Finland Guide

Finland is one of the largest and the most amazing countries in Europe, situated in its northern part  and bordering Sweden on the west, Norway on the north and Russia on the east.  Being a part of Sweden and an autonomous Grand Duchy under the Russian rule, Finland gained independence in 1971.

Finish and Swedish are official languages of the country. Finland is a country of lakes and islands and about half of the country is covered by forests. Imagine what a breathtaking natural beauty you can find here. Finland is also famous for its saunas, you will find 1.8 million saunas in Finland. Sport enthusiasts can make Finland their destination; esp. winter sports activities will attract you here.

Finnish landscape in its original form reminds a forest, two-thirds of the country’s area is covered by forests, one-tenth by water, while marine shoreline in Finland is about 1,000 kilometers.

The nature of Finland is changing significantly when moving from south to north. The nature of South and Central Finland is mostly hilly, covered with forests and lakes area meanwhile in the northern part, because of the strong dissection, coastal lines formed many small rocky skerries. Accordingly the climate is significantly different in the northern and southern parts of the country.

Helsinki is the capital of Finland, among other big cities  are Tampere and Turku. Helsinki is a quite dynamic city and is considered to be the cultural center of Finland. There are a lot of museums and art galleries in the city of Helsinki and an incredible number of festivals take place annually. Sport enthusiasts can find here a number of sports activities including hiking, cycling, roller skating, skiing, swimming and many others and gourmands can taste Finnish cuisine in a number of  Helsinki restaurants.

Telecommunications, metals and engineering equipment are major industries in Finland.

Photo credit to Aland Rob