The Republic of Finland (
Suomen Tasavalta) is one of the
Nordic countries in northern
Europe; its capital is
Helsinki. Finland was ruled by
Sweden from the 12th century until
1809, when the
Russian empire conquered Finland during the [Napoleonic wars]
?. Finland declared its independence on
December 6,
1917. Russia (then
Soviet Union) formally accepted Finnish independence shortly thereafter. During
World War II, Finland was able to successfully defend its freedom and fend off invasions by the Soviet Union and
Germany. In the subsequent half century, the Finns have made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with
Western Europe. As a member of the
European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the
euro system at its initiation in January
1999.
Languages spoken: Finnish language and Swedish language.
Population: 5,171,302 (1999); 2,523,026 male, 2,648,276 female.
Area: 335,593 km2, of which 303,003 km2 is land.
Not Wikified.