Finland
Updated: Oct 1, 2022
Home> Countries> Europe> Finland
Country Name
Finland, or officially the Republic of Finland.
Location
Finland is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. Finland shares land borders with Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north and is defined by the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south which is part of the Baltic Sea.
Capital
Helsinki.
Reason for Naming
The earliest written appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three runestones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti (U 582). The third was found in Gotland. It has the inscription finlandi (G 319) and dates back to the 13th century. The name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned at the first known time in AD 98.
Flag
The Flag of Finland was adopted on 29 May 1918. The national flag of Finland is known as the Blue Cross Flag. It is named as such because of the blue Nordic cross that makes up the design of the flag. The Finnish flag consists of two colors: blue and white. The blue color represents the Finnish sky and the many lakes of the nation. the blue cross represents Christianity. The white color represents snow. Finland also has a state flag with a similar design. The only difference is that the flag includes the national coat of arms. The coat of arms includes the colors yellow and red.
*Flag Facts
-The Finnish government has made it illegal to use a state flag without permission. -Finnish flags that are washed must only be dried indoors. -Worn-out flags can be cut into small pieces or burned. Flags can’t be thrown into the sea, buried, or thrown away.
Language
Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of Finland.
The majority of the population's native language is Finnish, which is part of the Finnic subgroup of the Uralic languages. The language is one of only four official EU languages not of Indo-European origin. Finnish is closely related to Karelian and Estonian and more remotely to the Sami languages and Hungarian.
Swedish is the second most spoken language in Finland, Swedish is closely related to German, Danish, English, and Norwegian languages.
Russian is the third most spoken language in the country with approximately 1.27% of the total population.
Other Languages Spoken In Finland either as a native language or as a side language.
The other languages include Estonian, English, Somali, Arabic, Kurdish, Chinese, Albanian, Persian, Thai, Vietnamese, Turkish, Spanish, and German.
Religion
The majority of individuals in Finland identify as members of a Christian church; the vast majority of these Christians are attendants of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The second-largest group, accounting for 26.3% of the population, has no religious affiliation. There is a small minority belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church, Other Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church are significantly smaller, as are the Jewish and other non-Christian communities count about 1.6%. The Muslim population was estimated at 2.7%.
Currency
Euro (€) (EUR).
Time Zone
+03:00 GMT. (Summer Time),
+02:00 GMT.
Government Regime
Unitary parliamentary republic.
Climate
Finland's climate is characterized by long, cold winters and short, pleasant, and wet summers. Because of its proximity to Russia, Finland has the coldest climate among the Scandinavian nations. The rainiest periods are summer and autumn. In Winter the temperature is almost around or below freezing (0 °C or 32 °F) from mid-November to late March. As you head north and east, winter gets even colder and longer, The numerous lakes that are located in Finland are frozen, and even the sea can sometimes freeze. During winter when Finland is affected by cold air masses from neighboring Russia, the temperature drops below -20 °C (-4 °F), On colder periods, the temperature can fall to as low as -50 °C (-58 °F) in the far north. May and September are two transitional months, during which the night temperatures are usually around freezing. The only months with mild weather are the three summer months, from June to August, when it can even get hot during the day.