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Coordinates: 
64°33′28″N 26°19′24″E / 64.557881, 26.323242
Suomen tasavalta
Republiken Finland
Republic of Finland
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|
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Anthem: Maamme (Finnish)
Vårt land (Swedish)
"Our Land"
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Capital
(and largest city) |
Helsinki
60°10′N, 24°56′E |
| Official languages |
Finnish, Swedish |
| Recognised regional languages |
Sami |
| Demonym |
Finnish or Finns |
| Government |
Parliamentary republic1 |
| - |
President |
Tarja Halonen (sd) |
| - |
Prime Minister |
Matti Vanhanen (c) |
| - |
Parliament's speaker |
Sauli Niinistö (nc) |
| Independence |
from Russian Empire |
| - |
Autonomy |
March 29, 1809 |
| - |
Declared |
December 6, 1917 |
| - |
Recognised |
January 4, 1918 |
| EU accession |
January 1, 1995 |
| Area |
| - |
Total |
338,145 km² (65th)
130,558 sq mi |
| - |
Water (%) |
10,0 |
| Population |
| - |
2008 estimate |
5,315,572[1] (111th) |
| - |
2000 census |
5,155,000 |
| - |
Density |
16/km² (201st)
40/sq mi |
| GDP (PPP) |
2005 estimate |
| - |
Total |
$163 billion (52nd) |
| - |
Per capita |
$34,819 (12th) |
| GDP (nominal) |
2007 estimate |
| - |
Total |
$245.491 billion (31st) |
| - |
Per capita |
$46,602 (12th) |
| Gini (2000) |
26.9 (low) |
| HDI (2007) |
▲ 0.952 (high) (11th) |
| Currency |
Euro (€)² (EUR) |
| Time zone |
EET (UTC+2) |
| - |
Summer (DST) |
EEST (UTC+3) |
| Internet TLD |
.fi, .ax ³ |
| Calling code |
+358 |
| 1 |
Semi-presidential system |
| 2 |
Before 2002: Finnish markka |
| 3 |
The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states. |
Finland [ˈfɪnlənd] (help·info), officially the Republic of Finland[2] (Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland (help·info)), is a Nordic country situated in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe. It has borders with Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland. The capital city is Helsinki.
Around 5.3 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern part of country.[1] It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. The native language for most of the population is Finnish, a member of the Finno-Ugric language family most closely related to Estonian and one of the four official EU languages not of Indo-European origin. The second official language, Swedish, is spoken by a 5.5 percent minority.[3] Finland is a democratic, parliamentary republic with a mostly Helsinki-based central government and local governments in 415 municipalities. Greater Helsinki (including Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) totals a million residents and a third of the GDP. Other major cities include Tampere, Turku, and Oulu.
Finland was historically part of Sweden and from 1809 an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire. Finland's declaration of independence in 1917 from Russia was followed by a civil war, wars against the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, and a period of official neutrality during the Cold War. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the European Union in 1995 and participates in the Eurozone. Finland has been ranked the second most stable country in the world, in a survey based on social, economic, political, and military indicators.[4]
Finland has seen excellent results in many international comparisons of national performance
such as the share of high-technology manufacturing, the rate of gross
domestic product growth, and the protection of civil liberties.[5]
History
-
Prehistory
According to archaeological evidence, the area now composing Finland was settled at the latest around 8500 BCE during the Stone Age as the ice shield of the last ice age receded. The settlers came from the areas of today's Estonia and Russia. The earliest people were hunter-gatherers, using stone tools. There is also evidence of carved stone animal heads.[6] The first pottery appeared in 3000 BC when settlers from the East brought in the Comb Ceramic culture.[7] The arrival of the Corded Ware culture in southern coastal Finland between 3,000–2,500 BC coincided with the start of agriculture.[8]
Even with the introduction of agriculture, hunting and fishing
continued to be important parts of the subsistence economy, especially
in the northern and eastern parts of the country.[citation needed]
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 Baltic regions. There is no consensus on when Finno-Ugric languages and Indo-European languages were first spoken in the area of contemporary Finland.
The first verifiable written documents appeared in the 12th century.[citation needed]
Swedish era
Sweden established its official rule of Finland in the 13th century. Swedish became the dominant language of the nobility, administration and education; Finnish was chiefly a language for the peasantry, clergy and local courts in predominantly Finnish-speaking areas. The Bishop of Turku was the most socially pre-eminent person in Finland before the Reformation.
During the Reformation, the Finns gradually converted to Lutheranism. In the 16th century, Mikael Agricola published the first written works in Finnish. The first university in Finland, The Royal Academy of Turku,
was established in 1640. In the 18th century, wars between Sweden and
Russia led to the occupation of Finland twice by Russian forces, known
to the Finns as the Greater Wrath (1714–1721) and the Lesser Wrath (1742–1743). By this time Finland was the predominant term for the whole area from the Gulf of Bothnia to the Russian border.
Russian Empire era
-
- See also: Finland's language strife and Russification of Finland
On March 29, 1809, after being conquered by the armie
Classical
from 
