Finland

Republic of Finland Suomen tasavalta  (Finnish) Republiken Finland  (Swedish)
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem:  Maamme  (Finnish) Vårt land  (Swedish) (English: "Our Land")
Location of  Finland  (dark green) – on the European continent  (green & dark grey) – in the European Union  (green)  —  [Legend]
Capital and largest city	Helsinki 60°10′N 24°56′E / 60.167°N 24.933°E / 60.167; 24.933
Official languages	Finnish Swedish
Recognised regional languages	Sami dialects
Religion	Evangelical Lutheran Church Orthodox Church
Demonym(s)	Finnish Finn
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic[1]
• President	Alexander Stubb
• Prime Minister	Petteri Orpo
Legislature	Eduskunta
Formation
• Autonomy within Russia	29 March 1809
• Independence from Russia	6 December 1917
• Joined the European Union	1 January 1995
Area
• Total	338,424 km2 (130,666 sq mi) (64th)
• Water (%)	10
Population
• August 2017 estimate	5,509,717 [2] (114th)
• 2016 official	5,503,297[3]
• Density	16/km2 (41.4/sq mi) (213rd)
GDP (PPP)	2018 estimate
• Total	$255.976 billion[4]
• Per capita	$46,342[4]
GDP (nominal)	2018 estimate
• Total	$289.557 billion[4]
• Per capita	$52,422[4]
Gini (2014)	25.6[5] low · 6th
HDI (2015)	0.895[6] very high · 23rd
Currency	Euro (€) (EUR)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+358
ISO 3166 code	FI
Internet TLD	.fia
The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other European Union member states.

Finland (Finnish: Suomi) is a country in Northern Europe and is a member state of the European Union. Finland is one of the Nordic countries and is also part of Fennoscandia. Finland is located between the 60th and 70th latitudes North. Its neighbours are Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, Russia to the east and Estonia to the south, beyond the sea called Gulf of Finland. Most of the western and southern coast is on the shore of the Baltic Sea.

The capital of Finland is Helsinki; the second largest city is Tampere. The official currency of the country is the euro (EUR); before 2002 it was the markka, the Finnish mark (FIM). The president of Finland is Alexander Stubb. 5.5 million people live in Finland. Finnish and Swedish both are the official languages of Finland; the most spoken languages is Finnish, mother tongue of about 90% of the population. Swedish is spoken by the Swedish speaking minority of Finland, called the Finnish Swedes, who make up 5% of the total population. Finland became independent of Russia on 6 December 1917.

The most important cities and towns in Finland are Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Turku, Oulu, Lahti, Kuopio, Jyväskylä and Pori.

Finland is a highly industrialised First World country. The most important Finnish industrial products are paper, and steel products such as machines and electronics. Nokia (the mobile company) is originally a company of Finland, named after a small town called Nokia.

Finland has been top of the list of least corrupt countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index more times than any other country.

1. ↑ Formerly a semi-presidential republic, it's now a parliamentary republic according to David Arter, First Chair of Politics at Aberdeen University, who in his "Scandinavian Politics Today" (Manchester University Press, revised 2008), quotes Jaakko Nousiainen in "From semi-presidentialism to parliamentary government" in Scandinavian Political Studies 24 (2) p95–109 as follows: "There are hardly any grounds for the epithet 'semi-presidential'." Arter's own conclusions are only slightly more nuanced: "The adoption of a new constitution on 1 March 2000 meant that Finland was no longer a case of semi-presidential government other than in the minimalist sense of a situation where a popularly elected fixed-term president exists alongside a prime minister and cabinet who are responsible to parliament (Elgie 2004: 317)". According to the Finnish Constitution, the president has no possibility to rule the government without the ministerial approval, and does not have the power to dissolve the parliament under his or her own desire. Finland is actually represented by its prime minister, and not by its president, in the Council of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union. The 2012 constitution reduced the powers of the president even further.
2. ↑ "Finland's preliminary population figure 5,509,717 at the end of August". Tilastokeskus.fi. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
3. ↑ "Finland's population was 5,503,297 at the turn of the year". Tilastokeskus.fi. Statistics Finland. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects". IMF. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
5. ↑ "Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income (source: SILC)". Eurostat Data Explorer. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
6. ↑ "2015 Human Development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.