Foreign Trade 2006
Exports by industries: 61,396 MEUR
Imports by use: 54,889 MEUR
Monthly temperatures in Helsinki 2006
Population
Finland's population of five million has adapted to life under peripheral conditions in northern Europe. Finns make up 35% of the world's population north of latitude 60ºN. Finland is sparsely populated, with only 17 people per km². The Finns form a distinct linguistic and ethnic group; the original Finno-Ugric population bearing features from both eastern and western Europe. Finland is an interface between east and west. Today, the country is one of Europe's most prosperous.
Area
Finland has an area of 338,000 square kilometers. Forests cover seventy five per cent of the dry land area while lakes and rivers account for another ten per cent of Finnish territory. Finland is bordered by the following countries: To the west - Sweden, to the east - Russia, to the north - Norway and to the east, on the other side of the Gulf of Finland-Estonia. The population of Finland (in the year 2000) numbers some 5.18 million of whom the majority (approximately 88%) are Lutheran and some 65% live in the urban areas. Approximately 93% of the Finns speak Finnish, the official language, as their mother tongue, 6% speak Swedish as their mother tongue (a surviving trace of the period up to 1809 when Finland was part of Sweden). The Sami people (the Lapps), a minority living in Sweden, speak the Sami language.
Government
Finland is a Republic with a representative democracy governed according to the principles of parliamentarism. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland. Executive affairs of government are decided by the Council of State, which is led by the prime minister. Some matters are decided by the President of Finland in plenary meetings with the Council of State, echoing the constitutional history of a Privy Council. The President of the Republic is otherwise not present in the Council, but decides on issues like personal appointments and pardons on the advice of the relevant minister. In the ministries, matters of secondary importance are decided by individual ministers, advised by the minister's State Secretary. The Prime Minister and the other ministers in the Council of State are responsible for their actions in office to the Parliament of Finland.
Working life
84,4% of women aged 25-54 are employed outside the home. Average monthly earnings, 2nd quarter 2007: men 2,898 euros; women 2,332 euros. Unemployment rate 5,9% according to Labour Force Survey.
Economy
GDP 2006: 167,1 billion euros, the annual change in volume 5,0%.
Annual inflation rate as of July 2007: 2,6%.
Currency: Euro.