Europe: Plan your Journey to Europe

Finland

Finland (in Finnish, Suomi), officially Republic of Finland, republic in northern Europe, bordered on the north by Norway, on the east by Russia, on the south by Russia and the Gulf of Finland, on the south-west by the Baltic Sea, and on the west by the Gulf of Bothnia and Sweden. Nearly one third of the nation lies north of the Arctic Circle. The area of Finland, including 33,551 sq km (12,954 sq mi) of inland water, totals 338,145 sq km (130,559 sq mi). Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland.

Stable and secure Finland, nestled between Sweden and Norway to the west and Russia to the east, has all the attributes of a hot vacation spot. Along your journey you can explore the culturally and historically rich King's Road. This scenic southern region of Finland stretches west of Helsinki to the 770-year-old former capital of Turku and east to the spectacular Lakeland region.More Information on Finland.

Also Read: Things you need to know about Finland

Full country name: Republic of Finland
Area: 338,000 sq km sq km
Population: 5.19 million
Capital City: Helsinki (pop: 891,000)
People:Finns, minorities of Swedes, Sami, Roma
Language: Swedish, English, Finnish
Religion: Lutheran & Orthodox
Government: presidential republic
Head of Government: President Tarja Halonen

History of Finland

Finland's traces of human settlement date back to the thaw of the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago. The Finns' ancestors seem to have dominated half of northern Russia before arriving on the north of the Baltic coast well before the Christian era. By the end of the Viking Age, Swedish traders and chieftains had extended their interests throughout the Baltic region. Over the centuries, Finland has sat precariously between the Protestant Swedish empire and Eastern Orthodox Russia. For seven centuries, from the 12th century until 1809, it was part of Sweden....More on Finland's History.

Overview of Finland's Economy

GDP: US$133.5 billion
GDP per capita: US$25,800
Annual Growth: %
Inflation: 2.6%
Major Industries: Metals and engineering equipment, telecommunications, timber and paper products
Major Trading Partners: EU ( Germany, Sweden, UK), Russia, USA
Member of EU: Yes

Also Read: Deep Analysis of Economy of Finland

Political System of Finland

- Politics in Finland
- Government of Finland
- Provinces Of Finland
- Defense in Finland

Climate, Vegetation and Fauna

72 % of Finland is forested. Except in the extreme south, where aspen, alder, maple, and elm trees are found, the forests are chiefly coniferous, controlled by spruce and pine trees. Finland has nearly 1,200 species of plants and ferns and some 1,000 varieties of lichens. Wildlife includes bear, wolf, lynx, and arctic fox, all found mainly in the less populated northern regions. Reindeer, domesticated by the Saami, are becoming extinct in the wild. Wild goose, swan, ptarmigan, snow bunting, and golden plover nest throughout northern Finland. Freshwater fish include perch, salmon, trout, and pike. The leading saltwater fish are cod, herring, and haddock. Seals are found along the coast...Environment of Finland

Also Read: Geography of Finland


Population and People:It appears that the ancestors of the Sami were present in Finland by about 7000 BC...Finlands Population.

Culture: Finland has been on Europe's periphery, both physically and socially, for almost all its history...More about Culture of Finland.

Languages: Finnish and Swedish are the official languages. More than 93 % of the population speaks Finnish, a Finno-Ugric language...Languages of Finland.

Education in Finland: Finland has had a strong tradition of literacy since the Protestant Reformation...More information on Education in Finland

Environment: Finland is the seventh largest country in Europe. Located between Sweden and Russia, with whom it shares borders, it also rubs up against Norway's arctic north. The Gulf of Finland separates southern Finland from Estonia. Forests cover two-thirds of the country, the arctic zone one-third. Post-glacial lakes are the country's dominant feature, and if marshes and bogs are also counted, water covers about 10% of the country. Finland's highest point, the Halti, rises 1328m (4357ft) above sea level...Environment of Finland

Finnish Lifestyle: The profound demographic and economic changes that occurred in Finland after World War II affected the Finnish family...More about Lifestyle in Finland


Facts for the Traveler

Visas: Citizens of EU countries and the USA, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Malaysians, Singaporeans and most South Americans do not need a visa for stays of less than three months.
Health risks: hypothermia (This occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it and the core temperature of the body falls. It is frighteningly easy to progress from very cold to dangerously cold due to a combination of wind, wet clothing, fatigue and hunger, even if the air temperature is above freezing. If the weather deteriorates, put on extra layers of warm clothing immediately: a windproof and/or waterproof jacket, plus wool or fleece hat and gloves, are all essential. Have something energy-giving to eat and ensure that everyone in your group is fit, and feeling well and alert. Symptoms of hypothermia are exhaustion, numb skin (particularly toes and fingers), shivering, slurred speech, irrational or violent behaviour, lethargy, stumbling, dizzy spells, muscle cramps and violent bursts of energy. Irrationality may take the form of sufferers claiming they are warm and trying to take off their clothes. To treat mild hypothermia, first get the person out of the wind and/or rain, remove their clothing if it's wet and replace it with dry, warm clothing. Give them hot liquids – not alcohol – and some high-energy, easily digestible food. Do not rub victims: instead, allow them to slowly warm themselves. This should be enough to treat the early stages of hypothermia. The early recognition and treatment of mild hypothermia is the only way to prevent severe hypothermia, which is a critical condition)
Time Zone: GMT/UTC +2
Dialling Code: 358
Electricity: 230V ,50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric

Also Read:Money and Cost Required | List of Public Holidays in Finland

When to Go to Finland

Whatever time of year you visit Finland, there's something happening. Most museums and galleries are open year-round, and there is as much to do in the depths of winter as there is at the height of summer. Nevertheless, you'll probably have a better time if you come in the warmer months, either in summer or anytime from May to September. As well as the advantages of warm weather, summer is the time of the midnight sun. Winter north of the Arctic Circle is a chilly confluence of strange bluish light and encroaching melancholy. Despite snow falls from November, it stays pretty sludgy until late winter: skiing isn't great until February, the coldest month, and you can ski in Lapland right through to June.

Also Read: Getting Around Finland | Finland: Getting There and Away | Transportation In Finland

What to See in Finland

Major Tourist Attractions in Finland
- Kristinestad: The most interesting thing to see in idyllic Kristinestad...
- Lemmenjoki National Park: The largest national park in Finland, Lemmenjoki offers some of the most exciting trekking in Lapland...
- Helsinki: Helsinki retains a small-town feel: there are no high-rise buildings and the market square is still surrounded by 19th-century architecture...

Other Tourist Attractions in Finland

more...

Events in Finland

Midsummer's Day (Juhannus) is the most important annual event for Finns. People leave cities and towns for summer cottages to celebrate the longest day of the year. Bonfires are lit and lakeside merrymakers swim and row boats. Enthusiastic alcohol consumption is a key feature of midsummer partying. The Pori Jazz Festival in July is one of the country's most popular festivals, but the Savonlinna Opera Festival, held at medieval Olavinnlinna Castle, is the most famous. Some of the best (and the most international) festivals are the most remote: check out chamber music in Kuhmo, or folk music in Kaustinen (near Kokkola). There are big rock festivals during the Midsummer weekend, and big annual events, such as Ruisrock, the longest-running of rock festivals, at Turku in July. On the lighter side, check out the Sleepyhead Day, where on 27 July the laziest person in the towns of Naantali and Hanko is thrown into the sea. Finland's strangest event is the annual wife-carrying championship held every July in tiny Sonkajärvi.

Helsinki: The Capital City of Finland

- A Brief History of Helsinki
- Brief facts about Helsinki
- Getting Around In Helinski
- Getting There & Away In Helsinki
- Events in Helinski
- When to Go to Helinski
- Attractions In Helinsk

Cluj-Napoca : Romania Cluj-Napoca (Hungarian: Kolozsvar; German: Klausenburg; Latin: Claudiopolis), the seat of Cluj county, is one of the most important academic, cultural and industrial centers in Romania. Regarded as the historic capital of Transylvania, the city is located in northwestern Romania, and is approximately 480 km (200 miles) northwest of Bucharest in the Somesul Mic [...]
Cultural Activity in Europe Europe has a long tradition of excellence in literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and dance. In the late 20th century Paris, Rome, London, Madrid, and Moscow were particularly famous as cultural centers, but many other cities also supported important museums, musical and theatrical groups, and other cultural institutions. Most European countries had [...]
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Languages of Europe Europeans speak a wide variety of languages. The principal linguistic groups are the Slavic, which includes Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovenian, Macedonian, and Serbo-Croatian; the Germanic, which includes English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic; and the Romance, which includes Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. These languages have [...]
Demography of Europe The distribution of the European population has not been stable over long periods, but has shifted, both through differential birth and death rates and by migration. At the beginning of the Christian era, the most densely populated part of Europe bordered the Mediterranean Sea. At the beginning of the 21st century Europe had [...]
Ethnologyof Europe Europe includes a large number of ethnic groups—persons associated by a common culture, especially language. European nations are generally composed of one dominant group, such as the Germans of Germany and the French of France. Several countries, particularly in south central Europe, have large minorities, and most countries contain smaller groups, such as the [...]
People of Europe Indo-European languages (see The Indo-European Family of Languages, table) predominate in Europe; others spoken include Basque, Maltese, and the languages classified as Finno-Ugric, Samoyedic, Bulgaric, and Turkic. Roman Catholicism is the chief religion of S and W Europe and the southern part of central Europe; Protestantism is dominant in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, [...]
Biodiversity of Europe Having lived side-by-side with agricultural and industrial civilisations for millennia, Europe’s animals and plants have been profoundly affected by the presence and activities of man. With the exception of Scandinavia and northern Russia, few areas of untouched wilderness are today to be found in Europe, except for different natural parks. The main natural vegetation [...]
Physical features of Europe In terms of shape, Europe is a collection of connected peninsulas. The two largest of these are “mainland” Europe and Scandinavia to the north, divided from each other by the Baltic Sea. Three smaller peninsulas—Iberia, Italy and the Balkans—emerge from the southern margin of the mainland into the Mediterranean Sea, which separates [...]
Regions of Europe Europe can be divided into five geographic regions: Scandinavia (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark); the British Isles (United Kingdom and Ireland); W Europe (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Monaco); S Europe (Portugal, Spain, Andorra, Italy, Malta, San Marino, and Vatican City); Central Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, [...]

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