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Geography |
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Capital |
Helsinki (pop. 561,000). |
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Area |
338,144 sq. km. (130,558 sq. miles); about the size of New England,
New Jersey, and New York combined. |
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Terrain |
Low but hilly, more than 70% forested; 188,000 lakes and
179,584 islands, 98,050 of which are in the lakes. |
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Climate |
Northern temperate. |
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People |
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Nationality |
Noun--Finn(s). Adjective--Finnish. |
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Population |
(January 2007): 5.278 million. |
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Groups |
Finns, Swedes, Lapps, Sami, Roma, Tatars. |
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Religions |
Lutheran 82.5%, Orthodox 1.1%. |
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Languages |
Finnish 91.5%, Swedish 5.5% (both official); small Lapp-
(0.03%) and Russian-speaking (0.8%) minorities. |
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Government &
History |
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Official Name |
Republic of Finland |
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Government |
Constitutional republic. |
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Independence |
December 6, 1917. |
The origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of conjecture,
although many scholars argue that their original home was in what is
now west-central Siberia. The Finns arrived in their present
territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into
the more remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish--the language
of Finland's small Lapp minority--both are Finno-Ugric languages and
are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family.
Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of Sweden
began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King
Eric. During the ensuing centuries, Finland played an important role
in the political life of the Swedish-Finnish realm, and Finnish
soldiers often predominated in Swedish armies. Finns also formed a
significant proportion of the first "Swedish" settlers in
17th-century America.
Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th century,
Swedish became the dominant language, although Finnish recovered its
predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish nationalism.
Publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala--a
collection of traditional myths and legends--first stirred the
nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.
In 1809, Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar Alexander I and
thereafter remained an autonomous grand duchy connected with the
Russian Empire until the end of 1917. On December 6, 1917, shortly
after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its
independence. In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter
civil war that colored domestic politics for many years. During
World War II, Finland fought the Soviet Union twice--in the Winter
War of 1939-40 and again in the Continuation War of 1941-44. This
was followed by the Lapland War of 1944-45, when Finland fought
against the Germans as they withdrew their forces from northern
Finland.
During the Continuation War (1941-1944) Finland was a co-belligerent
with Germany. However, Finnish Jews were not persecuted. Of the
approximately 500 Jewish refugees who arrived in Finland, eight were
handed over to the Germans, for which Finland submitted an official
apology in 2000. Also during the war, approximately 2,600 Soviet
prisoners of war were exchanged for 2,100 Finnish prisoners of war
from Germany. In 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center submitted an
official request for a full-scale investigation by the Finnish
authorities of the prisoner exchange. It was established there were
about 70 Jews among the extradited prisoners. However, none was
extradited as a result of ethnic background or religious belief.
Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included
obligations and restraints on Finland vis-a-vis the U.S.S.R. as well
as territorial concessions by Finland; both have been abrogated by
Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union. |
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