Finland is a Northern European nation bordering Sweden, Norway and Russia. Its capital, Helsinki, occupies a peninsula and surrounding islands in the Baltic Sea. Helsinki is home to the 18th-century sea fortress Suomenlinna, the fashionable Design District and diverse museums. The Northern Lights can be seen from the country’s Arctic Lapland province, a vast wilderness with national parks and ski resorts.
During the last Ice Age, Finland was covered by a thick layer of ice. When that ice sheet retreated (or melted) about 10,000 years ago, it gouged the surface of the land and left in its wake innumerable islands, rivers and streams, as well as an estimated 188,000 lakes. Note that near 60,000 of those lakes measure more than 200 meters wide.
Finland is mostly flat land, with more than 70% of it covered by thick forest. In the southern areas, water seems a more common sight than land as countless clear water lakes are everywhere. To the north of the Arctic Circle, the terrain rises into the hills and low mountains of Lapland. The country’s highest point, Haltiatunturi, at 1,328 meters, stands on the edge of its border with Norway. The Aland Islands (archipelago) sits in the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden. It contains almost three hundred islands (80 inhabited), and over 6,000 small (tiny) rocky islands. Directly east, in the Archipelago Sea and merging with the Aland Islands and Finland’s southwestern coastline stand literally tens of thousands of islands, mostly small, with some of the larger ones inhabited.
In this land of lakes, the largest include Nasijarv, Oulujarvi, Paijanne, Pielinen and Finland’s largest, Lake Saimaa. With a few exceptions, the balance of Finland’s lakes are on the small side. Finland’s most significant rivers include the Kemi, Luiro, Muonio, Oulu, Teno and Torne. Numerous canals flow lake to lake in the south. The largest, the Saimaa Canal, connects Lake Saimaa with the Gulf of Finland.
Key Cities
Key cities in Finland include: Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu, Turku, Jyvaskyla, Lahti, Kuopio, Pori
Historical, Cultural facts & Religion
The history of Finland begins around 9,000 BC during the end of the last glacial period. Due to the Northern Crusades and Swedish colonization of some Finnish coastal areas, most of the region became a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the realm of the Catholic Church from the 13th century onwards.
Finnish culture is a combination of numerous native customs which are represented by their national languages (Germanic Swedish and Uralic Finnish), the sauna, and the European and Nordic traditions. The Finnish culture is built upon their traditional livelihood and their tradition of egalitarianism.
Finland is a predominantly Christian nation where some 71.9% of the 5.5 million overall population follow Christianity; the vast majority being members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (Protestant), 27.4% are unaffiliated, and 0.4% follow other religions like Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, and folk.
Brief Country History
Finland formally known as the Republic of Finland is an independent country located in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, the country is bordered by Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, and Russia to the east. Finland is located in the geographical area of Fennoscandia which also includes Scandinavia. The country’s population as of 2014 was 5.5 million. It is the 8th biggest nation in Europe and the most sparsely inhabited state in the European Union.
Language (s) Written & Spoken
The two main official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. There are also several official minority languages: three variants of Sami, Romani, Finnish Sign Language and Karelian. Finnish (suomi) is a Finnic language spoken mainly in Finland and Sweden, and also in Estonia, Norway and Russia.
Important Types of Commerce in Finland
Finland’s economy is undeniably one of the best performers in the global market. With a highly industrialized economy, Finland holds an economic freedom score of 74.1. This score ranks the country, according to the 2018 Index, as the 26th freest economy. Finland is a multi-sector economy with many diverse industries including agriculture, manufacturing, refining, and services. The service sector is the largest in the economy accounting for about 73%. Some of the important industries in Finland are:
- Electronics
- Motor Industry
- Chemical Industry
- Forest Industry
- Energy
- Metal Mining Industry
The Economy of Finland
In 2017, Finland had a nominal GDP of $270 billion and GDP by purchasing power parity of $240 billion, and it was ranked the 41st county in the world by nominal GDP. In 2014 GDP per capita (PPP) was $40,455. In 2017, agriculture contributed 2.5% of GDP while industry contributed 16.3%, and the service industry contributed 81.3%. Approximately, 6% of the population lived below the poverty line. In 2017, the country exported goods worth $71.5 billion and imported goods worth $65 billion. Most of the exports were destined to Germany, Sweden, The US, China, Russia, and the UK. On the other hand, imports originated mainly from Germany, Russia, Sweden, China, the Netherlands, and France.
Language Services US and others will provide working with Finland
Dealing with Finnish authorities would require an individual or business to speak Finnish or Swedish and have no other common language with the authority, you are sometimes entitled to interpreting services. To start a company in Finland regardless of your nationality. It is important that you have a right of residence in Finland, the necessary professional skills and sufficient Finnish language skills. This is where professional translation and interpretation services come into the picture. The task of the interpreter is to interpret the discussion between you and the authority. The interpreter will not handle any tasks other than interpretation.
Looking for a Finnish or Swedish translation company? Look no further. American Language Services (AML-Global) offers certified translations, native interpreting services, and turn-key localization solutions for any language.
Call us today @ 1-800-951-5020 for further information, visit our website https://www.alsglobal.net/ or for a quick quote click http://alsglobal.net/quick-quote.php.
