Overview

Finland is one of the Nordic countries

Finland is one of the Nordic countries (including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). It shares land borders with Sweden, Norway and Russia. It is a small country on a global scale with a population of 5.5 million people. The capital is Helsinki, located on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Finnish and Swedish are both official languages, approximately 79 per cent of the citizens speak Finnish as their native language.

Government and economy

Finland is a member of the European Union since 1995 and uses Euro as its currency. The government system is parliamentary democracy. The economy of Finland has a per capita output equal to that of European economies such as those of France, Germany, or the UK.

The largest sector of the economy is the service sector at approximately 70 per cent of GDP, followed by manufacturing sector, which is the key economic sector with respect to foreign trade. Main industries include electronics, machinery and metal products, forest and chemical industries. In terms of industrial clusters, energy (Vaasa region), information and communication technologies (Tampere and Oulu region), maritime industry (Turku region), and digital services clusters (Helsinki region) are important.

What is Finland known for?

In international country comparisons of positive things Finland is often ranked as one of the best in the world: it is a stable, safe, prosperous, socially just and happy society. It is ranking one of the top countries in the world in education and innovation, offering a great economic environment for doing business.