Finland

Country Name: Republic of Finland

Year Founded: the area now composing Finland was settled at the latest around 8500 BCE during the Stone Age.

Population: Around 5.3 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern part of the country.

Primary Language: The native language for most of the population is Finnish.

Ethnic Make-up: Earliest people were hunter-gatherers.

Political System: Finland is a democratic, parliamentary republic with a mostly Helsinki-based central government and local governments in 348 municipalities.

Year Entered the European Union: Finland joined the European Union in 1995.
Representative of the European Union (include party) Olli Ilmari Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement (ECE).

Type of Economy: Finland has a highly industrialized; largely free-market economy with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy.

Currency: Euro.

Current Exchange rate for American Currency: on December 31, 2000, FIM 6.31 was worth one United States dollar; from 1.1.2002 the EURO is the legal tender.

GDP: Total estimate in 2007 is $185.853 billion

Percentage of Trade within the European Union: European countries other than the Soviet Union accounted for only slightly over 2 percent of trade.

Unemployment Rate: During 2009, unemployment will climb to over 8% of the labor force.

Chief Exports: Finland excels in high-tech exports such as mobile phones.

Key Imports: Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods and foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains

Major Religions: the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

Surrounding Countries: It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.

Literacy Rate: That Finnish literacy rates are among the highest - if not the highest - in the world is a tribute to the effectiveness of the Finnish education system.

One Interesting Fact: A mayor and tradicional dispute on Finland is that various groups in Finland advocate restoration of Karelia and other areas ceded to the Soviet Union, but the Finnish Government asserts no territorial demands.

Sources:

- Finland, Obtained on March 23 2009,
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fi.html

- Education, Obtained on March 23, 2009,

http://www.visitfinland.com/w5/index.nsf/(pages)/Education

- Findland, Obtained on March 23, 2009,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland

By: Laura Garcia :*