Background Note: Finland

Geography
Area: 338,144 sq. km. (130,558 sq. miles); about the size of New England, New Jersey, and New York combined.
Cities: Capital--Helsinki (pop. 561,000). Other cities--Espoo (232,000), Tampere (204,000), Vantaa (187,000), Turku (175,000).
Terrain: Low but hilly, more than 70% forested; 188,000 lakes and 179,584 islands, 98,050 of which are in the lakes.
Climate: Northern temperate.

People
Nationality: Noun--Finn(s). Adjective--Finnish.
Population (August 2006): 5.27 million.
Population growth rate: 0.14% (2006 est).
Ethnic groups: Finns, Swedes, Lapps, Sami, Roma, Tatars.
Religions: Lutheran 83.1%, Orthodox 1.1%.
Languages: Finnish 91.6%, Swedish 5.5% (both official); small Lapp- (0.03%) and Russian-speaking (0.75%) minorities.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--almost 100%. Literacy--almost 100%.
Health: Infant mortality rate--3.6/1,000 (2005). Life expectancy--males 75.5 yrs., females 82.3 yrs.
Work force (2.8 million; of which 2.6 million are employed): Public services--32.2%; industry--19%; commerce--16%; finance, insurance, and business services--13.5%; agriculture and forestry--5%; transport and communications--7.2%; construction--7.1%.

Government
Type: Constitutional republic.
Constitution: July 17, 1919.
Independence: December 6, 1917.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), Council of State (cabinet). Legislative--unicameral parliament. Judicial--Supreme Court, regional appellate courts, local courts.
Subdivisions: Six provinces, provincial self-rule for the Aland Islands.
Political parties: Social Democratic Party, Center Party, National Coalition (Conservative) Party, Leftist Alliance, Swedish People's Party, Green Party.
Suffrage: Universal at 18.

Economy (2005)
GDP: $195.8 billion (EUR 157.4 billion).
GDP growth rate: 2.9%.
Per capita income: $37,330 (EUR 30,005).
Inflation rate: 0.9% (2005 average); 1.9% (Aug 2006).
Natural resources: Forests, minerals (copper, zinc, iron), farmland.
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (2.8% of GDP): Products--meat (pork and beef), grain (wheat, rye, barley, oats), dairy products, potatoes, rapeseed.
Industry (25.4% of GDP): Types--metal (including electronics and electrical equipment) and engineering, forest products, chemicals, shipbuilding, foodstuffs, textiles.
Trade: Exports--$65.3 billion. Major markets--EU 57%, Russia 11%, U.S. 5.8%, China 3%. Imports--$58.5 billion. Major suppliers--EU 59%, Russia 14%, China 6%, U.S. 4.2%.

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
The origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of conjecture, although many scholars argue that their original home was in what is now west-central Siberia. The Finns arrived in their present territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into the more remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish--the language of Finland's small Lapp minority--both are Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family.

Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Eric. During the ensuing centuries, Finland played an important role in the political life of the Swedish-Finnish realm, and Finnish soldiers often predominated in Swedish armies. Finns also formed a significant proportion of the first "Swedish" settlers in 17th-century America.

Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th century, Swedish became the dominant language, although Finnish recovered its predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish nationalism. Publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala--a collection of traditional myths and legends--first stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.
In 1809, Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar Alexander I and thereafter remained an autonomous grand duchy connected with the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter civil war that colored domestic politics for many years. During World War II, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice--in the Winter War of 1939-40 and again in the Continuation War of 1941-44. This was followed by the Lapland War of 1944-45, when Finland fought against the Germans as they withdrew their forces from northern Finland.

Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations and restraints on Finland vis-a-vis the U.S.S.R. as well as territorial concessions by Finland; both have been abrogated by Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union (see Foreign Relations).

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Finland has a mixed presidential/parliamentary system with executive powers divided between the president, who has primary responsibility for national security and foreign affairs, and the prime minister, who has primary responsibility for all other areas, including EU issues. Also under the new Constitution, which took effect on March 2000, the established practice for managing foreign policy is that the President keeps in close touch with the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and other ministers responsible for foreign relations. Constitutional changes strengthened the prime minister--who must enjoy the confidence of the parliament (Eduskunta)--at the expense of the president. Finland's 1995 accession to the European Union (EU) has blurred the line between foreign and domestic policy; the respective roles of the president and prime minister are evolving, and plans are under consideration to rewrite the constitution to clarify these and other issues. Finns enjoy individual and political freedoms, and suffrage is universal at 18. The country's population is relatively ethnically homogeneous. Immigration to Finland has significantly increased over the past decade, although the foreign-born population, estimated at only 2.2% of the total population, is still much lower than in any other EU country. Few tensions exist between the Finnish-speaking majority and the Swedish-speaking minority.