Portal:Finland
The Finland Portal
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders 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 to the south, opposite Estonia. Finland covers an area of 338,145 square kilometres (130,559 sq mi) and has a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, of which 84.9 percent and 5.1 percent of the population speak the first as their mother tongue. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is predominantly boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.
Finland was first settled around 9000 BC after the last Ice Age. During the Stone Age, various cultures emerged, distinguished by different styles of ceramics. The Bronze Age and Iron Ages were marked by contacts with other cultures in Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. From the late 13th century, Finland became part of the Swedish Empire as a result of the Northern Crusades. In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War, Finland was captured from Sweden and became a Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state ruled by the Russian Empire. During this period, Finnish art flourished and the idea of full independence began to take hold. In 1906, Finland became the first European state to grant universal suffrage, and the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Finland declared its full independence. In 1918 the young nation was divided by the Finnish Civil War. During World War II, Finland fought against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War, and later against Nazi Germany in the Lapland War. As a result, it lost parts of its territory but retained its independence. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Selected image -
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Mika Kares returned to Finland to perform the title role of Boito's opera Mefistofele at the Savonlinna Opera Festival?
- ... that politician Kalervo Kummola introduced karaoke to Finland?
- ... that Finnish linguist Eeva Leinonen was one of four women to be inaugurated as heads of Irish universities in 2021, the others being Maggie Cusack, Linda Doyle and Kerstin Mey?
- ... that the United States severed diplomatic ties with Finland in 1944 because of a personal letter sent to Hitler?
- ... that Sodankylä Old Church is one of the oldest preserved wooden churches in Finland?
- ... that Kaija Saariaho's 2021 opera Innocence includes traditional Finnish cow-herding calls?
WikiProjects
You are invited to participate in Finland WikiProject, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Finland.
More did you know -
- ...that the cruiseferry M/S Nordlandia (originally M/S Olau Hollandia) was built to be NATO-compatible, so that she could easily be converted to a troopship?
- ...that Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland, resigned after confessing to torture and forgery?
- ...that the Finnish-Novgorodian wars only ended with the Swedish conquest of Finland in 1249, resulting in the Swedish–Novgorodian Wars?
- ...the crash of Aero Flight 311, which claimed the lives of all 25 people on board, was the worst aviation accident ever to occur in Finland?
- ...that some areas of the Finnish Lakeland have up to 1,000 lakes per 100 km²?
Nico Erik Rosberg (born 27 June 1985) is a German and Finnish entrepreneur and former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One from 2006 to 2016, winning the World Drivers' Championship in 2016 with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport. The only child of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg and his German wife Sina Rosberg, he was raised primarily in the Principality of Monaco.
Rosberg began competitive go-kart racing at the age of six and achieved early success, winning regional and national French championships, before moving to European-based series and world championships. At the age of 16, he progressed to car racing, winning nine races to claim the 2002 Formula BMW ADAC Championship with VIVA Racing. He subsequently moved to the higher-tier Formula 3 Euro Series with Team Rosberg in 2003 and 2004 before winning the inaugural GP2 Series championship with ART Grand Prix in 2005. (Full article...)General images
In the news
- 22 May 2024 – Russia–NATO relations
- The Russian Ministry of Defence proposes to unilaterally adjust Russia's maritime border in the Baltic Sea, prompting comments of concern made by Baltic members of NATO, including Finland and Lithuania. The Ministry of Defense later retracts the proposal. (Reuters) (BBC News)
- 2 April 2024 – Viertola school shooting
- A student is killed and two others are injured in a shooting at a school in Vantaa, Uusimaa, Finland. A 12-year-old student is detained. (AP) (Yle)
- 1 March 2024 – 2024 Finnish presidential election
- Alexander Stubb is sworn in as the 13th President of Finland. (Reuters)
- 11 February 2024 – 2024 Finnish presidential election
- Alexander Stubb is elected President of Finland with 51.6% of the vote.(Yle)
- 27 January 2024 – Israel–Hamas war
- The United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany suspend humanitarian aid to UNRWA over allegations that some UNRWA staff members were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel. (BBC News) (CBS News)
- 14 December 2023 – Finland–United States relations
- Finland announces the creation of a defense cooperation agreement with the United States. The agreement will grant Finland access to American military resources for use in defensive operations, while the US will gain military access to Finland in the event of conflict. (Reuters)
Related portals
Northern Europe
Other countries
Selected panorama -
Topics
Categories
Recognized content
Things you can do
- Add the {{Portal|Finland}} template to existing See also sections of Finland-related articles.
- Tag the talk pages of Finland-related articles with the {{WikiProject Finland}} template. (Tip: Use PetScan to find articles not tagged yet by replacing the category "Finnish films" with another category and adjust "Depth" if needed. This tool is helpful for tagging. See also the list of pages not tagged yet.)
- Rate unassessed and unknown-importance articles according to the guidelines. (This tool is helpful for doing these.)
- Translate a Finnish-language article into English.
- Expand a stub into a full article.
- Help with the articles needing attention (watch) and cleanup.
- Create a requested article (watch).
- Support fresh articles (watch).
- Patrol the recent changes.
- Add the following pages to your watchlist:
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus