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From the 12th until the start of the 19th century, Finland was a part of Sweden. It then became an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire until the Russian Revolution. This prompted the Finnish Declaration of Independence, which was followed by a civil war where the pro-Bolshevik "Reds" were defeated by the pro-conservative "Whites" with support from the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a monarchy in the country, Finland became a republic. Finland's experience of World War II involved three separate conflicts: the Winter War (1939–1940) and Continuation War (1941–1944) against the Soviet Union; and the Lapland War (1944–1945) against Nazi Germany. Following the end of the war, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1969, the European Union in 1995 and the eurozone at its inception in 1999. During this time, it built an extensive Nordic-style welfare state.
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Finland is the jam. It came from an exploding egg, the egg of a water bird, the top half of which you can still see in the shape of the starry canopy that hangs over the earth.Finland is the most sparsely-populated country in the EU with only 5 million people. It's also been ranked the second most stable country in the world, after Norway.Historically, Finland has been a part of Sweden and later, Russia. It was an autonomous Grand Duchy during the Russian Empire's reign and lasted as such until their declaration of independence in 1917. Subsequently Finland survived a civil war and wars against both Russia and Nazi Germany to eventually settle down as an EU member circa 1955.Finnish language is cool, it's totally unrelated to the whole Latin-root thing. Its closest relative is Hungarian. Linguistic historians estimate that it came from northern central Russia from 3000BC.If you're in Helsinki, the museum at Suomenlinna has some interesting bunkers and military wreckage, including a submarine!Caught on camera! Here's your long-awaited proof. Santa Claus comes from Finland.Apart from Lappland, the other thing most people are familiar with out of Finland is aquavite. Literally it translates to "water of life" but it may make you feel more like you are dying when it hits your throat.Text by Steve Smith.
