Countries of the World
Days of Miracle And Wonder (Would You Like To Visit Finland?)




Chapter 1 - Finnish Wonderland?


Alice followed the rabbit and ended up in Wonderland. But that is another story and it have nothing to do with my today's real subject (which, in fact, is Finland). No rabbits or wonders in this text, sorry... or... Is there? You better read forward, just to be sure. So, like I said, Alice followed the rabbit. But will you follow me today? If you choose to do so, I'll take you to a journey throughout Finland (which coincidentally happens to be my home country). Now, let's begin.

Hello everyone and welcome to Finland! I will be your guide on this journey. Please, take a good seat and make yourself comfortable. I hope everyone will have an enjoyable visit here with us.






Let us take a look at this map of Finland. While you are looking at it I'll tell you the basis of the country. Finland (officially 'The Rebublic of Finland; Finnish 'Suomi' or 'Suomen tasavalta) currently numbers approximately 5,3 million inhabitants and has an average population density of 15 inhabitants per square kilometre. The capital of Finland is Helsinki, there lives approximately 500,000 inhabitants and in the Capital Region the population is 1 million (that's 20 % of the population of Finland!).

The area of Finland is 338,000 square kilometres. Finland is known for its forests and lakes; forests cover almost 70 % of the area and water 10 %. The amount of lakes is almost 200,000. Finland is also called Suomi-neito which literally means "Maiden Finland". So, Finland is "she", as the figure of the country resembles to one of a lady's.

Finland is divided into six provinces ('lääni', pl. 'läänit'), which are: Southern, Western and Eastern Finland and Åland Lapland and Oulu. Åland Islands enjoy a degree of autonomy.

More basic information here:

Students of The World - country infromation
Virtual Finland -everything you want to know

So, how did you like this little introducing? Shall we move on?

Chapter 2 - Helsinki (or is it Hellsinki?)


Now we're landing to the Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We're heading to the heart of Finland, the capital city Helsinki. The city is always under construction but there's still many places to see. Even if Helsinki is the capital of Finland, it still has that "small town charm". So, please be sure to have a fantastic day in Helsinki.


















Chapter 3 - FINternet

This small, cold country has invaded Internet? In some point, yes. I mean Finland isn't really known and many people don't even know that a country called Finland really exists. So, Finnish people have made a counter-attack towards this and there are many sites that can give you better information of Finland. So, feel free to surf on the net and check out these sites I put here. Oh, yeah, and good luck, you may find yourself in a weird, extraordinary place. But if you have enough courage, try these sites already!

Finland for Thought - an American's blog about Finland and also United States. Politics, current events, culture.
Virtual Finland- Your window on Finland: all the basics
HEL LOOKS - Street fashion from Helsinki, if you happen to have any interest in fashion. ^^
Finland Forum - Really good forum for Finland lovers and those considering to move Finland.
Finnish School - Want to learn Finnish? This is the place!




Chapter 4 - Moominsummer Madness

Tove Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finn and "Moominsummer Madness" was one of her great books. But let's not talk about that. Instead, we're going to talk about Midsummer or actually "juhannus", which is the Finnish celebration. Originally juhannus was a celebration of Pellonpekko, who was the ancient Finnish god of agriculture (and beer). The midsummer was his time, because people wished for a good harvest and celebrated him and sacrificed (beer) to him. And it was thought to be Pellonpekko's wish that people would drink (beer) and nourish the ground (with beer). Nowadays juhannus is a Christian celebration, for the memory of John the Baptist but many Finns don't even know that. They celebrate juhannus because it's the midsummer party, when one can eat grilled food, drink (beer) and stay awake all night. So, it's not really different from the former Pellonpekko celebration, especially the drinking (beer) part.










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Days of Miracle And Wonder (Would You Like To Visit Finland?) (Countries of the World)    -    Author : Marika - Finland


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