Finland

Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It finally won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Location
Northern Europe, bordering with the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Sweden and Russia in Northern Europe.

Area
total: 337,030 sq km
water: 31,560 sq km
land: 305,470 sq km
Climate
cold temperate; potentially subarctic, but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes

Terrain
mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills

Economy - overview:
Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling almost one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11 countries joining the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on 1 January 1999 - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. Growth in 2003 was held back by the global slowdown but will pick up in 2004 provided the world economy suffers no further blows.







Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 85, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Population
5,190,785 (July 2003 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 17.7% (male 468,077; female 450,785)
15-64 years: 66.9% (male 1,753,760; female 1,719,253)
65 years and over: 15.4% (male 312,883; female 486,027) (2003 est.)

Median age
total: 40.3 years
male: 38.8 years
female: 41.8 years (2002)

Ethnic groups:
Finn 93%, Swede 6%, Sami 0.11%, Roma 0.12%, Tatar 0.02%

Religions:
Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Russian Orthodox 1%, none 9%, other 1%

Government type:
Republic

Capital:
Helsinki

National holiday:
Independence Day, 6 December (1917)