Finland: Basic info

Finland Country Profile (296 kb) 

Total area: 338,000 square kilometers, of which 6% is agricultural land, 10% water and 69% forest
Land area: 304 112 square kilometers
Neighbouring countries: Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Russia (1 269 km, Finland’s land border with Russia is the eastern border of the European Union)
Natural resources: forests, copper, iron ore;
Distances: 1,160 km north to south, 540 km west to east
Time: + 2 hours GMT
Population: 5.326 million ; 67% live in towns or urban areas, 33% in rural areas
Population density: 17 inhabitants per square kilometer
Life expectancy at birth: females 83,0 years, males 76,3 years (2008)
Main towns (2008): Helsinki (564,520) Espoo (235,020), Tampere (206,370), Vantaa (189, 710), Turku (175,355) and Oulu (130,180). The capital, Helsinki, and the neigbouring towns, Espoo and Vantaa, form the fast-growing Helsinki metropolitan region, which now has more than a million residents
Languages: Finnish 90,95%, Swedish 5.44%, Lappish 0.03%, Russian 0.92%, other 2.66% (2008). Finnish and Swedish are the official languages. 
Religion: Lutheran 80,7%, Orthodox 1.1%, other 1.3%. 16,9% have no religious affiliation. (2008)

Official name: Suomen tasavalta (Suomi), Finlands republik, Republic of Finland
Form of state: Parliamentary Republic
Country code: FI
President: The President of Finland is Ms. Tarja Halonen, who was re-elected for the second term in March 2006. The president is elected for a period of six years and may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Parliament: Finland has a unicameral parliament (Eduskunta) with 200 members. The members are elected for a four-year term by direct popular vote under a system of proportional representation. The president is empowered to dissolve the parliament at the prime minister's request. Following the parliamentary elections of 2007 (March 18), the seats in the Parliament are distributed as follows: Center Party 51, National Coalition Party 50, Social Democratic party 45, Left Alliance 17, Green League 15, Swedish People's Party 9, Christian League 7, True Finns 5.
Government: Following the parliamentary elections of March 2007 the centre-right governing coalition is comprised of 20 ministerial posts held by the Center Party (8), the National Coalition Party (8), the Green League (2), and the Swedish People’s Party (2). 
Prime Minister: Mr. Matti Vanhanen (Center Party) 
Regional government: Finland is divided into 348 self-governing municipalities (since January 2009). Members of the municipal councils are elected for a period of four years.
Declaration of independence: December 6, 1917
Constitution: 1919 (updated in 2000)
Next elections: March 2011 (parliamentary), February 2012 (presidential)
Independence Day: December, 6

Some important events in the history of Finland:

• 1155 The first crusade to Finland by the Swedes. Finland becomes part of the Swedish realm
• 1809 Finland is handed over to Russia by Sweden and becomes a partly autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian Emperor
• 1917 Finland's declaration of independence on December 6, 1917
• 1919 The present constitution is adopted and Finland becomes a republic
• 1955 Finland joins the United Nations
• 1995 Finland becomes a member of the European Union
• 2002 Euro banknotes and coins enter circulation

Electric power: 220 V, 50 Hz
Dial numbers: +358, Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo (0)9, Tampere (0)3, Turku (0)2
GSM standards: GSM 900/1800, 3G
Fixed telephone users: 1.66 million households in Finland have a fixed-line telephone (2008)
Mobile penetration: over 100 percent, over 6,9 million subscribers (2008) 
Internet:84 percent of Finns use Internet regularly or occasionally. 75% of households have access to Internet (2008) 
Broadband subscribers: 2.1 million (2008)
Public roads: 78,141 km
Railways: 5,919 km, of which electrified 3,067 km (2008)
Waterways: Fairways for merchant shipping comprise 3,900 km of coastal and inland waterways.
Airports: 76 with paved runways. The busiest airport in Finland is the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport which handles around 500 take-offs and landings daily.
Ports: Helsinki, Hanko, Kotka, Turku, Hamina, Pori, Naantali, Rauma, Raahe, Porvoo

Currency: euro (EUR) = 100 cents
Gross Domestic Product (2009e): 171,0 bn € (at current market prices)
GDP per capita (2009e): at current market prices 32,025€.
Consumer price inflation: 0,0% (2009). Forecast for 2010 is 1,5%.
Unemployment rate: 8,2 % (2009). Forecast for 2010 is 10,2%.
Monthly wages (2008): average 2,876 €; men 3,185 €, women 2,575 € 
Main industrial products: Paper and board, electronics and metal products. Forests are still Finland's most crucial raw material resource, although the engineering and high technology industries, led by Nokia, have long been the leading branches of manufacturing.
Taxation: Corporation tax (26%) is uniform for all types of corporate income, including sales profits, interest income, dividends, royalties and rental income; value-added tax (VAT) is charged at 22% on most goods and services. Reduced tax rate of 17 % is applied to the sale of food and animal feed (not applied to serving of foods and drinks) and reduced rate of 8 % to cinema performances, physical exercise services, books, pharmaceuticals, passenger transportation services etc.

http://www.president.fi/  The President of the Republic of Finland
http://www.government.fi/  Finnish Government
http://www.parliament.fi/  Parliament of Finland (Eduskunta)
http://www.vm.fi/ Ministry of Finance
http://www.tem.fi/ Ministry of Employment and the Economy

http://www.ek.fi/ Confederation of Finnish Industries
http://www.finland.fi/  Finnish public sector organisations and services
http://www.investinfinland.fi/ Invest in Finland Bureau
http://www.bof.fi/ Bank of Finland
http://www.keskuskauppakamari.fi/ Central Chamber of Commerce
http://www.finnfacts.fi/  Finnfacts (information on Finnish economy and industry)
http://www.stat.fi/  Statistics Finland

http://www.enterprisefinland.fi Enterprise Finland, business services portal for foreign enterprises 
http://www.vero.fi/ Tax Administration
http://www.tulli.fi/  National Board of Customs
http://www.prh.fi/  National Board of Patents and Registration of Finland /Trade Register
http://www.tekes.fi/  National Technology Agency of Finland
http://www.finnvera.fi/  Finnvera (financing services)
http://english.forestindustries.fi/ Finnish Forest Industries Federation
http://www.ficora.fi/ Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA)

http://www.finlandsources.fi/ Information about the country, business and administration
http://virtual.finland.fi/  Facts about Finland, by Ministry of Foreign Affairs
http://www.contactfinland.fi/ Directory of business services, associations etc.
http://www.finpro.fi/finnishexporters Finnish Exporters database
http://www.kaupankl.fi/ Federation of Finnish Commerce and Trade
http://www.helsinki.fi/ City of Helsinki
http://www.hel.fi/ Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau
http://www.businessculture.org/ Passport to trade (Business culture)