Tampere is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population of 341,696; and the metropolitan area, also known as the Tampere sub-region, has a population of 393,941 in an area of 4,970 km2 (1,920 sq mi). Tampere is the second-largest urban area and third most-populous individual municipality in Finland, after the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, and the most populous Finnish city outside the Greater Helsinki area. Today, Tampere is one of the major urban, economic, and cultural hubs in the whole inland region.
Yleisradio Oy, translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock company which is 99.98% owned by the Finnish state, and employs around 3,200 people in Finland. Yle shares many of its organizational characteristics with its British counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modeled.
Helsingin Sanomat, abbreviated HS and colloquially known as Hesari, is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of the Finnish capital, Helsinki, where it is published. It is considered a newspaper of record for Finland.
The Finns Party, formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party.
Kuopio is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of 122,615, which makes it the 8th most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cultural hubs of Eastern Finland. At the end of 2018, its urban area had a population of 89,307.
Television was introduced in Finland in 1955. Color television started in 1969 and was introduced gradually, with most programs in color by the late 1970s. All terrestrial analogue stations stopped broadcasting on 1 September 2007 after the introduction of digital television; cable providers were allowed to continue analog broadcasting in their networks until 1 March 2008.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal."
Kimmo Samuel Timonen is a Finnish former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Chicago Blackhawks. Timonen had played in over 1,100 NHL games before retiring. During his career, Timonen had also featured in three IIHF World Junior Championships, seven IIHF World Championships, two World Cups and five Olympic tournaments. He won the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 in his final career game.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Finland since 1 March 2017. A bill for the legalisation of same-sex marriages was approved by the Finnish Parliament in a vote of 101–90 on 12 December 2014 and signed into law by President Sauli Niinistö on 20 February 2015. Further legislation to harmonise other laws with the legalisation of same-sex marriage was passed in 2016. The law took effect on 1 March 2017. Finland was the last Nordic sovereign state to legalise same-sex marriage, the 13th country in Europe overall, and the 21st worldwide.
Kimmo Pohjonen is a Finnish accordionist who is known for his avant-garde and experimental work with his custom-made electrified and modified instrument. He has released nine albums of his work and has toured Europe extensively, as well as performances in Japan and some in North America. He records and performs both solo and in collaboration with musicians and other artists, including the Kronos Quartet, and percussionist Pat Mastelotto and guitarist Trey Gunn of King Crimson. Pohjonen still lives in Finland when not on the road. He has performed with one of his daughters, Saana, who plays the drums.
Poets of the Fall (POTF) is a Finnish rock band from Helsinki. The group consists of Marko Saaresto, Olli Tukiainen, Markus "Captain" Kaarlonen, Jani Snellman (bass), Jaska Mäkinen, and Jari Salminen.
Amberian Dawn is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 2006 by Tuomas Seppälä and Tommi Kuri. As of 2023, Amberian Dawn had released nine studio albums, four singles and twelve music videos.
The Whip are a rock band from Manchester, England. The two founding members, Bruce Carter and Danny Saville, previously played in the band Nylon Pylon, who were signed to London Records and supported The Music on their 2003 Tour. Other members of The Whip are Nathan Sudders (bass), who also plays in Manchester band Tokolosh and Fiona "Li'l Fee" Daniel (drums), who was previously in Colne based band Earl.
The Kauhajoki school shooting occurred on 23 September 2008 at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences (SeAMK) in Kauhajoki, Finland. The gunman, 22-year-old student Matti Juhani Saari, shot and killed ten people with a Walther P22 Target semi-automatic pistol, before shooting himself in the head. He died a few hours later at Tampere University Hospital. One woman was injured but was in a stable condition.
Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 1998 with the song "Aava" written by Alexi Ahoniemi and Tommy Mansikka-Aho. The song was performed by the group Edea. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) returned to the Eurovision Song Contest after a one-year absence following their relegation from 1997 as one of the six countries with the least average points over the preceding four contests. Yle organised the national final Euroviisut 1998 in order to select the Finnish entry for the 1998 contest in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Nine entries were selected to compete in the national final on 14 February 1998 where the combination of votes from an eight-member expert jury, an eight-member OGAE jury and votes from the public selected "Aava" performed by Edea as the winner.
Kristin "Krista" Siegfrids is a Finnish pop singer. She represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with her entry "Marry Me". Siegfrids' debut album, named Ding Dong!, was released in May 2013. As a television presenter, she hosted Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu from 2016 to 2020.
Sara Maria Forsberg, formerly known professionally as SAARA, Smo, Smoukahontas, or Smokahontas, is a Finnish singer, songwriter, YouTube personality, and television presenter. As a singer, Forsberg was signed to Capitol Records in 2014 and released her debut single "Ur Cool" in April 2015, which went on to become a top ten hit in her home country of Finland. She left in early 2016 after disagreements with the label and her producer. Forsberg has continued to release music as an independent artist in affiliation with Universal Music Group. As of November 2017, her YouTube channel has more than a million subscribers and over 100 million views.
Kari Ahti Ilmari Tykkyläinen is a Finnish sculptor and video artist. He currently lives in the town of Pudasjärvi in Finland. In 2011, he ran for the Finnish parliamentary election, but was not elected.
Kimmo Hovi is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a forward for German Regionalliga club VfB Lübeck. He has also represented Finland U21 national team. He began his senior club career playing for PKKU at age 16 in 2012, before signing with FC Lahti in 2014. During his debut season he helped FC Lahti win bronze in the Veikkausliiga. Since then he has represented various clubs from Finland, Germany, Malta and Spain.
Sanna Mirella Marin is a Finnish politician who has served as prime Minister of Finland since 2019, as member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) since 2015, and as leader of the SDP since 2020. As of 6 April 2023, after the 2023 Finnish parliamentary election in which the SDP placed third, Marin's government has formally resigned but will continue serving on a caretaker basis until the formation and appointment of a new government. Marin has stated she will resign as leader of the SDP at the 2023 party congress in autumn, but will remain a member of Parliament.
