The Finland-shaped artificial pond Neitokainen photographed from the air. Trees surround the pond.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Finland

Finland is the happiest the most stable the fourth most prosperous the second most gender-equal the least corrupt along with Denmark and New Zealand

Location & area

Finland is situated in Northern Europe. 

The country’s total area is 338 472 km², of which 10% is fresh water.

Education 

74% of the population over the age of 15 has post-comprehensive level education. 42% of the population aged 25–64 has higher education.

A person looking for books in a library.

Population

There are 5.5 million people in Finland. 

Life expectancy is 85 years for women and 79 years for men. The official languages are Finnish (86.5%) and Swedish (5.2%). Finland is in the TOP 10 non-native English speaking countries (Source: EF EPI 2021).

People gathered at the Senate Square for Helsinki Pride.

Government 

  • Sovereign parliamentary republic since 1917
  • Member of the EU, EMU, UN, OECD, and WTO economy 
  • Currency: The euro
  • GDP 2021: 251 billion euros
  • GDP per capita 2021: 45 thousand euros
  • Main industries: Electronics, metal, engineering, chemical, and forest
The Finnish Parliament House photographed from the front.

Forests & lakes

Forests cover over 75% of Finland’s land area, and 150 million trees are planted each year. The country also has over 168,000 lakes.

A person sitting on top of a tall rock in an autumn forest. There is a lake in the background.

Four seasons

Finland has cold snowy winters, springs with newly blooming nature, warm summers with the midnight sun, and beautiful autumns full of colours.

The northern lights can be seen especially in Northern Finland almost all year round.

Four snowy spruces. The northern lights are in the sky.

Sauna

There are around 3 million saunas in Finland.

A person throwing water on a sauna stove.

Coffee

Finns drink the most coffee in the world – 4 cups a day on average!

Karelian pies with egg butter on top and a Moomin mug full of coffee on a table.

Heavy Metal

Finland has the most heavy metal bands per capita in the world.

Finnish heavy metal singer Tarja Turunen performing.
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Berry delicious superfood

Finnish berries every day keep the doctor away – this should be a well-known saying. The sweet, tart and juicy wild berries that grow in the forests of the North have amazing health benefits. And what’s more, you can freely pick them, thanks to everyman’s right which gives access to Finnish forests for all.