The total area of Finland is 338,144 km, making it the 8th largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine, France, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Germany. Of this, 10% is water and 69% forest - there are 188,000 lakes in Finland, and 98,050 islands on those lakes.

It is home to 5.4 million people, making it the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. In the past Finns lived mostly in the countryside or in small towns and villages, but today the population is centred more in the urban centres, especially that of the Greater Helsinki region where approximately 1 million live.

Finland has land borders with three countries; with Sweden (614km), with Norway (736km), and with Russia (1,340km). The maximum distance from north to south is 1,157km, and from east to west is 542km. Finland's coastline is 4,600km long, or 1,100 if inlets are excluded, and there are 81,534 islands dotted along the coast. The largest archipelago in Europe lies off the southwest coast, and the Åland Islands, an autonomous Swedish-speaking province of Finland, are part of this archipelago.

Finns have a deeply ingrained love and respect for nature, which accounts for the fact that there are 475,000 summer cottages in the country, and 35 national parks. Visitors usually notice that both the cities and countryside are litter free - should you drop litter, don't be surprised if a Finn picks it up and gives it back to you! Finns also love their saunas, there are some 1.8 million of them here, of which approximately 500 are traditional smoke saunas.

In a 2008 survey for The Fund for Peace, Finland was ranked the second most stable country in the world, based on social, economic, political, and military indicators. Finland is currently ranked 1st in the 2009 Legatum Prosperity rating, which is based on economic performance and quality of life!

Language

Finland is officially bilingual, with 92% of the population having Finnish as their first language, and 5.5% of the population Swedish. Approximately 1,700 people in Lapland speak Sami, or Lapp, languages.

Religion

Both the Evangelical-Lutheran and Orthdox churches are recognised as official religions of Finland, and are protected under the constitution, with some 82% of Finns belonging to the former and 1% belonging to the latter.

Weather

Finland is famous for being the land of the Midnight Sun. In Lapland a single summer day can last over two months, for example in Utsjoki, which is at a latitude of 69°52', the sun doesn't set between May 16th and July 27th, and in Rovaniemi, which is at a latitude of 66°30', the sun doesn't set between June 6th and July 7th. Even in the south at midsummer the sun is still shining at 10pm, and is likely to be already up when revellers are leaving the clubs in the early morning. Night itself is somewhat of a misnomer, darkness doesn't really fall, instead there is a period of prolonged dusk which fades to twilight. Summer temperatures are usually even, often reaching the mid thirties in August, and the extended days mean that the lakes are perfect for swimming in from the end of June onwards.

Winter is conversely dark and cold, and the mean temperature remains below 0°C. Winter usually begins in mid-October in Lapland, and during November in the rest of Finland, although in the southwestern archipelago it doesn't begin until December. It is the longest season, lasting for about 200 days in Lapland and about 100 days in southwestern Finland. North of the Arctic Circle this period is known as Polar Night, although Finns are more likely to refer to it by the far more poetic term 'Kaamos', which translates as The Dark Time! In Utsjoki the Polar Night lasts from November 25th to January 17th, and even in Rovaniemi there is barely more than two hours of sunlight for the entire month of January. Permanent snow falls about two weeks after winter begins, and is deepest around mid-March, with an average of 60 to 90cm in eastern and northern Finland, and 20 to 30cm in southwestern Finland.