Finland

STATE AND GEOGRAPHY

Finland is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. Finland´s capital is Helsinki which is located in Southern Finland. Official languages are Finnish and Swedish. Finland covers an area of 338,440 square kilometers with a population of 5.5 million. Finland shares land borders with Sweden to the west, Russia to the east, and Norway to the north. Most Finns belong to the Evangelical-Lutheran Church. Finland is a member state of the European Union.

WEATHER

In northern Finland, the winters are long and cold, while the summers are short but warm. During the winter the temperature can fall to −45 °C. North of the Arctic Circle, during part of the winter there is the period known as the polar night when the sun does not rise above the horizon at all. In northern Finland it is also quite common to spot the northern lights. In southern Finland, the snow typically covers the land from about late November to April, and in the coastal areas such as Helsinki, snow often covers the land from late December to late March. During the summer the mean daily temperature is consistently above +10 °C. The temperature might even rise above +30 °C. The regions north of the Arctic Circle are characterized by polar days when the sun does not set at all.

CULTURE

Finland is known for having an excellent education system, a rich sauna culture, clean air, and magnificent nature. Also, Finland is famous for being the Happiest Country in the World. Finnish food culture is quite traditional. Potato is one of the main ingredients and it is often eaten with meat or fish. Finns also use a lot of natural ingredients like berries or mushrooms, which they can pick up by themselves from the forests. On the other hand, food culture is influenced by international trends. Many Finns are not afraid of new flavors or new food trends.

TRAVELING TO FINLAND

Finland is a modern, welfare country and one of the safest travel destinations in the world. It is possible to travel to Finland by air, sea, or land. The most common way into Finland is through the Helsinki-Vantaa airport which is the main international airport in Helsinki. Finavia is a Finnish airport company that provides international flight connections and has 20 airports around Finland. Many airlines fly to Finland.