Country Facts - Finland

The People

Nationality
Finn(s)

Ethnic Composition

Finn	93%
Swedish	6%
Lapp	0.11%
Roma	0.12%
Tatar	0.02%

Religious Composition

Evangelical Lutheran	89%
Nonaffiliated	9%
Russian Orthodox	1%
Other	1%

Languages Spoken

Finnish (official), English (spoken by most every citizen and used as the language of commerce), Swedish (official second language), Lapp, Russian.

Education and Literacy

Education is compulsory for nine years. Adult literacy is 100 percent.

Labor Force

Total: 2.6 million (2000)
By occupation:

Public Services	32%
Industry	22%
Commerce	14%
Finance, Insurance, and Business services	10%
Agriculture and Forestry	8%
Transport and Communications	8%
Construction	6%

Geography

Land Mass Total

130,128 sq mi (337,030 sq km)

Land

117,942 sq mi (305,470 sq km)

Water

12,185 sq mi (31,560 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,632 mi (2,628 km)
Border countries: Norway 452 mi (729 km), Sweden 364 mi (586 km), Russia 815 mi (1,313 km)

Coastline

699 mi (1,126 km), excludes islands and coastal indentations

Maritime claim

Contiguous zone: 6 nm
Continental shelf: 656 ft (200 m) depth or to the depth of exploitation
Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm
Territorial sea : 12 nm (3 nm in the Gulf of Finland)

Climate/Weather

Cold to temperate; potentially sub-Arctic, but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes.

Terrain

Mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Baltic Sea 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Haltiatunturi 4,356 ft (1,328 m)

Natural Resources

Timber, copper, zinc, iron ore, silver.

Land use

Arable land	7%
Permanent crops	0%
Other	93%

(1998)

Environment - current issues

Air pollution from manufacturing and power plants contributing to acid rain; water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals; habitat loss threatens wildlife populations.

Geography Note

Long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent; population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain.

Demographics

Population

5,183,545 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	17.9%	Male: 471,920	Female: 454,082
15-64 years:	66.9%	Male: 1,752,493	Female: 1,717,544
65 years and over:	15.2%	Male: 306,216	Female: 481,290

Growth Rate

0.14% (2002)

Life Expectancy

77.75 years
female: 81.52 years
male: 74.1 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$25,800 (2001)

Infant Mortality

3.76 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.03 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.64 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.95 male(s)/female

(2002)

Net migration rate

0.62 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the U.K., France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling almost one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11 countries joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on 1 January 1999 - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. Growth in 2001 was held back by the global slowdown, which carried over into the beginning of 2002. Imports dropped by 4 percent in 2002 and the year ended posting an 8.1 percent unemployment rate. The collapse of the telecommunications market hit Finland's flagship Nokia very hard with the shock rippling through the whole economy.

Unemployment

9.4% (2001)

Inflation Rate

2.6% (2001)

Industries

Metal products, electronics, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, copper refining, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing

Exports

US$40.1 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Imports

US$31.2 billion (f.o.b., 2001)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$133.5 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

Germany 12.5%, Sweden 9.3%, UK 9.1%, US 7.4%, France 5.2%, Italy 4.4% (2000)

Top Import Partners

Germany 14.2%, Sweden 10.3%, Russia 9.4%, US 7.1%, UK 6.4%, Japan 5.3% (2000)

Top Exports

Machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp

Top Imports

Foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, fodder grains.

Debt - external

US$30 billion (December 1993)

Economic aid

Donor: ODA, $379 million (1997)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 4:40p.m.	Closed
Retail	Shops: 9a.m to 6p.m. Large department stores: 9a.m. to 8p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 2p.m. Large department stores: Saturday until 6p.m.
Banks	9a.m. or 9:15a.m. to 4p.m. or 4:15p.m.	Closed
Government	Winter: 8a.m. to 4:15p.m. Summer: 8a.m. to 3:15p.m.	Closed

Note : Business hours are greatly affected by the lengthy periods of darkness in more northern regions of the country, as well as by local custom........

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Epiphany	January 6	January 6	January 6
Good Friday	March 29	April 18	April 9
Easter¹	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
May Day (Vappu)	May 1	May1	May 1
Ascension²	May 29	May 20	May 6
Whit Sunday (Pentecost)³	May 19	June 8	May 30
Midsummer's Eve*¹ (Juhannusaatto)	June 20	June 23	June 25
Midsummer's Day (Juhannuspaiva)	June 21	June 24	June 26
All Saints Day*²	November 1	November 6	November 5
Independence Day	December 6	December 6	December 6
Christmas Eve	December 24	December 24	December 24
Christmas Day*³	December 25	December 25	December 25
New Year's Eve	December 31	December 31	December 31

¹	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
²	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
³	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
*¹	Celebrated on the Saturday between the June 20 and 26, this ancient holiday coinsides with St. John the Baptist, and the Summer Solstice, and is marked by a mass exodus to the countryside.
*²	Saturday following October 30.
*³	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7. In Finland, Orthodox Christmas is celebrated December 25.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press