Finland
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Helsinki
- Population
- 5,550,449 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 338,145 sq km
- Government
- parliamentary republic
- Religions
- Lutheran 66.6%, Greek Orthodox 1.1%, other 1.7%, none 30.6% (2022 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Estonian, Romani, Sami
- Currency
- euros (EUR)
- Life Expectancy
- 82.2 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .fi
- Climate
- cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes
- Terrain
- mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
- Natural Resources
- timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone
- Major Exports
- paper, refined petroleum, steel, wood pulp, ships (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It gained complete independence in 1917.