Finland -- School-age

Finland

Official Name: Republic of Finland
Finnish: Suomen tasavalta, Swedish: Republiken Finland

County's inhabitants: Noun: Finn. Adjective: Finnish.

Abbreviation: Fi

Currency: Euro

Official Languages: Finnish and Swedish.
Finnish is spoken by 93% of the population. Swedish is spoken by around 6% of the population.

Religion: Mainly Christian. Seventy percent of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( Protestant ).

Sami people are an indigenous people of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia.

Finland is located in Northern Europe.

Finland is bordered by three countries and three separate bodies of water.

Three countries that border Finland are Norway, Sweden, and Russia. The three bodies of water are the Gulf of Bothnia, the Gulf of Finland, and the Baltic Sea.

Finland Government

Finland has a parliamentary representative democracy based on a constitution since 1919.

The President is the head of state. The president is elected every six years.

The Prime Minister is the head of government. The Prime Minister is elected by Parliament and appointed to office by the President.

A one-chamber parliament is elected for four-year terms.

The Judicial Branch of Finland is independent of the legislature and executive and consist of local, municipal, and rural district courts.

Flag of Finland

The national flag of Finland, also known as the Blue Cross Flag.

The national flag of Finland displays a blue cross that reaches the edges of the flag on a white field. The blue cross on the white background is the representation of the Scandinavian Cross (also called a Nordic Cross). After the declaration of independence of Finland from Russia, in 1917, a contest was held the design of the new flag of Finland. The color blue represents the lakes and the sky, while the white is of the snow. The Flag of Finland was adopted in 1918.

Finland Animated History Video

Land

Finland is one of the most northern countries. One-third of Finland lays within the Arctic Circle.

Boletus in Finnish forest
Boletus mushroom in Finnish forest.

Two-thirds of Finland is covered in forests with an abundance of lakes.

Lakes

Between 60,000 - 200,000 lakes have been counted and cover one-tenth of the country. Saimaa is Finland's largest lake.

Imatran kylpylä (Imatra) in eastern Finland is dominated by Lake Saimaa.

Archipelago Finland begins in the southwestern coastal waters and culminates in the Aland Islands. Thousands of islands and small cliffs dot the southern and southwestern coast of Finland in the Baltic Sea.

Finland's Icebreakers-Special designed ships to force its way through ice.

Climate

Short warm summers and long cold winters. Winter snowfall is considerable.

Summer usually begins in late May in southern Finland and lasts until mid-September. The regions north of the Arctic Circle are characterized by 73 polar days (midnight sun), when the sun does not set at all.

Plants

Finland is the most forested country in Europe. The three main types of forest in Finland are pine, spruce and birch. In the south are deciduous trees: birch, alder, hazel, aspen, maple, elm, and linden.

Cloudberries

Over 1,000 flowering plants have been recorded in Finland. Lily of the valley can be found growing throughout Finland. In Finland's forest are lichens, moss, cloudberries, and edible fungi (mushrooms).

Animals

Finland is rich in wildlife. The animal life of Finland are woodland animals, seabirds, waterfowl, and fish are abundant in the rivers.

Finnhorse Stallion
The Finnhorse is the only native breed of horse from Finland.

Woodland animals include bear, elk, wolf, wolverine, and lynx. In Finland, wild reindeer have almost disappeared. Reindeer in the north are domesticated animals.

Saimaa Ringed Seal in Finland's Lake Saimaa is one of the rarest seals in the world.

The whooper swan is featured on the Finnish 1 euro coin.

Finland Is Famous For

The most used Finnish word in English is sauna. Finnish saunas date back thousands of years.

Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights

Finland is the first country in Europe to give women the vote (1906).

Nokia is a Finnish multinational company focused on technology, software, and infrastructure.

Polar Electro is a Finnish manufacturer of sports watches and fitness trackers.

Rovio is a Finnish video game developer, the company behind Angry Birds.

Kone Oyj is a Finnish company headquartered in Espoo near Helsinki, Finland. It is an international (in 60 countries) elevator and escalator business.

Finland Products

Farming in Finland is difficult due to severe winters, short growing seasons, and scarce arable land for farming. The chief crops in Finland are barley, oats, wheat, rye, sugar beets, and potatoes. Cattle are raised for beef and for dairy products.

Forestry is a major source of agricultural production. Farmers own two-thirds of the forest land and lumbering is an important farm income.

Finland has no coal or petroleum. Hydro energy is the main energy source in Finland. In Finland there are iron ore, copper, zink, gold, and silver mining

Manufacturing of forest products employs a large percentage of the population. Among the most dominant export products is wood and paper, manufactured goods, and technology.