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 of the population speak the first as their mother tongue and 5.1 percent the latter. 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...)
Selected article -
The African diaspora in Finland (Finnish: afrikkalaisten diaspora Suomessa) refers to the residents of Finland of full or partial African ancestry, mostly from Sub-Saharan Africa. According to Statistics Finland, the total number of people in Finland with a close African background (Africans in Finland; Suomen afrikkalaiset) was 57,496 in 2020.
The distinct adjacent term Afro-Finns (afrosuomalaiset), also referred to as Black Finns (mustat suomalaiset), can be used for Finns whose lineages are fully or partly in the populations of Sub-Saharan Africa ("Black Africa"). Afro-Finns have lived in Finland since the 19th century, and in 2009, according to Yle, there were an estimated 20,000 Afro-Finns in Finland. (Full article...)Selected image -
Did you know (auto-generated)
- ... that Kaija Saariaho's 2021 opera Innocence includes traditional Finnish cow-herding calls?
- ... that the 1992 documentary film Daddy and the Muscle Academy, which focuses on the life of gay erotic artist Tom of Finland, has been broadcast on Finnish television multiple times?
- ... that Kuappi in Iisalmi, Finland, holds the Guinness world record for the smallest restaurant?
- ... that Plevna in Tampere, Finland, was the first building in the Nordic countries and the Russian Empire (of which Finland was part at the time) to be lit by electric lights?
- ... that records of transgender people in Finland stretch back to the 19th century?
- ... that Venla Luukkonen is the first Finnish person to win the World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship at black belt level?
WikiProjects
You are invited to participate in Finland WikiProject, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Finland.
More did you know -
- ...that the Finnish company YIT was responsible for the construction of the Finnish National Opera house, the Helsinki Fair Centre and Cirrus, the tallest high-rise building in Finland?
- ...that the paintings in the Espoo Cathedral were painted over in the 18th century, as they were thought to be "crude and superstitious'?
- ...that there are three unilingually Swedish municipalities in one province of mainland Finland?
- ...that Maria, the Finnish form of Mary, is the most popular Finnish name used during the modern era?
- ...that Finnish film director Valentin Vaala was reportedly so disappointed with his first film that he dumped the original camera negatives into the sea?
HIM (sometimes stylized as H.I.M.) was a Finnish gothic rock band from Helsinki. First formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen under the name His Infernal Majesty, the band broke up after only a few years, only to be reformed in 1995 by Valo and guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström. After being rejoined by Mige, as well as keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana "Pätkä" Rantala, the band, now called HIM, released its debut album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 in 1997. In 2000, now with drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen and keyboardist Juska Salminen, the band released Razorblade Romance, which reached the number one spot in Finland, Austria and Germany. The first single "Join Me in Death" also charted at number one in Finland and Germany, eventually going platinum and gold, respectively. Following the addition of Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, HIM released Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001) and Love Metal (2003). Both cracked the top ten in several countries and allowed the band to tour in the United Kingdom and the United States for the first time.
In 2005, HIM released Dark Light, which became the group's most commercially successful album to date. HIM also became the first Finnish group in history to receive a gold record in the US. In 2007, HIM released Venus Doom, the making of which was marred by problems in Valo's personal life. Nevertheless, the album gave the band its highest chart position in the US at number twelve. After 2010's Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, HIM went on a hiatus after Gas Lipstick was forced to take medical leave. Following several months of uncertainty, the band regrouped and released the album Tears on Tape in 2013. Gas Lipstick announced his departure from the band in 2015 and was subsequently replaced by Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger. On 5 March 2017, HIM announced that the band would be disbanding following a farewell tour in 2017. The band played its final show on New Year's Eve 2017 as a part of its annual Helldone Festival. (Full article...)General images
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)
Related portals
Northern Europe
Other countries
Selected panorama -
Topics
Categories
Recognized content
Things you can do
- Add the {{Porta|:Finland}} template to existing See also sections of Finland-related articles.
- Tag the talk pages of Finland-related articles with the {{WikiProject Finland}} template. (Tip: Use PetScan to find articles not tagged yet by replacing the category "Finnish films" with another category and adjust "Depth" if needed. This tool is helpful for tagging. See also the list of pages not tagged yet.)
- Rate unassessed and unknown-importance articles according to the guidelines. (This tool is helpful for doing these.)
- Translate a Finnish-language article into English.
- Expand a stub into a full article.
- Help with the articles needing attention (watch) and cleanup.
- Create a requested article (watch).
- Support fresh articles (watch).
- Patrol the recent changes.
- Add the following pages to your watchlist:
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus