Finland

mean elevation:

164 m

elevation extremes:

lowest point: Baltic Sea 0 m

highest point:

Halti (alternatively Haltia, Haltitunturi, Haltiatunturi) 1,328 m

agricultural land:

7.5%;

• arable land 7.4%;
• permanent crops 0%;
• permanent pasture 0.1%

forest:

72.9%

other:

19.6% (2011 est.)

• air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributing to acid rain;
• water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals;
• habitat loss threatens wildlife populations

• long boundary with Russia;
• Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent;
• population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain

noun:

Finn(s)

adjective:

Finnish

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.05 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.97 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.76 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Finland

conventional short form:

Finland

local long form:

Suomen tasavalta/Republiken Finland

local short form:

Suomi/Finland

etymology:

name may derive from the ancient Fenni peoples who are first described as living in northeastern Europe in the first centuries A.D.

name:

Helsinki

geographic coordinates:

60 10 N, 24 56 E

time difference:

UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

• 19 regions (maakunnat, singular - maakunta (Finnish); landskapen, singular - landskapet (Swedish));
• Aland (Swedish), Ahvenanmaa (Finnish);
• Etela-Karjala (Finnish), Sodra Karelen (Swedish) [South Karelia];
• Etela-Pohjanmaa (Finnish), Sodra Osterbotten (Swedish) [South Ostrobothnia];
• Etela-Savo (Finnish), Sodra Savolax (Swedish) [South Savo];
• Kanta-Hame (Finnish), Egentliga Tavastland (Swedish);
• Kainuu (Finnish), Kajanaland (Swedish);
• Keski-Pohjanmaa (Finnish), Mellersta Osterbotten (Swedish) [Central Ostrobothnia];
• Keski-Suomi (Finnish), Mellersta Finland (Swedish) [Central Finland];
• Kymenlaakso (Finnish), Kymmenedalen (Swedish);
• Lappi (Finnish), Lappland (Swedish);
• Paijat-Hame (Finnish), Paijanne-Tavastland (Swedish);
• Pirkanmaa (Finnish), Birkaland (Swedish) [Tampere];
• Pohjanmaa (Finnish), Osterbotten (Swedish) [Ostrobothnia];
• Pohjois-Karjala (Finnish), Norra Karelen (Swedish) [North Karelia];
• Pohjois-Pohjanmaa (Finnish), Norra Osterbotten (Swedish) [North Ostrobothnia];
• Pohjois-Savo (Finnish), Norra Savolax (Swedish) [North Savo];
• Satakunta (Finnish and Swedish);
• Uusimaa (Finnish), Nyland (Swedish) [Newland];
• Varsinais-Suomi (Finnish), Egentliga Finland (Swedish) [Southwest Finland]

history:

previous 1906, 1919; latest drafted 17 June 1997, approved by Parliament 11 June 1999, entered into force 1 March 2000

amendments:

• proposed by Parliament;
• passage normally requires simple majority vote in two readings in the first parliamentary session and at least two-thirds majority vote in a single reading by the newly elected Parliament;
• proposals declared “urgent” by five-sixths of Parliament members can be passed by at least two-thirds majority vote in the first parliamentary session only;
• amended several times, last in 2012 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Finland

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

6 years

chief of state:

President Sauli NIINISTO (since 1 March 2012)

head of government:

Prime Minister Juha SIPILA (since 28 May 2015)

cabinet:

Council of State or Valtioneuvosto appointed by the president, responsible to Parliament

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term);
• election last held on 22 January 2012 and 5 February 2012 (next to be held in February 2018);
• prime minister appointed by Parliament in 2015

election results:

• percent of vote in first round - Sauli NIINISTO (Kok) 37%, Pekka HAAVISTO (Vihr) 18.8%, Paavo VAYRYNEN (Kesk) 17.5%, Timo SOINI (TF) 9.4%, Paavo LIPPONEN (SDP) 6.7%, Paavo ARHINMAKI (Vas) 5.5%, Eva BIAUDET (SFP) 2.7%, Sari ESSAYAH (KD) 2.5%;
• Sauli NIINISTO elected president in second round;
• percent of vote - NIINISTO 62.6%, HAAVISTO 37.4%;
• Juha SIPILA appointed prime minister

description:

unicameral Parliament or Eduskunta (200 seats; 199 members directly elected in single- and multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote and 1 member in the province of Aland directly elected by simple majority vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 19 April 2015 (next to be held by April 2019)

election results:

• percent of vote by party/coalition - Kesk 21.1%, PS 17.6%, Kok 18.2%, SDP 16.5%, Vihr 8.5%, Vas 7.1%, SFP 4.9%, KD 3.5%, other 2.6%;
• seats by party/coalition - Kesk 49, PS 38, Kok 37, SDP 34, Vihr 15, Vas 12, SFP 9, KD 5, Aland Coalition 1

highest court(s):

• Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (consists of the court president and 18 judges);
• Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 21 judges including the court president and organized into 3 chambers);
• note - Finland has a dual judicial system - courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction and administrative courts with jurisdiction for litigation between individuals and administrative organs of the state and communities

judge selection and term of office:

Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court judges appointed by the president of the republic; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 65

subordinate courts:

• 6 Courts of Appeal;
• 8 regional administrative courts;
• 27 district courts;
• special courts for issues relating to markets, labor, insurance, impeachment, land, tenancy, and water rights

• Aland Coalition (a coalition of several political parties on the Aland Islands)
• Center Party or Kesk [Juha SIPILA]
• Christian Democrats or KD [Sari ESSAYAH]
• Finns Party or PS [Jussi HALLA-AHO]
• Green League or Vihr [Ville NIINISTO]
• Left Alliance or Vas [Li ANDERSSON]]
• National Coalition Party or Kok [Petteri ORPO]
• Social Democratic Party or SDP [Antti RINNE]
• Swedish People's Party or SFP [Anna-Maja HENRIKSSON]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Kirsti KAUPPI (since 17 September 2015)

chancery:

3301 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 298-5800

FAX:

[1] (202) 298-6030

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Donna Ann WELTON (since 20 January 2017)

embassy:

Itainen Puistotie 14B, 00140 Helsinki

mailing address:

APO AE 09723

telephone:

[358] (9) 616250

FAX:

[358] (9) 6162 5800

• white with a blue cross extending to the edges of the flag;
• the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag);
• the blue represents the thousands of lakes scattered across the country, while the white is for the snow that covers the land in winter

name:

"Maamme" (Our Land)

lyrics/music:

Johan Ludvig RUNEBERG/Fredrik PACIUS

note: in use since 1848; although never officially adopted by law, the anthem has been popular since it was first sung by a student group in 1848; Estonia's anthem uses the same melody as that of Finland

• barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes;
• dairy cattle;
• fish

agriculture:

4.5%

industry:

24%

services:

71.5% (2014)

lowest 10%:

4.2%

highest 10%:

21.5% (2015)

general assessment:

modern system with excellent service

domestic:

digital fiber-optic, fixed-line network and an extensive mobile-cellular network provide domestic needs

international:

• country code - 358;
• submarine cables provide links to Estonia and Sweden;
• satellite earth stations - access to Intelsat transmission service via a Swedish satellite earth station, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions);
• note - Finland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) (2015)

• a mix of 3 publicly operated TV stations and numerous privately owned TV stations;
• several free and special-interest pay-TV channels;
• cable and satellite multi-channel subscription services are available;
• all TV signals are broadcast digitally;
• Internet television, such as Netflix and others, is available;
• public broadcasting maintains a network of 13 national and 25 regional radio stations;
• a large number of private radio broadcasters and access to Internet radio (2017)

number of registered air carriers:

3; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 73

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

9,972,333

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

713.484 million mt-km (2015)

total:

5,923 km

broad gauge:

5,923 km 1.524-m gauge (3,262 km electrified) (2015)

country comparison to the world: 32

total:

454,000 km

highways:

78,000 km (50,000 paved, including 700 km of expressways; 28,000 unpaved)

urban roads:

26,000 km

private and forest roads:

350,000 km (2012)

country comparison to the world: 16

• 8,000 km (includes Saimaa Canal system of 3,577 km; southern part leased from Russia; water transport used frequently in the summer and widely replaced with sledges on the ice in winter; there are 187,888 lakes in Finland that cover 31,500 km);
• Finland also maintains 8,200 km of coastal fairways (2013)

country comparison to the world: 17

total:

105

by type:

bulk carrier 4, cargo 28, carrier 1, chemical tanker 6, passenger/cargo 14, roll on/roll off 34, other 18 (2015)

foreign-owned:

5 (Cyprus 1, Estonia 2, Iceland 1, Sweden 1) (2010)

registered in other countries:

47 (Bahamas 8, Germany 3, Gibraltar 2, Malta 3, Netherlands 13, Panama 2, Sweden 16) (2010)

country comparison to the world: 52

• all Finnish men are called-up for military service the year they turn 18;
• at 18, women may volunteer for military service;
• service obligation 6-12 months;
• individuals enter the reserve upon completing their initial obligation;
• military obligation to age 60 (2016)

refugees (country of origin):

6,781 (Iraq) (2016)

stateless persons:

2,671 (2016)