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Official Name: Republic of Finland
Form of State: Parliamentary Republic
Legal System: Based on Constitution of 1919, up-dated
in 2000
Total Area: 338,000 sq km, which makes Finland the
sixth largest country in Europe
Neighboring Countries: Sweden, Norway, Russia, Estonia
Capital: Helsinki
Main Cities & Population (31.12.2006):
Helsinki (564,521), Espoo (235,019), Tampere (206,368), Vantaa
(189,711), Turku (175,354) and Oulu (130,178). Approximately
one million people live in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.
Population: 5,3 million
Population Density: Approximately 17 inhabitants per
square kilometer, almost 70 % of the population lives in towns
and cities.
Flight Times to Helsinki (by Finnair) hrs:min:
Beijing 8:00
Brussels 2:40
Melbourne 22:00
Moscow 1:40
New York 8:40
Rome 3:40
Tokyo 9:30
Local Time: +2 hrs GMT
Currency: Euro. Until 2002 markka, also known as the
Finnish mark (FIM). One Euro equals 5.94573 markkas.
Languages: Finnish (92 %) and Swedish (6 %) are official
languages. Sami (Lappish) is the mother tongue of about 1,700
people.
Climate: The climate of Finland is marked by distinctive
seasonal variations. Winters are cold and summers relatively
warm. In summer the temperature often rises to +20 Celsius
or more and occasionally goes close to +30 in southern and
eastern parts of the country. In winter, temperatures of -20
Celsius are not uncommon in many areas. The mean temperature
in Helsinki in July is +17 Celsius and in February -5.7 Celsius.
Finnish Lapland has clearly lower winter temperatures.
Head of State: The head of State is the President
of the Republic. The President is elected for a six-year term
by direct popular vote. Since March 1 2000, the President
is Tarja Halonen, who was elected for a second six-year term
in February 2006.
National Government: The Council of State is the Government,
comprising the Prime Minister (Mr Matti Vanhanen) and up to
20 ministers. A new Government took office in April 2007.
It is a majority coalition formed by the Centre Party, the
National Coalition Party, the Green League and the Swedish
People’s Party of Finland. The Cabinet has 20 ministers.
National Legislature: Finland has a unicameral parliament
with 200 members. The members are elected for a four-year
term by direct popular vote under a system of proportional
representation. The president is empowered to dissolve the
Parliament.
Finland in the International Community: Member of
EU, UN, OECD and WTO, among others.
Major Exports: Electronic and electrical products,
pulp and paper, machinery and equipment, metal products, transport
vehicles, timber and wood, chemicals.
GDP: 167,9 mrd Euros (2006, preliminary data)
GDP per capita: 31,886 Euros (2006, preliminary data)
Source: Statistics
Finland
Unemployment rate: 7,7 % (2006)
Click here to view
a comprehensive list of economic indicators
Page last updated 04.03.2007
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