Country Research

Major History Events

Swedish Crusades 1150s-1200s-Sweden slowly invades finland from the south-west in seek for
more land as well as spreading Christianity. swedish crusaders keep pushing east in finland and
Turku becomes the capital of finland.
1543 -Mikael Agricola produced the first ever Finnish language book, and a volume of Finnish
grammar.
1808-1809 Sweden loses Finland to Russia and Finland becomes autocratic and the grand duchy
of finland is formed and Alexander l of russia is installed as the grand duke. Finland returns to its
roots and peasants are freed, and the old swedish system is installed.
1906 Finland's own national parliament was modernized to a democratic system. Finnish women
were the first in the world to be granted full national political rights, including being able to run
for a position in parliament
1917 - After the Russian revolution, Finland declared independence on 6 December.
Politics of Finland
Finlands government is based on a parliamentary representative democratic republic. Finland
shares a similar balance in powers along with the United States; with the only difference is their
parliamentary system which shares powers with the president. Politics in Finland are secular
compared to the U.S, the most religious political group they have are the christian democrats and
they are a minor group.
Finlands Economy
Finland uses the euro as their main currency. the key economic sector is manufacturing. The
largest industries are electronics (21.6 %), machinery, vehicles and other engineered metal
products (21.1%), forest industry (13.1%), and chemicals (10.9%).
Sports
finlands national sport is Pespallo which is a hybrid of baseball. some of the differences
include that a hit is a home run when the player reaches third base before the ball does. also
another different rule is that a play is not out when a catcher catches a ball, instead everyone that
tried to take a base must run back. also their playing field is slightly different than ours.
although Pespallo is finlands national sport, it is not however their favorite sport. their favorite
sports are ice-hockey and formula 1 racing

Military Triumphs and Defeats

Finland does not have much of military triumphs compared to its defeats. Finland found itself
under rule from foreign nations for most of its history. First finland fell under sweden during the
swedish crusades 1150s-1200s. this would lead to a large amount of swedish cultural influences
in finlands culture. later finland would be freed from swedish control just to be put under russian
control (1808-1917). under this time finland would become an autocratic state under the tsar
alexander 1. later in 1906 finland would be modernized to a democratic system and finnish
women would be the first in the world to be granted full national political rights. finland would
finally claim its independence in 1917.
Regional and Global influence

Finland has been idolized by nations around the world for their educational system. Finland has
free universities and many go into the field of engineering. though finlands unemployment rate is
higher than the US's, they seem to be doing fine (they are the second most stable country in the
world.
Finland

Statistics:

Capital- Helsinki
Official languages- 90% Finnish.
- 5% Swedish
Religion- Christianity; 79.9 % Lutheran and about 1.1% Orthodox
Population (2012)- 5,421,827
Currency- Euro
Life expectancy: Men 76 years, women 83 years
Key features: High standard of education, social security and healthcare, all financed by the state

YOUTUBE VIDEO.
Finland interesting facts
http://youtu.be/R-5lTQlz-Xg

PICTURE TAGS.
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Music :
There are different types of music in Finland but it is especially known for it's heavy rock and metal
genre of music. Popular rock bands such as HIM, Nightwish and Children of Bodom are well known.
Being a metalhead is common.

Various types of music Finns listen to:

Folk
Opera

Pop
Rock
Hip hop
Trance

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YOUTUBE VIDEO
http://youtu.be/1V4AscLidWg

Entertainment:
Being that Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands, its outdoor nature is widely
respected. Many finns have the pleasure of traveling across various lakes and islands. Such
lakes are considered to be the most beautiful places in finland. We asked Rasmus of favorite
places he likes to visit. He mentions going to The Senate square in Helsinki which holds the
University of Helsinki, the Helsinki cathedral, and the statue of Alexander II "The Good Tsar"
where you can take a ferry down to Suomenlinna (castle of finland), which is a pretty Island with

18-century fortifications. Visiting saunas is essential for finnish culture. Its considered to be a
place for relaxing with friends and family, a place for physical and spiritual relaxation.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
http://youtu.be/0-FPtZ482io

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Literature:
The earliest written form of text in Finland descended from Swedish or Latin during the Finnish
middle age (ca. 1200 - 1523). Literature slowly began to develop in the 16th century. After
Finland gained it's independence in 1917 and when the civil war was over, many authors wrote
of the experience. This created popular novels and famous post-war poetry depicting from the
different views and personal experiences. While lyric poetry and an urban outlook, with a focus
on the educated classes, came to characterize Finland-Swedish literature, Finnish writers
favoured the novel, the countryside, and the common folk. Well known writers of the 21st
century included Hannu Mkel, Hannu Raittila, Mari Mr, and Irja Rane.
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Written Finnish was essentially established by the Bishop and Finnish Lutheran reformer Mikael
Agricola

Art: Helsinki, the capital of Finland has an active and diverse art life. holds the highest
university-level theoretical and practical training in fine arts (Finnish Academy of Fine Arts) Also
in the capital, popular art museums and galleries most visited are Ateneum, Amos
Anderson,Didrichsen Art museum and Valtion Taidemuseo (Finnish National Gallery). The art
museum collections cover wide spectrums of art history from medieval icons to the latest
contemporary art.
Famous artists of the 20th century include Akseli Gallen-Kallela, Elin Danielson-Gambogi, Albert
Edelfelt, Helene Schjerfbeck, Eero Jrnefelt and Ellen Thesleff.
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Fashion:
The type of fashion in Finland is very unique and surpass traditional fashion trends. Residents
make their style their own, with bright colors and warm fabrics, in order to combat the, typical,
months of cold and darkness.
Fashion trends:
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Social issues:
Finnish way of life: Finland is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely
populated country in the European Union. Homeless people in Finland is not common because
of its extensive welfare systems, that guarantees decent living conditions for all residents, Finns
and non-citizens. Finns typically celebrate the same holidays as americans with the addition of
traditional finnish ones: First of May, originally the holiday of the working class is now a jolly fest
for all, you wear your graduation cap, drink mead (and get drunk). Then there's the midsummer
fest where we burn bonfires (and get drunk). And of course we celebrate our Independence day
on 6th of December (pretty much the only holiday people don't get drunk) (rasmus interview)
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Education: Finland is recognized for its advanced education system. They start school at the
age of seven and attend primary school for six years, then its three years in secondary school.
You can chose from going to a high school or vocational school.. Universities in Finland are free
to attend. In our interview with Rasmus we asked him about the reasoning for free universities.
He replied 'Finland is a small country and it's main export you could say is knowledge. It's even

been called an "Engineering society" as there are so many bachelors in technical fields. And
Finns value their free education above everything.'
High level education and scientific research make up the foundation of the well-being and
competitiveness of Finnish society. One important factor to Finlands success is a strong
utilisation of knowledge and skills in the development of society. Finlands international success
is based on active and open-minded education, research and innovation activities.
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YOUTUBE VIDEO (S)

Education System
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bcC2l8zioIw

Science and Technology contributions:

Over the past decade, Finland has built one of the strongest research and development sectors
in Europe, and today consistently ranks among the continent's top innovators. Such companies
like Nokia and game developer Rovio are descended from Finland. Universities in finland are
one of the top research institutes in the country. Recently in the University of Eastern Finland,
they announced the discovery of a vaccine that can eliminate allergies. Public research funding
comes from orginizations such as the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation,
Tekes, and the Finnish Innovation Fund, SITRA, as well as support from the European Union.
Finland strives to be a leader in science and technology discoveries.
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dID3f3kZk3U&feature=player_embedded

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Food:
Finns typical meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Breakfast : Piece of rye bread or porrige
Lunch: Peasoup/potatoes with meat/pretty much anything with potato
Dinner: Somethings international pizza, pasta, hamburgers nothing too special, or something
with potatoes
FINS LOVE PATATOES.
But generally Finnish cuisine is a mixture of Eastern and Western flavors and traditions. Fish
and meat play a prominent role in traditional Finnish dishes from the western part of the country,
while the dishes from the eastern part traditionally include various vegetables and mushrooms.
One of Finlands most notorious dishes is the distinctive kalakukko. It is a loaf of bread stuffed
with fish, bacon and pork.
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WORKS CITED:
http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=160032&nodeid=41803&culture=en-US
http://musicfinland.com/en/news/
http://www.worldmusic.net/guide/finland-new-runes/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/207626/Finnish-literature
http://www.fashionfinland.com
http://www.fng.fi/frontpage
http://www.freshfromfinland.com/finnfood/
http://www.baconismagic.ca/finland/food-of-finland/

http://projektit.karelia.fi/welcguid/index.php/the-finnish-way-of-life
http://ec.europa.eu/digital-agenda/en/news/finland-fine-land-science