Key facts

Finland is located in northern Europe between Sweden and Russia. Finland used to be a province and later a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12^th to the 19^th century, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. Finland gained full independence in 1917. During World War II, Finland was able to defend its freedom and resist Soviet invasion and remained independent. During the next 50 years, national industry began to thrive and Finland underwent a transformation from an agrarian to an industrial society, nowadays boasting one of the highest GDPs in the world. Finland joined the European Union in 1995 and the euro system in 1999. In the 21^st century, Finland is modern welfare state with an internationally recognized high standard of education, high level of equality and an extensive national social security system. In 2010, Newsweek conducted a global evaluation of education, health, quality of life, economy and political environment and ranked Finland the best country in the world.

Climate and weather

Finland is located on the same latitude as Siberia and Southern Greenland, but the temperature is considerably higher mainly due to the Gulf Stream that brings warm air up North. Ther are more than 60,000 lakes in Finland that also moderate the climate. The weather can quite rapidly, particularly in the winter.

Finland has very distinctive four seasons. Winter is the longest season, lasting about 100 days in southwestern Finland and 200 days in Lapland. The snow cover is deepest around mid-March, with an average of 60 to 90 cm of snow in eastern and northern Finland and 20 to 30 cm in southwestern Finland, where Tampere is located. In the winter, the average temperature remains below 0°C (32 ºF), but warm airflows can occasionally raise the daily temperature high above 0°C (32 ºF).

In the spring, the mean daily temperature rises from 0°C to 10°C (from 32 ºF to 50 ºF). Spring begins in April and lasts 45 to 65 days.  Summer usually begins in late May in southern Finland and lasts until mid-September. In the summer, the regions north of the Arctic Circle are characterized by so-called "polar days", when the sun does not set at all. There are 73 such days in the northernmost parts of Finland every year. Even in southern Finland the longest day is nearly 19 hours long. The highest summer temperatures range from 32°C to 35°C (89.6 ºF to 95 ºF). In the coastal areas temperatures do not rise that high.  Heat waves when the maximum daily temperature exceeds 25°C (or 77 ºF) occur on 10-15 days each summer in southern and central Finland. Autumn begins in late September in southwestern Finland. Especially Lapland attracts large amounts of tourists during the early autumn months, when the autumn colours are the brightest.