Related Research Articles
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland across Estonia to the south. Finland covers an area of 338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi) with a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city, forming a larger metropolitan area with the neighbouring cities of Espoo, Kauniainen, and Vantaa. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns; Finnish, alongside Swedish, are the official languages. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to the boreal in the north. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Nevalainen, and then bassist Sami Vänskä after the release of their debut album, Angels Fall First (1997). In 2001, Vänskä was replaced by Marko Hietala, who also took over the male vocalist role previously filled by Holopainen or guest singers.
Nils Ole Hilmer Torvalds is a Finnish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2012. He is a member of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
The National Coalition Party is a liberal-conservative political party in 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.
Sami Tuomas Hyypiä is a Finnish football manager and former defender.
Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history in the top tier of Finnish football. The club's home ground is the 10,770-seat Bolt Arena, where they have played since 2000.
Jyrki Tapani Katainen is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014 and chairman of the National Coalition Party from 2004 to 2014. He was succeeded by Alexander Stubb as chairman of Finland's National Coalition Party. After stepping down as Prime Minister, Katainen was elected as European Commission Vice-President in July 2014.
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office.
Olli Ilmari Rehn is a Finnish politician serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he served as Minister of Economic Affairs in Juha Sipilä's cabinet from 2015 until 2016, the European Commissioner for Enlargement from 2004 to 2010 and European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro from 2010 to 2014.
Same-sex marriage in Finland has been legal 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.
Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 as a member of the National Coalition Party. In 2008, Stubb was appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs following a scandal surrounding his predecessor, Ilkka Kanerva. In 2011 Stubb stood for election to the Finnish Parliament for the first time and was elected MP with the second highest vote count in the election, which led to Stubb becoming the Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet.
Përparim Hetemaj is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for HJK. Born in modern-day Kosovo, Hetemaj arrived in Finland when he was 6 years old and played for HJK's youth teams; signing a professional contract in 2004 at age 17. He joined Greek side AEK Athens in 2006, and moved to Twente in 2009. Subsequently, in 2010, he was signed by Brescia and was transferred to Chievo in 2011. Hetemaj played 300 matches in the Serie A before returning to Finland in 2022 after a season with Reggina in the Serie B.
Gennady Nikolayevich Timchenko is a Russian oligarch and billionaire businessman. He founded and owns the private investment firm Volga Group. Previously he was a co-owner of Gunvor Group.
Teemu Eino Antero Pukki is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Norwich City and the Finland national team.
NATO is a military alliance of twenty-eight European and two North American countries that constitutes a system of collective defense. The process of joining the alliance is governed by Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which allows for the invitation of "other European States" only, and by subsequent agreements. Countries wishing to join must meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialog and military integration. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. NATO formed in 1949 with twelve founding members, and has added new members eight times, with the first additions being Greece and Turkey in 1952. In May 1955, West Germany joined NATO, which was one of the conditions agreed to as part of the end of the country's occupation by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This prompted the Soviet Union to form their own collective security alliance, commonly called the Warsaw Pact, later that month. Following the end of the Franco regime, newly-democratic Spain chose to join NATO in 1982.
The Social Democratic Party of Finland, shortened to the Social Democrats and commonly known in Finnish as Demarit, is a social-democratic political party in Finland. It is currently the largest party in the Parliament of Finland with 40 seats.
Erik Murphy is a French-born Finnish-American professional basketball player for the Fukushima Firebonds of the Japanese B.League. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2013, he also represents the Finnish national team.
Antti Petteri Orpo is a Finnish politician serving as the leader of the National Coalition Party since 2016. He has previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2017 to 2019, Minister of Finance from 2016 to 2019, Minister for Agriculture and Forestry from 2014 to 2015 and Minister of Interior from 2015 to 2016.
The Republic of Finland and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have a close relationship. Finland is one of six members of the European Union that are not members of NATO. Finland has had formal relations with NATO since 1994, when it joined the Partnership for Peace programme. The country maintains positive relations with the organisation and the possibility of membership has been a topic of debate in the country since the end of the Cold War. Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the debate turned in favour of NATO membership, and the country officially applied to join NATO on 18 May 2022.
References
- ↑ "Eduskunta - kansanedustajat". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2014-10-04.