About Finland

What is Finland?

Finland is a country that is in Scandinavia.

The population is about 5,116,000

Climate of Finland

Because Finland is mainly surrounded by water the weather is not as bad as expected. The average July temperature along the southern coast is 15.6° C in February the average is about -8.9° C

Snow and rain averages per year is about 46 cm in the north of Finland and 71 cm in the south. Light snow covers the ground for four or five months a year in the south and about seven months in the north.

Flag & National Anthem

The flag of Finland is shown above

The words of the Finnish national anthem are:

“Our land, our land, our native land, Oh, let her name ring clear! No peaks against the heavens that stand, No gentle dales or foaming strand Are loved as we our home revere, The earth our sires held dear. The flowers in their buds that grope Shall burst their sheaths with spring; So from our love to bloom shall ope Thy gleam, thy glow, thy joy hope, And higher yet some day shall ring The patriot song we sing!”

History of Finland

The ancestors of the Finns owned more than half of northern Russia before they came to north of the Baltic coast before the Christian era. At the end of the Viking age, Swedish traders came to the Baltic area. From the 12th century until 1809, it was part of Sweden.

Finland was affected by constant battles with Russia, and severe famines. in 1696-97, famine killed a third of the Finland people. Finland was conquered by Russia in 1809 after many battles against the Russians.
The downfall of Russia made it possible for the Finnish to declare independence on 6 December 1917.

Internal fighting began between the Russian supporters and the German supporters. During 108 days of civil war, their own countrymen killed approximately 30,000 Finns

Language of Finland

Finnish, Estonian and Hungarian are the main languages spoken in Finland.

Finnish, a language, is spoken by 93% of the Finns, and about 6% of the population are Swedish-speaking.

Highlights of Finland’s Olympic History

1952
Lydia Wide-man, Mica Hermits and SRO Montanan sweep all medals in the inaugural women’s Olympic competition in cross-country skiing, the 10-kilometre race in Oslo. The Games of the Seth Olympiad are celebrated in Helsinki from July 19 to August 3. 4,920 athletes from 69 nations compete for medals in 149 events.

1972
Finnish long-distance running makes its glorious comeback at the Olympic Games in Munich. Lase Virén wins gold in 5,000 and 10,000 metres, Peke Vasily in 1,500 metres.

1984
Marja-Lois Hämäläinen wins all three individual gold medals in women’s cross-country skiing at the Winter Games in Sarajevo.

1988
Finland wins silver in ice hockey at the Winter Games in Calgary. This is the first ever Finnish Olympic medal in a team sport.

1998

Finland wins bronze in women’s inaugural Olympic ice hockey tournament in Nalani, the first ever Finnish medal in women’s team sports.