners. This could be because Finland has open prisons where prisoners can roam freely and work and shop alongside locals.
If you have a Finnish, British, or Swedish passport, you can enter more countries without a visa than anyone else in the world.
People in Finland are obsessed with their phones and are less chatty in public places. They prefer to remain silent and avoid making small talk with strangers.
Smoking is common in Finland, and even more common is that smokers throw their cigarette trash wherever they want.
In Finland, regardless of whether you own a TV, you must pay a TV tax. There is also a candy tax and a water tax, but no cookie tax.
Restaurant Day is also celebrated. On this day, anyone in the country is free to open any restaurant they want, anywhere in the country. Almost anywhere. In parks, on the side of the road, or wherever you want.
Finns are also very truthful. Reader Digest once put 12 wallets in public places in Finland as part of an honesty test. The researchers were taken aback when they received 11 of them.
Since 1938, the government has provided expectant mothers with clothing, sheets, diapers, and a mattress for their unborn child.
For nearly 600 years, Finland was a part of Sweden.
Linus Benedict Torvalds, the creator and primary developer of the Linux kernel (the foundation for operating systems such as the Linux operating system, Android, and Chrome OS), was born in Helsinki, Finland on December 28, 1969.
By far the most successful country in Olympic history, Finland, with 18.39 medals per million people, has won 18 gold medals.
In Finland, there are no toll roads. Driving licences from the European Union and Switzerland are accepted in Finland, and the roads are in good condition, with few cars on the road. In the country, traffic jams are uncommon.
Finland was a part of Sweden from the Middle Ages until 1809. Finland became a part of Russia in 1809 and remained so until 1917, when it gained independence during the Russian Revolution. In 2017, the country will commemorate its 100th anniversary with events across the country and around the world.
Concerts, sauna evenings, promotion of 100 nationally significant national wonders, and the opening of the country's 40th National Park in the Hossa area, which was critical in developing Finnish independence, are among the Centenary events.
Skiing, fishing, lake cruises, hiking, golf, husky and reindeer safaris, and elk hunting are all popular outdoor activities in Finland. Finland offers fantastic "Freedom to Roam" opportunities.
Commercial cruises between major coastal cities are important components of the local tourism industry. There is even a cruise ship that travels between Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland solely for the purpose of purchasing cheap alcohol.
Every year, Kerri's Snow Hotel is a world-famous luxury destination. It is constructed entirely of snow and ice each year and includes a snow castle, snow hotel, snow restaurant, and snow chapel.
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