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Finland

Finland
General information
Common nameFinland
Local name 
 
Name 
 
Anthem  (Finnish)
  (Swedish)
"Our Land"
CapitalHelsinki
Largest citycapital
Official languagesFinnish, Swedish
Regional languagesSaami
DemonymFinns, Finnish
Government
GovernmentParliamentary republic
PresidentTarja Halonen (SDP)
Prime MinisterJyrki Katainen (NCP)
Speaker of the ParliamentEero Heinäluoma (SDP)
IndependenceIndependence
Autonomy
from Sweden
March 29, 1809
Declared
from Soviet Russia
December 6, 1917
RecognisedJanuary 4, 1918
EU accessionJanuary 1, 1995
Geography
Total Area130596 sq mi (338243.6 km2) (64th)
Water %10
Demography
Population Est.5391699 (112th)
Population census5180000 (2000)
Density (pop.)15.8/km2 (201st) (41/sq mi)
Economy
GDP PPP$185.979 billion (2010)
GDP (PPP) per capita$34,585
GDP (nominal)$239.232 billion (2010)
GDP (nominal) per capita$44,488
Other information
Gini26.9 (2000) (low)
HDI(+) 0.871 (2010) (very high) (16th)
CurrencyEuro (-) (EUR)
Time zoneEET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)EEST (UTC+3)
Date formatsd.m.yyyy
Drives on theright
Internet TLD.fi, .ax ¹
Calling code358

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Finland c-enaudio=en-us-Finland.oggˈfɪnlənd ( ), officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.

Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities. A total of about one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area (which includes Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa), and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti and Kuopio.

Finland is inhabited by the Finnish people, and 92% of the inhabitants speak the Finnish language. Finland was historically a part of Sweden, and from 1809 � 1917 was an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. The Finnish Declaration of Independence from Russia in 1917 was followed by a civil war in which the leftist side was defeated with German support. Finland fought World War II as essentially three separate conflicts: the Winter War (1939 � 1940), the Continuation War (1941 � 1944), and the Lapland War (1944 � 1945). Finland joined the United Nations in 1955, the OECD in 1969, the European Union in 1995, and the eurozone since its inception in 1999.

Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialisation, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. Thereafter, economic development was rapid. Finland built an extensive welfare state and balanced between the East and the West in global economics and politics. With the best educational system in Europe, Finland has recently ranked as one of the world's most peaceful, competitive and livable countries.


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