Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders 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 to the south, across from Estonia. 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. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns. Finnish and Swedish are the official languages, Swedish being the native language of 5.2% of the population. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
Helsinki is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland and has a population of 665,558. The city's urban area has a population of 1,268,296, making it by far the most populous urban area in Finland as well as the country's most important center for politics, education, finance, culture, and research. Helsinki is located 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Tallinn, Estonia, 400 km (250 mi) east of Stockholm, Sweden, and 300 km (190 mi) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has close historical ties with these three cities.
Lapland is the largest and northernmost region of Finland. The 21 municipalities in the region cooperate in a Regional Council. Lapland borders the region of North Ostrobothnia in the south. It also borders the Gulf of Bothnia, Norrbotten County in Sweden, Troms and Finnmark County in Norway, and Murmansk Oblast and the Republic of Karelia in Russia. Topography varies from vast mires and forests of the South to fells in the North. The Arctic Circle crosses Lapland, so polar phenomena such as the midnight sun and polar night can be viewed in Lapland.
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.
Salla is a municipality of Finland, located in Lapland. The municipality has a population of 3,340 (28 February 2023) and covers an area of 5,873.08 square kilometres (2,267.61 sq mi) of which 142.73 km2 (55.11 sq mi) is water. The population density is 0.58 inhabitants per square kilometre (1.5/sq mi).
South Ostrobothnia is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobothnia is the ninth largest in terms of population. Seinäjoki is the regional centre and by far the largest city in the area.
The Salpa Line, or its official name, Suomen Salpa, is a bunker line on the eastern border of Finland. It was built in 1940–1941 during the Interim Peace between the Winter War and the Continuation War and further in 1944 to defend Finland against a possible Soviet invasion.
Uusimaa is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, along with the surrounding Greater Helsinki area, are both contained in the region, and Uusimaa is Finland's most populous region. The population of Uusimaa is 1,734,000.
Ilomantsi is municipality and a village of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia region. The municipality has a population of 4,478 and covers an area of 3,172.69 square kilometres (1,224.98 sq mi) of which 409.01 km2 (157.92 sq mi) is water. The population density is 1.62 inhabitants per square kilometre (4.2/sq mi). The most eastern point of Finland and of the continental part of the European Union is located in Ilomantsi near the village of Hattuvaara.
Karkkila is a town and a municipality of Finland.
Kauhajoki is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region, 59 kilometres (37 mi) southwest of the city of Seinäjoki. The population of Kauhajoki is 12,723 and the municipality covers an area of 1,299.10 km2 (501.59 sq mi) of which 16.46 km2 (6.36 sq mi) is inland water. The population density is 9.79/km2 (25.4/sq mi). The town is unilingually Finnish.
Fortum Oyj is a Finnish state-owned energy company located in Espoo, Finland. It mainly focuses on the Nordic region. Fortum operates power plants, including co-generation plants, and generates and sells electricity and heat. The company also sells waste services such as recycling, reutilisation, final disposal solutions and soil remediation and environmental constructions services, and other energy-related services and products e.g. consultancy services for power plants and electric vehicle charging. Fortum is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange.
Pasila is a part of Helsinki, Finland, that is both a central-northern neighbourhood and district, bordering the areas of Alppila to the south, the Central Park (Keskuspuisto) to the west, and Vallila to the east.
Finland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 56 times since its debut in 1961. Finland won the contest for the first – and to date only – time in 2006 with Lordi and their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah". The country's best result before then was achieved by Marion Rung with the song "Tom Tom Tom" in 1973, which placed sixth.
Raseborg is a town and municipality of Finland. It was created on January 1, 2009, when the municipalities of Ekenäs, Karis and Pohja were consolidated into a single town. Of these, Ekenäs now serves as the administrative center of Raseborg. The name of the new town is based on the Raseborg Castle located in Ekenäs, or formerly in the municipality of Snappertuna. Historically the name of the county was also Raseborg in the 14th century.
Immigration to Finland is the process by which people migrate to Finland to reside in the country. Some, but not all, become Finnish citizens. Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of Finland. The economic, social, and political aspects of immigration have caused controversy regarding ethnicity, economic benefits, jobs for non-immigrants, settlement patterns, impact on upward social mobility, crime, and voting behaviour.
The 2010 World Ringette Championships was an international ringette tournament and the 9th (IX) World Ringette Championships. The tournament was organized by the International Ringette Federation (IRF) and was contested in Tampere, Finland, between November 1 and November 6, 2010. The main competition took place at the Tampere Ice Stadium. The previous year the 2009 World Junior Ringette Championships took place in Prague, becoming the inaugural event for elite junior ringette athletes, but was organized as a separate event from the World Ringette Championships program.
The Finland national ringette team,, more commonly known as "Team Finland", is the ringette team representing Finland internationally. Finland has both a senior national team, Team Finland Senior, and a junior national team, Team Finland Junior. Both national teams compete in the World Ringette Championships (WRC) and are overseen by Ringette Finland, which is a member of the International Ringette Federation (IRF). Finland's first appearance in international ringette took place at the first World Ringette Championships in 1990.
Finland participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, with the song "Cha Cha Cha" performed by Käärijä. The Finnish broadcaster Yleisradio (Yle) organised the national final Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu2023 in order to select the Finnish entry for the contest. Seven entries were selected to compete in the national final on 25 February 2023, where the combination of votes from seven international jury groups and votes from the public selected the winner.
