Wp/nth/Finland



Finland (Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland), officially the Republic o Finland (Finnish: uomen tasavalta; Swedish; Republiken Finland; Sami: Suoma dásseváldi}), is a Nordic country i Northren Europe. It borders Sweden te the northwest, Norway te the north, and Russia te the east, wi the Gulf o Bothnia te the west and the Gulf o Finland te the sooth, across frev Estonia. Finland covers an area o 130,678 sq mi wiv a population o 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority o the population is ethnic Finns. Finnish and Swedish is baith official languages, Swedish is the native language o 5.2% o the population. Finland's climate varies frae humid continental i the sooth te the boreal i the north. The land cover is primarily a boreal forest biome, wi mair nor 180,000 recorded lakes.

Finland wes furst inhabited aroond 9000BC efter the Last Glacial Period. The Stone Age introduced several different ceramic styles and culturs. The Bronze Age and Iron Age wes characterised by contacts wiv other cultures o Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. Frae the late 13th century, Finland becam a pairt o Sweden as a consequence o the Northren Crusades. I 1809, as a result o the Finnish War, Finland becam pairt o the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy o Finland, while Finnish airt flourished and the idea i independence began te take hauld. In 1906, Finland becam the furst European state te grant univarsal suffrage, and the furst i the world te give aa adult citizens the reet te run for public office. After the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared independence frae Russia. I 1918, the fledglin state wes divided by the Finnish Civil War. DuringWarld War II, Finland fowt the Soviet Union i the Winter War and the Continuation War, and Nazi Germany i the Lapland War. It subsequently lost pairts ov its territory, but maintained its independence.

Finland maistly remained an agrarian country til the 1950s. Efter World War II, it rapidly industrialised and developed an advanced economy, while beeldin an extensive welfare state based on the Nordic model; the country suin enjoyed widespread prosparity and a high per capita income. During the Cold War, Finland adopted an official policy o neutrality. Finland joined the European Union i 1995, the Eurozone at its inception in 1999 and NATO i 2023. Finland performs highly in metrics o national performance, includin education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality o life and human development.