Portal:Finland

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Introduction

Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Finland covers an area of 338,145 square kilometres (130,559 sq mi) and has a population of 5.6 million. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. The vast majority of the population are ethnic Finns. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, of which 84.9 percent of the population speak the first as their mother tongue and 5.1 percent the latter. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. The land cover is predominantly boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 recorded lakes.

Finland was first settled around 9000 BC after the last Ice Age. During the Stone Age, various cultures emerged, distinguished by different styles of ceramics. The Bronze Age and Iron Ages were marked by contacts with other cultures in Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. From the late 13th century, Finland became part of the Swedish Empire as a result of the Northern Crusades. In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War, Finland was captured from Sweden and became a Grand Duchy of Finland, an autonomous state ruled by the Russian Empire. During this period, Finnish art flourished and the idea of full independence began to take hold. In 1906, Finland became the first European state to grant universal suffrage, and the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Finland declared its full independence. In 1918 the young nation was divided by the Finnish Civil War. During World War II, Finland fought against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War, and later against Nazi Germany in the Lapland War. As a result, it lost parts of its territory but retained its independence. (Full article...)

Selected article

Gyromitra esculenta is an ascomycete fungus from the genus Gyromitra, widely distributed across Europe and North America and one of several species of fungi known as false morels. It normally sprouts in sandy soils under coniferous trees, in spring and early summer. The fruiting body, or mushroom, is an irregular brain-shaped cap dark brown in colour which can reach 10 cm (4 in) high and 15 cm (6 in) wide, perched on a stout white stipe up to 6 cm (2.4 in) high. Although potentially fatal if eaten raw, Gyromitra esculenta is a popular delicacy in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the upper Great Lakes region of North America. It may be sold fresh in Finland, but it must be accompanied by warnings and instructions on correct preparation. It is eaten in omelettes, soups, or sautéed in Finnish cuisine. Once popular in the Pyrenees, it is now prohibited from sale for consumption in Spain. Although it is still commonly consumed after parboiling, recent evidence suggests that even this procedure may not make the fungus entirely safe; thus raising concerns of risk even when prepared properly. When consumed, the false morel's principal active agent, gyromitrin, is metabolized into the toxic compound monomethylhydrazine. The toxin affects the liver, central nervous system, and sometimes the kidneys. (more...)

Selected image

Photo credit: commons:User:Tanger
A lakeside smoke sauna ("savusauna") in Kannonkoski.

Did you know...

...the Finnish Air Force selected the Saab 91 Safir as its primary trainer aircraft over the domestic Valmet Tuuli III?
...that the Kaleva, a Finnish passenger plane carrying diplomatic post, was shot down by Soviet bombers in an act of aggression?
...that the majority of Assyrians in Finland live in Oulu, the sixth largest city in the country?
...that Finland was close to becoming an independent kingdom in 1742?
...that the Saint Petersburg–Hiitola railroad was completed by 1917, but a year later the Finnish Civil War caused traffic to stop, with a mile of track removed?

Wikiprojects

You are invited to participate in Finland WikiProject, a WikiProject dedicated to developing and improving articles about Finland.

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

The background of the Winter War covers the period before the outbreak of the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union (1939–1940), which stretches from the Finnish Declaration of Independence in 1917 to the Soviet-Finnish negotiations in 1938–1939.

Before its independence, Finland had been an autonomous grand duchy within Imperial Russia. During the ensuing Finnish Civil War, the Red Guards, supported by the Russian Bolsheviks, were defeated. Fearful of Soviet designs, in the 1920s and the 1930s, the Finns were constantly attempting to align themselves with Scandinavian neutrality, particularly regarding to Sweden. Furthermore, the Finns engaged in secret military co-operation with Estonia in the 1930s. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Henri Toivonen (August 25, 1956 – May 2, 1986) was a Finnish rally driver born in Jyväskylä, the home of Rally Finland. His father, Pauli Toivonen, was the 1968 European Rally Champion for Porsche and his brother, Harri Toivonen, became a professional circuit racer.

Toivonen's first World Rally Championship victory came with a Talbot Sunbeam Lotus at the 1980 Lombard RAC Rally in Great Britain, just after his 24th birthday. He had the record of being the youngest driver ever to win a world rally until his countryman Jari-Matti Latvala won the 2008 Swedish Rally at the age of 22. Toivonen switched to driving for Lancia before finally signing up for a full WRC programme in 1985. Despite nearly ending up paralysed at a rally in Costa Smeralda early in 1985, he returned to rallying later that year. He won the last event of the season, the RAC Rally, as well as the 1986 season opener, the Monte Carlo Rally, which his father had won exactly 20 years earlier.

Toivonen, driving a Lancia Delta S4, died in an accident on May 2, 1986 while leading the Tour de Corse rally in Corsica. His American co-driver, Sergio Cresto, also died when the Lancia plunged down a ravine and exploded. The fatal accident had no close witnesses and the remains of the car were merely blackened spaceframe, making it impossible to determine the cause of the accident. Within hours of the accident, Jean-Marie Balestre, then President of the FISA, had banned the powerful Group B rally cars from competing the following season, ending rallying's popular supercar era. The annual Race of Champions, originally organised in Toivonen's memory, awards the winning individual driver the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy.

General images

The following are images from various Finland-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Pieces of the Antrea Net (8,300 BC), the oldest-known fishing net in the world. (from History of Finland)
Image 2Janne Ahonen is considered one of the best and most successful currently active ski jumpers. (from Culture of Finland)
Image 3The first government of independent Finland. P. E. Svinhufvud, the first Prime Minister of Finland, sitting at the head of the table. (from History of Finland)
Image 4The ruins of Vammala burned by the Reds, during the Civil war (from History of Finland)
Image 5Kalmar Union in 1400s (from History of Finland)
Image 6A view of Pohjoisesplanadi in the center of Helsinki in 1891 (from History of Finland)
Image 7A peasant girl and a woman in traditional dress from Ruokolahti, eastern Finland, as depicted by Severin Falkman in 1882 (from Culture of Finland)
Image 8Wehrmacht soldiers with a local Sámi reindeer herder, Lappland, Sodankylä, Finland 1942 (from History of Finland)
Image 9S/S Urania in Hanko harbor in 1893, with 509 emigrants on board on their way to America (from History of Finland)
Image 10Lapua Movement supporters beating the "red officer" Eino Nieminen in front of the Vaasa courthouse during the 4 June 1930 riot. (from History of Finland)
Image 11Map of Finnish areas ceded to the Soviet Union in 1944, after the Continuation War (from History of Finland)
Image 12Kreeta Haapasalo Playing the Kantele in a Peasant Cottage (1868), by Robert Wilhelm Ekman (from History of Finland)
Image 13Identification document and tag of a Finnish war child (from History of Finland)
Image 14Women dressed in Finnish folk costumes (from Culture of Finland)
Image 15Alvar Aalto, Viipuri Library (1927–35) (from Culture of Finland)
Image 16Kastelli Giant's Church in Pattijoki by Pöljä culture [fi] (from History of Finland)
Image 17Helsinki Accords Treaty (from History of Finland)
Image 18Turku Cathedral and its surroundings from 1814 (from History of Finland)
Image 19Portrait of Finnish poet Elias Lönnrot who wrote "the Kalevala" (1802 - 1884) (from History of Finland)
Image 20Winter War Monument in Suomussalmi, Kainuu, Finland (from History of Finland)
Image 21President Urho Kekkonen's funeral procession in 1986 (from History of Finland)
Image 22Battle of Valkeala was part of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790). (from History of Finland)
Image 23A smoke sauna (savusauna) in Enonkoski (from Culture of Finland)
Image 24Jussipaita (transl. Jussi sweater); a traditional sweater from the Finnish region of Southern Ostrobothnia (from Culture of Finland)
Image 25Paavo Nurmi at the 1920 Summer Olympics (from Culture of Finland)
Image 26Painting of Lalli killing Henry. Painting by C. A. Ekman. (from History of Finland)
Image 27In 2011 figure skater Kiira Korpi was ranked 4th in the world. (from Culture of Finland)
Image 28The area of Finland in the years 1920–1940. The 1935 county and municipality division on the map. (from History of Finland)
Image 29The Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), a significant figure in the history of classical music (from Culture of Finland)
Image 30Marshal of Finland Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim visit in Germany, 1942 (from History of Finland)
Image 31The decision of the Soviet of the People's Comissars' to recognise Finnish independence, signed by Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Grigory Petrovsky, Joseph Stalin, Isaac Steinberg, Vladimir Karelin, and Alexander Schlichter (from History of Finland)
Image 32Finnish Guards' Rifle Battalion, 1850s (from History of Finland)
Image 33A group of Finnish soldiers operating a Bofors gun during the Continuation War in 1943 (from History of Finland)
Image 34Northern Europe in 814 (from History of Finland)
Image 35Captain Aarne Juutilainen at the front at Kollaa during the Winter War (from History of Finland)
Image 36Stone Age dwelling named Kierikki 5000–3000 BC (from History of Finland)
Image 372007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Räikkönen celebrating victory at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix (from Culture of Finland)
Image 38A summer cottage (mökki) on a lake island (from Culture of Finland)
Image 39A reconstruction of a 12th-century Perniö costume (from History of Finland)
Image 40The Finno-Soviet Treaty (from History of Finland)
Image 41Karjalanpiirakka, a traditional Finnish pastry (from Culture of Finland)
Image 42Students on Helsinki's Esplanadi wearing their caps on Vappu (from Culture of Finland)
Image 43Eero Järnefelt, Burning the Brushwood, 1893 (from History of Finland)
Image 44Badge of the Finnish White/Civil Guard (from History of Finland)
Image 45Finnish folk dancers in a 1907 postcard sent from Mustamäki, Finland (from Culture of Finland)
Image 46Linus Torvalds, a famous Fennoswede software engineer, best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel (from Culture of Finland)
Image 47Ancylus Lake covered major part of Finland (7,500–6,000 BC) (from History of Finland)
Image 48Women in sauna with Vihtas
Image 49Imagery collage of Birger Jarl conquering Häme and the construction of Häme Castle (from History of Finland)
Image 50Battle of Gangut (Hanko) was part of the Great Northern War during 1700–1721. (from History of Finland)
Image 51Signing the Helsinki Accords are the West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, East Germany's leader Erich Honecker, US president Gerald Ford and the Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky (from History of Finland)
Image 52The area controlled by Finland at its largest, in 1942 (from History of Finland)
Image 53Midsummer bonfire (kokko) in Mäntsälä (from Culture of Finland)
Image 54This 1825 map of the Grand Duchy of Finland is from a larger work, geographical atlas of the Russian Empire. (from History of Finland)
Image 55Apocalyptica's Perttu Kivilaakso playing metal music live (from Culture of Finland)
Image 56An old drawing of the city of Turku in the 18th century (from History of Finland)
Image 57Homann's map of the Scandinavian Peninsula and Fennoscandia with their surrounding territories: northern Germany, northern Poland, the Baltic region, Livonia, Belarus, and parts of Northwest Russia. Johann Baptist Homann (1664–1724) was a German geographer and cartographer; map dated around 1730. (from History of Finland)
Image 58The public education system founded during earlier Swedish rule resulted the literacy of Grand Duchy of Finland being higher than its host country Russian Empire (map of 1897 census literacy data) (from History of Finland)
Image 59(1809 Diet of Porvoo) The sovereign's pledge, printed in Finnish (from History of Finland)
Image 60Sámi / Laplander family in traditional costumes from Finland. (from Culture of Finland)
Image 61Pekka Halonen's painting "against persecutors" from 1896 depicts the warfare of the ancient Finns. (from History of Finland)
Image 62Erkki Karu, one of the pioneers of the Finnish cinema, with cinematographer Eino Kari in 1927 (from Culture of Finland)
Image 63Three Finnish Romani women in Helsinki, Finland, in 1930s (from Culture of Finland)
Image 64Stone Age stone axe engraved with human face found from Kiuruvesi. (from History of Finland)
Image 65Uspenski Cathedral in Helsinki (from Culture of Finland)
Image 66Prehistoric red ochre painted rock art of moose, human figures, and boats in Astuvansalmi, Finland, from ca. 3800–2200 BC (from Culture of Finland)
Image 67The part of Finland controlled by the Reds at its largest in February–March 1918 (from History of Finland)
Image 68A triptych by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, depicting the Aino Story of Kalevala on three panes (from Culture of Finland)
Image 69Finland Ostrobothnia regiment uniforms in 1705 (from History of Finland)
Image 70People gathered in the Senate Square for a demonstration against the February Manifesto in March 1899. (from History of Finland)
Image 71Grand Duchy of Finland, 75 kopek assignat (1824) (from History of Finland)
Image 72Mikael Agricola hands over the Finnish Translation of the New Testament to King Gustav Wasa. (from History of Finland)
Image 73The Swedish empire at its largest. Most of present-day Finland was part of Sweden proper, rike, shown in dark green. (from History of Finland)
Image 74President K. J. Ståhlberg in his office in 1919 (from History of Finland)
Image 75In the sauna, by Pekka Halonen, 1925 (from Culture of Finland)
Image 76Jean Sibelius at work in his study (from History of Finland)
Image 77In the middle is the patron saint of Finland, Saint Henry, on the right side of him is Bishop Konrad Bitz and on the left is Dean Magnus Stjernkors; from Missale Aboense (1488) (from History of Finland)
Image 78Memorial of the Mannerheim Cross Knights of Parikkala, Finland (from History of Finland)

Selected panorama

View from the water tower in Hanko, Finland

Photo credit: commons:User:Janke

Panoramic photo shot from the water tower in Hanko, Finland

More panoramas...

Recognized content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged (e.g. {{WikiProject Finland}}) or categorized correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.