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...)
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The Orthodox Church of Finland or Finnish Orthodox Church (Finnish: Suomen ortodoksinen kirkko, lit. 'Finnish Orthodox Church'; Swedish: Ortodoxa kyrkan i Finland, lit. 'Orthodox Church in Finland') is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox archdiocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. The church has a legal position as a national church in the country, along with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
With its roots in the medieval Novgorodian missionary work in Karelia, the Orthodox Church of Finland was a part of the Russian Orthodox Church until 1923. Today the church has three dioceses and 54,895 members in Finland, accounting for almost one percent of the native population of Finland. The parish of Helsinki has the most adherents. There are also 2,700 members living abroad. (Full article...)Selected image -
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Kuappi in Iisalmi, Finland, holds the Guinness world record for the smallest restaurant?
- ... that Charlotte Haining was an International Jury Member for the selection of Finland's 2020 Eurovision Song Contest entry?
- ... that tourists on holiday trips arranged by the Finland travel agency Keihäsmatkat were encouraged to drink alcoholic beverages, partly to avoid culture shock?
- ... that Kaija Saariaho's 2021 opera Innocence includes traditional Finnish cow-herding calls?
- ... that Turku remained the largest city in Finland after three quarters of it burned down?
- ... 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?
WikiProjects
You are invited to participate in Finland WikiProject, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Finland.
More did you know -
- ...that according to Lapsiporno.info, a blacklist of websites compiled by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation included those containing legal pornography?
- ...that Ismo Alanko Säätiö's accordionist Kimmo Pohjonen has been dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix of the accordion" by the Finnish music press?
- ...that the Christmas carol Personent hodie, first published in the 1582 Finnish song book Piae Cantiones, is thought to be a parody of a 12th-century carol?
- ...that Anssi Koivuranta is leading the 2008–09 Nordic Combined World Cup right now?
- ...that the Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland?
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The Wood Nymph (Swedish: Skogsrået; subtitled ballade pour l'orchestre), Op. 15, is a programmatic tone poem for orchestra composed in 1894 and 1895 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The ballade, which premiered on 17 April 1895 in Helsinki, Finland, with Sibelius conducting, follows the Swedish writer Viktor Rydberg's 1882 poem of the same title, in which a young man, Björn, wanders into the forest and is seduced and driven to despair by a skogsrå, or wood nymph. Organizationally, the tone poem consists of four informal sections, each of which corresponds to one of the poem's four stanzas and evokes the mood of a particular episode: first, heroic vigor; second, frenetic activity; third, sensual love; and fourth, inconsolable grief.
The Wood Nymph was performed three more times that decade, then, at the composer's request, once more in 1936. Never published, the ballade had been thought to be comparable to insubstantial works and juvenilia which Sibelius had suppressed until the Finnish musicologist Kari Kilpeläinen 'rediscovered' the manuscript in the University of Helsinki archives, "[catching] Finland, and the musical world, by surprise". Osmo Vänskä and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra gave the ballade its modern-day 'premiere' on 9 February 1996. Although the score had been effectively 'lost' for sixty years, its thematic material had been known in abridged form via a melodrama for narrator, piano, two horns, and strings. Sibelius probably arranged the melodrama from the tone poem, although he claimed the opposite. Some critics, while admitting the beauty of the musical ideas, have faulted Sibelius for over-reliance on the source material's narrative and lack of the rigorously unified structure that characterized his later output, whereas others, such as Veijo Murtomäki, have hailed it as a "masterpiece" worthy of ranking amongst Sibelius's greatest orchestral works. (Full article...)General images
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Finnish Guards' Rifle Battalion, 1850s (from History of Finland) -
Wehrmacht soldiers with a local Sámi reindeer herder, Lappland, Sodankylä, Finland 1942 (from History of Finland) -
Ancylus Lake covered major part of Finland (7,500–6,000 BC) (from History of Finland) -
Jean Sibelius at work in his study (from History of Finland) -
A reconstruction of a 12th-century Perniö costume (from History of Finland) -
President Urho Kekkonen's funeral procession in 1986 (from History of Finland) -
Signing the Helsinki Accords are the West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, East Germany's leader Erich Honecker, US president Gerald Ford and the Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky (from History of Finland) -
A triptych by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, depicting the Aino Story of Kalevala on three panes (from Culture of Finland) -
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The area of Finland in the years 1920–1940. The 1935 county and municipality division on the map. (from History of Finland) -
Women in sauna with Vihtas -
2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen celebrating victory at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix (from Culture of Finland) -
President K. J. Ståhlberg in his office in 1919 (from History of Finland) -
Eero Järnefelt, Burning the Brushwood, 1893 (from History of Finland) -
Sámi / Laplander family in traditional costumes from Finland. (from Culture of Finland) -
Helsinki Accords Treaty (from History of Finland) -
Memorial of the Mannerheim Cross Knights of Parikkala, Finland (from History of Finland) -
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Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visit in Germany, 1942 (from History of Finland) -
Women dressed in Finnish folk costumes (from Culture of Finland) -
The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), a significant figure in the history of classical music (from Culture of Finland) -
In the middle is the patron saint of Finland, Saint Henry, on the right side of him is Bishop Konrad Bitz and on the left is Dean Magnus Stjernkors; from Missale Aboense (1488) (from History of Finland) -
Northern Europe in 814 (from History of Finland) -
Turku Cathedral and its surroundings from 1814 (from History of Finland) -
S/S Urania in Hanko harbor in 1893, with 509 emigrants on board on their way to America (from History of Finland) -
A smoke sauna (savusauna) in Enonkoski (from Culture of Finland) -
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Linus Torvalds, a famous Fennoswede software engineer, best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel (from Culture of Finland) -
Finnish folk dancers in a 1907 postcard sent from Mustamäki, Finland (from Culture of Finland) -
Mikael Agricola hands over the Finnish Translation of the New Testament to King Gustav Wasa. (from History of Finland) -
Janne Ahonen is considered one of the best and most successful currently active ski jumpers. (from Culture of Finland) -
Stone Age dwelling named Kierikki 5000–3000 BC (from History of Finland) -
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Homann's map of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Fennoscandia with their surrounding territories: northern Germany, northern Poland, the Baltic region, Livonia, Belarus, and parts of Northwest Russia. Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724) was a German geographer and cartographer; map dated around 1730. (from History of Finland) -
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Karjalanpiirakka, a traditional Finnish pastry (from Culture of Finland) -
Kalmar Union in 1400s (from History of Finland) -
Finland Ostrobothnia regiment uniforms in 1705 (from History of Finland) -
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This 1825 map of the Grand Duchy of Finland is from a larger work, geographical atlas of the Russian Empire. (from History of Finland) -
Students on Helsinki's Esplanadi wearing their caps on Vappu (from Culture of Finland) -
Midsummer bonfire (kokko) in Mäntsälä (from Culture of Finland) -
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The Swedish empire at its largest. Most of present-day Finland was part of Sweden proper, rike, shown in dark green. (from History of Finland) -
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A summer cottage (mökki) on a lake island (from Culture of Finland) -
A peasant girl and a woman in traditional dress from Ruokolahti, eastern Finland, as depicted by Severin Falkman in 1882 (from Culture of Finland) -
Badge of the Finnish White/Civil Guard (from History of Finland) -
People gathered in the Senate Square for a demonstration against the February Manifesto in March 1899. (from History of Finland) -
Lapua Movement supporters beating the "red officer" Eino Nieminen in front of the Vaasa courthouse during the 4 June 1930 riot. (from History of Finland) -
Erkki Karu, one of the pioneers of the Finnish cinema, with cinematographer Eino Kari in 1927 (from Culture of Finland) -
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Imagery collage of Birger Jarl conquering Häme and the construction of Häme Castle (from History of Finland) -
The decision of the Soviet of the People's Comissars' to recognise Finnish independence, signed by Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Petrovsky, Joseph Stalin, Isaac Steinberg, Vladimir Karelin, and Alexander Schlichter (from History of Finland) -
Battle of Gangut (Hanko) was part of the Great Northern War during 1700–1721. (from History of Finland) -
An old drawing of the city of Turku in the 18th century (from History of Finland) -
(1809 Diet of Porvoo) The sovereign's pledge, printed in Finnish (from History of Finland) -
Kreeta Haapasalo Playing the Kantele in a Peasant Cottage (1868), by Robert Wilhelm Ekman (from History of Finland) -
Grand Duchy of Finland, 75 kopek assignat (1824) (from History of Finland) -
Identification document and tag of a Finnish war child (from History of Finland) -
Prehistoric red ochre painted rock art of moose, human figures, and boats in Astuvansalmi, Finland, from ca. 3800–2200 BC (from Culture of Finland) -
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A group of Finnish soldiers operating a Bofors gun during the Continuation War in 1943 (from History of Finland) -
The first government of independent Finland. P. E. Svinhufvud, the first Prime Minister of Finland, sitting at the head of the table. (from History of Finland) -
Pieces of the Antrea Net (8,300 BC), the oldest-known fishing net in the world. (from History of Finland) -
![Image 68Kastelli Giant's Church in Pattijoki by Pöljä culture [fi] (from History of Finland)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Kastelli_giant%27s_church_1.JPG/120px-Kastelli_giant%27s_church_1.JPG)
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The part of Finland controlled by the Reds at its largest in February–March 1918 (from History of Finland) -
Pekka Halonen's painting "against persecutors" from 1896 depicts the warfare of the ancient Finns. (from History of Finland) -
The area controlled by Finland at its largest, in 1942 (from History of Finland) -
In 2011 figure skater Kiira Korpi was ranked 4th in the world. (from Culture of Finland) -
Jussipaita (transl. Jussi sweater); a traditional sweater from the Finnish region of Southern Ostrobothnia (from Culture of Finland) -
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Map of Finnish areas ceded to the Soviet Union in 1944, after the Continuation War (from History of Finland)
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![Image 68Kastelli Giant's Church in Pattijoki by Pöljä culture [fi] (from History of Finland)](/wiki/File:Kastelli_giant%27s_church_1.JPG){kind=small}
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)
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