Finland

Finland is perhaps best known for its peacefulness, beautiful and unspoilt nature. Vast forests, a unique archipelago and thousands of lakes (187,888) present a striking mixture of wooded hills and waters. In the archipelago are the islands called Åland, it is an autonomous Swedish-speaking province of Finland. Finland is also a modern Nordic country with high standards of living and advanced economy and technology.

Finland has a land border with Sweden 614 km (381 miles), with Norway 736 km (457 miles) and with Russia 1,340 km (833 miles).

Helsinki became the capital in 1812 (replacing Turku in the south-west). The official national languages are Finnish and Swedish. Amid the turmoil of the Russian Revolution, Finland declared its independence in 1917, establishing its present constitution and status as a republic in 1919.

Did you know Finland has:

5.3 million people (17 people per sq km)
1.8 million saunas (approx 500 are traditional smoke saunas)
180,000 islands
230,000 reindeer
188,000 lakes (accounts for 10% of the total area)
465,000 summer cottages
35 national parks
5.2 million mobile phones (Nokia is a Finnish brand)
1 Santa Claus – the real one!