The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II. In Soviet historiography, the war was called the Finnish Front of the Great Patriotic War. Germany regarded its operations in the region as part of its overall war efforts on the Eastern Front and provided Finland with critical material support and military assistance, including economic aid.
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.
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 658,864. 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; while Tampere in the Pirkanmaa region, located 179 kilometres (111 mi) to the north from Helsinki, is the second largest urban area in Finland. 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.
Swedish is a North Germanic language spoken natively by at least 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and in parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish with the exception of Åland, which is unilingually Swedish. It has more speakers than any other North Germanic language and is the fourth-most spoken Germanic language overall. Swedish is the most spoken language in the Nordic countries and the 14th-most spoken language in Europe, after Greek. It is the most widely spoken second language in Finland where it has status as co-official language.
The Finland national football team represents Finland in men's international football competitions and is controlled by the Football Association of Finland, the governing body for football in Finland, which was founded in 1907. The team has been a member of FIFA since 1908 and a UEFA member since 1957.
Rauman Lukko is a Finnish sports club based in Rauma, Finland, best known for its men’s professional ice hockey team. The club was founded as Rauma Woodin Lukko in 1936. The representative team currently plays in the Finnish Liiga, the premier men’s professional ice hockey league in Finland. They play their home games in the Äijänsuo Arena, which has a capacity of 5,400 spectators. Lukko won the SM-sarja in 1963 and won the Liiga championship in 2021. The club also has a top-tier women’s representative ice hockey team, which plays in the Naisten Liiga, and a top-tier women’s representative pesäpallo team, which plays in the Superpesis.
The Institute for the Languages of Finland, better known as Kotus, is a governmental linguistic research institute of Finland geared to studies of Finnish, Swedish, the Sami languages, Romani language, and Finnish Sign Language.
European route E12 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It begins in Mo i Rana, Norway, transverses Sweden and ends in Helsinki, Finland, with a ferry line between Sweden and Finland. The part within Finland is Finnish national highway 3. The road is about 910 km (570 mi) in length.
Lakka or lakkalikööri is a liqueur produced in Finland which derives its flavor from the cloudberry fruit. The word lakka means cloudberry in Finnish.
The Finland men's national tennis team represents Finland in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Suomen Tennisliitto.
The Finnish Open, is an international open badminton tournament held in Finland since 1990. It was halted in 1994, 1995, and between 1997 and 2001. In 2013, it was held for the fourth time in the Energia Areena in Vantaa. In 2014, the second international tournament in Finland launched as Finnish International, then this tournament changed its title to Finnish Open.
Statistics Finland is the national statistical institution in Finland, established in 1865 to serve as an information service and to provide statistics and expertise in the statistical sciences. The institution employs more than 800 experts from varying fields.
The Suomen Radioamatööriliitto (SRAL) is a national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in Finland. SRAL was founded in 1921 and has approximately 3,500 members. SRAL supports amateur radio operators in Finland by sponsoring amateur radio operating awards and radio contests. SRAL was one of the sponsor organizations for the 2002 World Radiosport Team Championships held near Helsinki. The SRAL also represents the interests of Finnish amateur radio operators and shortwave listeners before Finnish and international telecommunications regulatory authorities. SRAL is the national member society representing Finland in the International Amateur Radio Union.
Finnish is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland. In Sweden, both Finnish and Meänkieli are official minority languages. The Kven language, which like Meänkieli is mutually intelligible with Finnish, is spoken in the Norwegian county Troms og Finnmark by a minority group of Finnish descent.
France-Finland relations are foreign relations between France and Finland. France was one of the first countries which recognised Finland's independence on 4 January 1918. Diplomatic relations between them were established on 24 January 1918. Both countries are full members of the European Union. According to a 2005 BBC World Service Poll, 48% of Finns view French influence positively, with 26% expressing a negative view. There are an estimated 7,000 Finns living in France.
The Swedish Sign Language family is a language family of sign languages, including Swedish Sign Language, Portuguese Sign Language, and Finnish Sign Language.
Finland-Swedish Sign Language (FinSSL) is a moribund sign language in Finland. It is now used only in private settings by older adults who attended the only Swedish school for the deaf in Finland, which was established in the mid-19th century by Carl Oscar Malm but closed in 1993. Some 90 persons have it as their native language. FinSSL is said to be a distinct language; however, "Finland-Swedish Deaf have few problems understanding Finnish signers". There had been, moreover, continuous input from Swedish Sign Language over its history.
Muutoksen kevät was a Finnish quarterly political magazine which covered environmental issues and topics related to human and animal rights. It was based in Tampere, Finland, and was in circulation from 1995 to 2003.
The Koripallon I-divisioona is the second tier professional basketball league in Finland. The teams play playoffs for promotion to the Korisliiga.
Koronavilkku is a COVID-19 app and a digital contact tracing mobile app developed by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare to inform citizens of when they may have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. The free app became available for download on Google Play and App Store on August 31, 2020 and was downloaded one million times in the first day. By November 5, 2020, the app had been downloaded more than 2.5 million times.
