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Finland
Last update: Saturday 11th of February 2012
Nothing was found!| Suomen tasavalta Republiken Finland Republic of Finland | |||||
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| Motto: none1 | |||||
| Anthem: Maamme (Finnish) / Vårt land (Swedish) (English: Our Land) | |||||
 Location of Finland (orange) – on the European continent (camel & white) | |||||
| Capital (and largest city) |  Helsinki | ||||
| Official languages | Finnish, Swedish | ||||
| Government | Parliamentary democracy2 | ||||
| - President | Tarja Halonen | ||||
| - Prime Minister | Matti Vanhanen | ||||
| Independence | from Bolshevist Russia | ||||
| - Autonomy | March 29, 1809 | ||||
| - Declared | December 6, 1917 | ||||
| - Recognised | January 3, 1918 | ||||
| Accession to EU | January 1, 1995 | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - Total | 338,145 km² (65th) 130,558 sq mi | ||||
| - Water (%) | 9.4 | ||||
| Population | |||||
| - 20063 estimate | 5,276,571 (111th) | ||||
| - 2000 census | 5,181,115 | ||||
| - Density | 16 /km² (190th) 40 /sq mi | ||||
| GDP (PPP) | 2005 estimate | ||||
| - Total | $163 billion (52nd) | ||||
| - Per capita | $31,208 (13th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2005 estimate | ||||
| - Total | $193.491 billion (31st) | ||||
| - Per capita | $37,504 (11th) | ||||
| HDI (2004) |  0.947 (high) (11th) | ||||
| Currency | Euro (€) 4 (EUR) | ||||
| Time zone | EET (UTC+2) | ||||
| - Summer (DST) | EEST (UTC+3) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .fi 5 | ||||
| Calling code | +358 | ||||
| 1 The words vapaa, vankka, vakaa ("free, tough, stable") were suggested as addition to the coat of arms in 1936, but were dropped. 2 Semi-presidential system 3 December 2006. 4 Prior to 2002: Finnish markka. 5 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. | |||||
The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomi, Suomen tasavalta, Swedish: Republiken Finland ) is one of the Nordic countries. Situated in Northern Europe, it shares land borders on the Scandinavian Peninsula with Sweden to the west, Russia to the east and Norway to the north while Estonia lies to its south. Finland is bounded by the Baltic Sea with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west. The Åland Islands, off the south-western coast, are an autonomous, demilitarised administrative province of Finland.
Finland has a population of 5,276,571 people spread over more than 330,000 km² (127,000 sq mi) making it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Finland is a democratic republic with a semi-presidential system and parliamentarism. Finland was previously part of the Swedish kingdom and later an autonomous Duchy in the Russian Empire, until it declared its independence on December 6, 1917. Finland is 11th on the 2006 United Nations Human Development Index and ranked as the 6th happiest nation in the world by an independent scientific study.
The Republic of Finland is a member state of the European Union and the United Nations. Along with Estonian, Hungarian and Maltese, Finnish is one of the few official languages of the European Union that is not of Indo-European origin.
History
Prehistory (8500 BCE– )
According to archaeological evidence, the area now composing Finland was first settled around 8500 BCE during the Stone Age as the ice shield of the last ice age receded. The earliest people were probably hunter-gatherers, living primarily off what the tundra and sea could offer. Pottery is known from around the 5300 BCE (see Comb Ceramic Culture). Scientists believe it is probable that speakers of the Finno-Ugric language arrived in the area during the Stone Age (see Finno-Ugric peoples), and were possibly even among the first Mesolithic settlers in Europe. The arrival of the Battle Axe culture (or Cord-Ceramic Culture) in southern coastal Finland around 3200 BCE may have coincided with the start of agriculture. However, the earliest certain records of agriculture are from the late 3rd millennium BC. Hunting and fishing continued to be important parts of the subsistence economy, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country.
The Bronze Age (1500–500 BCE) and Iron Age (500 BCE–1200 CE) were characterised by extensive contacts with other cultures in the Fennoscandian and the Baltic region. First written documents appear in the 12th century.
The Swedish reign (ear
Kimi Raikkonen has risked Ferrari's wrath by entering a snowmobile event in his native Finland just one week before the start of the new F1 season.
If you're looking for a candidate who "boldly goes" where no politician has gone before, then say hello to Finland's Jyrki Kasvi. The Green League member of parliament from the Uusimaa constituency is hoping to beam-up re-election by campaigning to a much maligned and often belittled minority known throughout the world as Trekkies.
Former rap rivals Snoop Dogg and SEAN `Diddy' COMBS staged a peace summit in Finland on Friday (09MAR07) as they joined forces to launch a European tour.The rappers, who were once bitter rivals in a feud between East and West Coast hip hop, have come together for a 22-date tour.Diddy says, "We want to entertain, we want to make music, we want to ma
Named ‘The Last Messages’, the novel is about a fictitious IT executive in Finland who has resigned from his job, and then travels through Europe and India. He keeps in touch with all his friends and his relatives through the text message function on his mobile phone, and the almost 1,000 messages are listed in a chronological order.