"Dany_Kulta's new Finland Page" a Finland Travel Page by Dany_Kulta

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A big country with many things to do....
Turku was the main city, and when is has been destroyed by fire, Helsinki has been built, to protect finnish against Russian.
For the dates, and more exact informations, just ask me...

There are many things to do here...
You have sun, snow....
and ... Santa Klaus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes! He lives here!!!!!!!¨8 km from Rovaniemi!!!!!

FOR NICE INFOS, GO TO : http://virtual.finland.fi/finfo/english/

Facts about Finland and Helsinki

Finland

Inhabitants: 5.1 million (16.7 inhabitants/sq km)

Population growth:
1750: 500,000
1800: 800,000
1900: 2.6 million
1950: 4 million

Approximately 75 % of the population lives in towns
Area: 338,000 sq km of which 10% water and 68% forest
Highest point 1,328 m, length 1,157 km, width 542 km
188,000 lakes (more than any other country in relation to its size)
Over 20,000 islands
Government: republic, headed by a president;
parliament has 200 members
Independent since 6.12.1917

Member country of the European Union since 1995
Languages: two official languages, Finnish (93%)
and Swedish (5,8%)
Religion: Lutheran (85,4 %), Orthodox (1,1%),
unaffiliated (13,5 %)
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)/capita 133,000 Finn marks
(22,400 Euros); government budget 188 billion Finn marks
(31.6 billion Euros)
Helsinki

Inhabitants: 546,000 in Helsinki and over 900,000
in the metropolitan area
Population growth:
1812: 4,000
1900: 100,000
1946: 300,000
1954: 400,000

Area: 184 sq km
Islands 315
Capital of Finland since 1812 (after Turku)
Average temperatures:
maximum July + 17.0,
minimum January –5.7

Timeline of Finnish History
c.10,000 BC The edge of the retreating ice reaches what is now the southern shore of Finland. 1155 AD The Swedes launch their first crusade to Finland, which had been occupied for thousands of years but had preserved its tribal identity.

Swedish rule 1200-1809

13th century Sweden strengthens its hold on Finland.
1293 A castle is built in Viipuri, the second-largest town
in Finland.
1323 At the Peace of Pähkinäsaari, Sweden and Novgorod
(Russia) agree that the inhabited southern part of Finland is
Swedish.
1527 Sweden and Finland leave the Catholic Church.
1543 The first Finnish book, Agricola's Aapinen (Primer),
appears.
1550 Foundation of Helsinki.
1640 Finland's first university opens in Turku.
1748 A decision is made on the building of Suomenlinna,
a sea fortress in front of Helsinki.
Russian rule 1809-1917

1809 After defeat in war, Finland becomes an autonomous
part of Russia with its own laws, parliament, administration,
nationality, budget, etc.
1812 Helsinki becomes the capital of Finland in place of Turku.
1828 The university is moved from Turku to Helsinki.
1835 The first edition of the national epic, Kalevala,
is published.
1860 Finland gets its own currency unit, the markka.
1906 Finnish women are the first in Europe to be
given the vote.
Independence 1917

1917 Finland is declared independent on December 6th.
1918 Government forces, led by Mannerheim, defeat the
Russian-backed communist 'punakaarti' (red guards)
in the civil war.
1941-44 Continuation War against Russia.
1952 The 15th Olympic games are held in Helsinki.
1973 Finland joins the EEC.
1995 Finland joins the European Union.

2000 Helsinki is one of the cultural capitals of Europe
and celebrates its 450th birthday.

History
1550-1809
In 1550, King Gustav Vasa founded Helsinki, at the mouth of the Vantaa River, to compete with Tallinn for Baltic trade. The decision to found Helsinki was purely political; the actual order for the foundation of Helsinki appeared in a trade and navigation ordinance on 1.2.1550. In 1639, the centre of Helsinki was moved in order to improve trade and harbour transport. This time the order was given by Governor Pietari Brahe. The town was moved near a good harbour at modern Kruununhaka. The next important event in the growth of Helsinki was socio-political. The growing Russian menace made the parliament of 1746-1747 decide to fortify Finland. Initially, it was uncertain where Finland's most important fortress would be built, but in 1748 the Swedish crown decided to build the fortress outside Helsinki. Even during building Suomenlinna turned out to be a city within a city. Its population was sometimes greater than that of Helsinki. The building workers brought into Helsinki, as well as the soldiers and their families, provided a new source of income for the sleepy wooden town, which began to change gradually into a lively trading centre.

1809-1917
When Finland became an autonomous Russian Grand Duchy in 1809, Helsinki was made the capital. Previously, Turku had been the capital. The reasons for moving the capital were both political and geographical. The earlier capital, Turku, was far from the administrative centres of Russia and was traditionally Swedish-minded, which did not suit the Russians. The suitability of Helsinki as capital city was also supported by military circumstances. The site of Suomenlinna (Viapori) in front of Helsinki suited the Russian plans for fortification. Once again, Helsinki was given a new centre, this time the monumental Empire-style Senate Square and its surroundings. Carl Ludvig Engel, a representative of the pure neoclassical school, then working in St Petersburg, was invited to design the new centre. Engel was from Berlin, and it was his influence that gave Helsinki the Russian and individual features that set it apart from other European capitals. In 1828, the university was moved from Turku to Helsinki, which strengthened the position of Helsinki as the political, administrative and spiritual centre of Finland. At the same time the university was renamed the Tsar Alexander University in Finland. Thus, Russia had concentrated both political and cultural strength in the new capital. This guaranteed the powerful growth of Helsinki during the nineteenth century.

1917-2000
When Finland became independent in 1917, Helsinki was given a new task as capital of the new republic, and the growth of the town continued. The building styles were classical and functional. Examples include the Parliament Building and Lasipalatsi. After independence, Finland lived through a powerful political and cultural transition. In 1918, a bloody civil war was fought between government forces and the socialist so-called red guards. Once the government forces won, the young republic had to be able to make many decisions concerning its fresh independence. One of the first decisions concerned the form of government. A king was chosen for Finland – the German Prince Friedrich Karl of Hessen - but the balance of political power finally led the Finns to a republican form of government. K. J. Stålberg was selected as the first president of independent Finland.

The first years of Finnish independence were culturally significant. On the one hand, Finnish culture received a national character, the National Romantic style being suited to the newly independent state. On the other hand, Finland was affected by a powerful international current begun in the autonomous period. Its motto was: "Doors open to Europe". The best-known representatives of the international tendency in Finland were Olavi Paavolainen and Mika Waltari, whose travel books about Europe acted as trailblazers for the international artistic achievements to come. The beginning of the Winter War in 1939 again faced Finland with a new situation. On November 28th, 1939, the Soviet Union unilaterally withdrew from its non-aggression pact with Finland and began shelling the Karelian Isthmus. The same morning, Soviet aircraft attacked Helsinki, causing 91 civilian casualties. The Winter War, which ended on 13.3.1940, was costly for Finland, but against all the odds, Finland succeeded in retaining its independence. The next war, known in Finland as the Continuation War, began on 25.6.1941. At first, the war went well for Finland but the weakening of its German ally caused a reversal in Finnish fortunes. A truce between Finland and the Soviet Union began on 4.9.1944; in spite of a few scattered battles, it proved permanent.

During the wars Helsinki partly lost its leading position in the country's politics, because the Finnish war leadership was concentrated in Mikkeli, where the headquarters of the commander of the Finnish armies, Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, were situated. However, after the war Helsinki regained its sovereign position as capital of Finland. The first important event in Helsinki, as it recovered from the wars, was the staging of the 1952 Olympic games. The games should have been held in 1940, but were postponed because of the Second World War. The 1952 Olympics had a considerable effect on the streets of Helsinki. For example, many building projects were timed for completion before the Olympics. Among the building projects for the games were the Palace building and the Olympic village. The Olympic stadium had already been completed in time for the games planned to take place in 1940. Helsinki continued to grow throughout the twentieth century. Growth was particularly strong during the 1960's, when many suburbs were built. However, Helsinki remained a warm and open city in spite of its increasing size.

Nowadays Helsinki is known around the world as a city that has provided the world's leaders with a neutral and safe environment for discussion. Since the 1975 EEC meeting, Helsinki has been the stage for several high-level international meetings and the capital of Finland has been visited by heads of state from the USA, Russia and the Near East. This year, Helsinki celebrates its 450th birthday as one of the nine cultural capitals of Europe.

Marshal Mannerheim
One of the most significant people in the short history of independent Finland is Marshal C. G. Mannerheim. He came from a Swedish-speaking noble family and as a young man went to St Petersburg to join the Tsar's bodyguard, in which he rose to become a general. During the Russian revolution, Mannerheim returned to Finland where he was placed in charge of bourgeois Finland's so-called white army. In the wake of the Russian revolution, in 1918, a civil war broke out in Finland between the socialist 'red guards' and the official 'white' army of the Republic. The short war was won by Mannerheim's government forces. For some time after the civil war, Mannerheim was administrator of Finland. For twenty years afterwards, he kept clear of governmental duties, until in 1939-44 he again became commander-in-chief of the Finnish army at the age of 72, for the duration of the Winter War and Continuation War. In the hard-fought battles of these wars, Finland preserved its independence against overwhelming odds. With peace restored, Mannerheim acted as president of Finland for some time before finally retiring. The marshal died in 1951 at the age of 83. You can find out about Mannerheim at the Mannerheim Museum, which now occupies his old home at Kaivopuisto.

People
According to genetic research, 67-75% of the Finns' genes are of European and 25- 35% of Asian origin. The Finns are probably the descendants of people who moved into the Baltic area 2,000 years ago. However, the first signs of human life in Finland are 9,000 - 9,300 years old so occupation of Finland is quite old even by European standards. Historians disagree about the origins of the Finns. The Finnish language belongs to the same Finno-Ugric group of languages as Estonian and Hungarian. About 23 million people worldwide belong to this language group.

Many people in Helsinki were born elsewhere in Finland and moved to Helsinki to study or in search of work. Only 43% of Helsinki's inhabitants were born there. Citizens of other countries make up 4.7% of the population.

IF YOU HAVE TIME, VISIT MY PAGE ABOUT HELSINKI