Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands; 187,888 lakes and 179,584 islands to be precise. The Finnish landscape is mostly flat with few hills and its highest point, the Haltitunturi at 1,328 m, is found in the extreme north of Lapland. Beside the many lakes the landscape is dominated by extensive boreal forests and little arable land. The greater part of the islands are found in southwest, part of the archipelago of the Aland Islands, and along the southern coast in the Gulf of Finland. Finland is one of the few countries in the world that is still growing. Owing to the isostatic adjustment that has been taking place since the last ice age, the surface area of the country is growing by about 7 sq. kilometres a year.
The climate is a northern temperate climate, characterised by cold, occasionally severe winters and relatively warm summers. A quarter of Finland's territory lies above the Arctic Circle, and as a consequence the sun does not set for 73 days during summer, and does not rise for up to 51 days during winter.
Finland has a highly industrialised, largely free-market economy, with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling almost one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods.
Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe - Finland was one of the 11 countries joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on January 1, 1999 - will dominate the economic picture over the next several years. Growth was anemic in 2002, but slowed down in 2003 because of global depression.
There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish, spoken by 93% of the population, and Swedish, mother tongue[?] for 6% of the population. To the north, in Lapland, are found the Sami, numbering less than 7,000, who like the Finns speak a Finno-Ugric language (Saami). Other small national minorities include Russians, Jews, Roma and Tatars.
After the Winter War (confirmed by the outcome of the Continuation War) 12% of Finland's population had to be re-settled. War reparations[?], unemployment and uncertainity regarding Finland's chances to remain sovereign and independent of the Soviet Union contributed to considerable emigration, abating first in the 1970s. Now, since the late 1990s, Finland receives refugees and immigrants in a rate comparable with the Scandinavian countries, although the accumulated number remains far lower in Finland. A considerable share of the immigrants has come from the former Soviet Union claiming ethnic (Finnic) kinship.
Worldwide press freedom index (http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id-article=4116) Rank 1 out of 139 countries (4 way tie)
OECD literacy 2002 (http://www.pisa.oecd.org/knowledge/summary/a-more.htm) Rank 1 out of all countries
Information Technology 2003 (http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CReports%5CGlobal+Information+Technology+Report+2002-2003+-+Readiness+for+the+Networked+World) Rank 1 out of all countries
Global Competitiveness 2002 (http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Global+Competitiveness+Programme%5CReports%5CGlobal+Competitiveness+Report+2002-2003) Rank 2 out of all countries
Seats in parliament held by women 2002 (http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2002/en/indicator/indicator.cfm?File=indic-484-2-1.html) Rank 3 out of all countries
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