"IMPORTANT FINLAND FACTS" Finland by finlandia

You are mostly welcome to Finland (Suomi, Finlande, Finnland) and its capital Helsinki.

There are more than two million saunas (and only 5.2 million inhabitants) in Finland. Moomins (Mumin, Moumine, Muumit) also come from Finland! Many formula drivers and rally drivers are Finnish (Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Mika Salo, Marcus Gronholm, Tommi Makinen, Juha Kankkunen etc.). Perhaps you know Finnish football players Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen, too.

Finnish women were second in the whole world to gain the right to vote in 1906. Only five countries in the world have a woman as a president. Finland is one of them. According to the United Nations Finland is the 5th best country in the world for women.

Are you interested in music? The members of a Finnish band named Leningrad cowboys say that they are the worst band in the world. They have made movies, too. Do you know these bands: The Rasmus, Bomfunk MC's, Darude, HIM and Paleface? They are Finnish, too. And so is the famous violin player Linda Brava (Linda Lampenius).

There are over 120 internet connections per 1000 people in Finland. Every Finnish school has internet connections and 68% of all Finnish people uses internet (44% of Finnish households have internet connections). Mobile phones are very common, too. You can even pay your soft drinks with a mobile phone in some places. Nokia is a Finnish company. There is also a town named Nokia in Finland.

Snowy trees

There are four different seasons and an unbelievable wonderful nature in Finland, especially in Lapland (Lappi, Lappland, Laponie, Lapponia): the midnight sun (nightless days during summer, in Nuorgam between May 15th and July 28th), the northern lights (Aurora borealis), beautiful fells (i.e. arctic treeless mountains), 200 000 reindeer etc. In Snow Land you have a possibility for overnight stays in snow igloos and the chance to make snow sculptures. There are snow buildings and the igloo restaurant for 250 persons with ice tables, the arctic disco and the starlit sky in Snow Land.

There are 187 888 lakes (60 000 of them are big ones), 179 584 islands, 5 100 rapids and 450 600 summer cottages in Finland! Saimaa is the biggest lake district of Europe. In Finland you can visit the biggest snow castle in the world, the biggest wooden church in the world and the biggest indoor water park in Europe.

People cleaning a street out of snow

Readers of The Guardian and The Observer in Britain voted Finland the best European country for travel both in June 2001 and in May 2002. Helsinki (the capital of Finland) came 5th in the poll for the best cities in the whole world in 2001.

A Finnish film director Aki Kaurismaki was named the film producer of the year by the Film Producer Association on September 5th, 2002. Aki Kaurismaki also got the Douglas Sirk Award 2002 in Hamburg on September 27th. Aki Kaurismaki film named "Mies vailla menneisyytta" (The Man Without a Past) was also awarded the Grand Prix of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival in May 2002. Kati Outinen received the award for the best performance by an actress for leading roll in that film. The Man without a Past was awarded the film prize of the Ecumenical Jury, too. Aki Kaurismaki has got also other awards: the best film Grand Prix in Flanders, Belgium, and the Nordic Council Film Prize 2002. Bangkok International Film Festival was in Thailand in January 2003. The first annual Golden Kinnaree Competition gave more success to Aki Kaurismaki. This is the most highly regarded prize for film making in Southeastern Asia and the competitition should be the equivalent of Cannes Palme dOr in Europe. Aki Kaurismaki film The Man Without a Past got the Best Screenplay Prize and Kati Outinen (from this film) got the Best Actress Prize. In the beginning of February Finnish Aki Kaurismaki got the Guldbagge Award for the Best Foreign Language Film in Sweden.

Welcome to Finland (Suomi)!

• Pros:clean nature, Lapland, lakes, safety
• Cons:sometimes too cold or rainy (more rainy than the Mediterranean area but not as rainy as Central Europe)
• In a nutshell:The land of the midnight sun and 187 888 lakes!