Finland | Geography | People | Economy | Tourism and Problems
Let’s discuss about the country of Midnight Sun, Northern lights, and Freezing weather.
Geography
Finland is a Nordic country with a total land area of 338,440 km² located in Northern Europe, lying on the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Bothnia.
Don’t call it Scandinavian! There’s a difference, this title only belongs to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway.
To the west side, Finland borders Sweden on the Torne River. And to the east, they border Russia with a tripoint border shared with Norway.
Finland is divided into 19 autonomous regions and the capital city Helsinki is located in the south of the Gulf of Finland which is also the second most northern capital city in the world after ReykjavÃk, Iceland.
The country also owns about 180,000 islands, most of these are still not linked with the mainland.
Seriously though, the land of Finland is basically flat, except on the north side alongside the border with Norway in which the highest mountain (Mt. Halti) is situated, although the peak was in Norway, they gifted this peak to Finland for its 100th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union. It sounds great right?
Keep in mind, northern parts of Finland also lie within the Arctic Circle, which shows how north they are.
Because Finland is located so near to the North Pole, you can see the sun for 24 hours a day in the northern parts during summer. And during the wintertime, they hardly get any sunlight for months.
The longest river in Finland is the Kemijoki, which flows through Lapland and reaches the Gulf of Bothnia.
Lake Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland, as well as the fourth largest freshwater lake in Europe, which is located in the southeast of Lakeland in Finland.
Fact: There is a strange golf course that is split between Finland and Sweden in the town of Tornio.
Demographics
First of all, Finland has a tiny population of around 5.5 million people in 2021 and is the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. About 90% of the total population in Finland are ethnically Finnish, about 6% are of Swedish origin, and the rest are Russians, Estonians, Asians, and African minorities.
Of course, the Finnish people speak their own Finnish language, which is one of the hardest languages on earth to learn. However, most people of the younger generation in Finland hold an impressively fluent English conversation.
Nevertheless, Finland has one of the best schooling systems in the world because of shorter school hours, less homework, and focused on the overall development of students.
Finns are incredibly quiet people and don’t talk that much; they just mind their own business.
There is a funny culture in Finland, they organize a wife-carrying competition, in which a man should carry his wife or girlfriend around an obstacle course and the winner gets beer the same as the woman’s weight. It sounds funny, but they enjoy this occasion.
Finland is huge on the loud, and heavy metal culture having the highest ratio of heavy metal bands as compared to any other country in the world.
Lastly, Finland is a wonderland of winter, with quiet people who get metal monsters after getting drunk.
Interesting Fact: Finland is the world’s largest coffee-consuming country per capita.
Do you know? Finland is the happiest country in the world.
Economy
In terms of Economy, Finland has an industrialized and free-market economy. This country has a very high quality of life index.
Salaries in Finland are considerably high as compared to other eastern European nations. In 2021 minimum wage rate in Finland has remain at $2,600.
The economy of Finland is generally dependent upon the service sector which contributes nearly 70% of total GDP. Industry and agriculture are also important factors of their economy.
Major exports of Finland are transportation, electronics, forestry, machinery, and chemicals. Whereas Germany and Sweden are the major trade partners.
Tourism
In terms of tourism, Finland is not ranked among the most visited countries globally, but there are many different things to explore in this freezing country.
Helsinki is the hub of Finnish architecture and museums where you can visit old historic museums like Helsinki Art Museum, Ateneum, and Museum of Finnish Architecture.
Well, Finland is famous for many lakes and beautiful landscapes. Lapland is the most popular region of Finland for Ski Resorts.
In the winter season, you can enjoy a snow castle with an Ice hotel in the northern town of Kemi. If you are lucky enough, you can have sightseeing of Northern Light (Aurora) in Rovaniemi.
Finland is a very safe country to travel to, you won’t experience any crime and violence however be aware of pickpocketing in public areas.
Innovations
Finland is ranked among the top-10 most innovative countries in the world. They have great contributions in various sectors. Some of the great inventions of Finland are listed here:
Heart Rate Monitor
Internet Browser
Angry Birds
Nokia
Linux
Ice Skates
SMS
Finland has made great contributions to the world’s tech industry and provides quality and productive education to new generations.
Nature and Wildlife
Finland is just a wonderful and refreshing country that is ranked among the top 3 countries in the world with the cleanest air quality, just behind Iceland and Canada.
In terms of forests, 80% of Finland is covered in forests, one of the highest ratios per square kilometer in the world only behind countries like Gabon and Suriname. This makes Finland ranked among the largest producers of woods and paper in Europe.
Finland has about 188,000 lakes which is the highest per capita in the world as per the size of the country. In addition to lakes, about 10% of the country is covered by water bodies like rivers, ponds, and streams.
The national animal of Finland is the Brown Bear and other animals like Wolverine, Reindeer, Arctic Fox, Gray Seal, and Whooper Swan are found over the country.
Finnish agriculture is very standard and modernized among northern European countries, lots of rye wheat, turnips, potatoes, and fisheries are heavily produced.
During the wintertime, they have interesting ice hotels, and there are magnificent waterfalls in the Paratiisikuru area and the Urhokekkonen National Park.
International Relations
Finland gets close with other Nordic countries. Historically, Finland was a little lonely and isolated country. Over time, Finland developed good relations with others, to this day, Finland is one of the most diplomatically outreached countries in the world.
Surprisingly, the Finnish passport is ranked 3rd powerful in the world and it has 190 visa-free countries.
When it comes to Russia, Finland has to be friends, because Russia shares the longest border with them, and trading is important between these countries.
Finland has good relations with other American and Asian Countries. The USA is also an important trade partner of Finland and they support each other in every matter.
Finland is a member of the European Union and Schengen Visa Zone. All European nationals are free to enter and do trade there. In addition, they are actively working together with the rest of the EU nations.
Germans are always welcome in Finland. They love each other and Germany is their largest trading partner.
Their best friends might be Estonia and Norway. They never had any dispute and misunderstanding with Finland, and with the recent mountain gift proposal by Norway, bonding is getting deeper.
Estonia is like a little sister that tries to follow her bigger brother. Well, Finland and Estonia both have the same national anthems. Finally, Finland always loves her.
Problems
In spite of a developed economy and advanced infrastructure, Finland is facing the problem of a rapidly aging population. Due to the decreasing workforce, they are experiencing a slightly decreasing economic growth rate and the population growth rate is lower than the average of the EU.
