Finland

Finland is a country in Northern Europe covering 338,478 km², with Helsinki as its capital and a population of 5,652,881. Two languages carry official status: Finnish and Swedish. Since independence on 6 December 1917, Finland has moved from the edge of Russian imperial territory to a member of both the European Union and NATO, and its 1,340-kilometre land border with Russia is the longest held by any EU or NATO member.

Key facts

  • Capital: Helsinki
  • Continent: Europe
  • Population: 5,652,881
  • Area: 338,478 km²
  • Official language: Finnish; Swedish
  • Currency: euro
  • Head of state: Alexander Stubb
  • ISO code: FI
  • Founded: 6 December 1917

Government and politics

Finland is a parliamentary republic. Its 200-seat legislature, the Eduskunta, makes the laws, and the prime minister must hold the confidence of Parliament to remain in office. Alexander Stubb is head of state. Since June 2023, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the National Coalition Party has led a four-party coalition that controls 108 of the 200 seats.

At the end of 2024, Statistics Finland recorded 610,148 persons speaking a foreign language as their native language, among them over 100,000 Russian speakers. In July 2024, Parliament adopted legislation allowing border guards to temporarily block the entry of most migrants and refuse asylum requests when the government determines that a foreign state may be using migration to threaten Finland’s security.

History

Finland declared independence on 6 December 1917. Within weeks, the country was at war with itself: on 27 January 1918 a civil conflict broke out between the socialist Reds and the conservative Whites. It ended in May 1918 with the Whites victorious.

On 30 November 1939 the Soviet Union attacked Finland, beginning what became known as the Winter War. The fighting stopped with the Moscow Peace Treaty on 13 March 1940, under which southeastern Finland passed to the Soviet Union.

In 1906, Finland became the first country in Europe to grant women the right to vote and the first in the world to allow all women to stand for parliamentary election. When the reformed Parliament convened in 1907, 19 women held seats.

Finland joined the European Union on 1 January 1995, following an October 1994 referendum in which 57% of voters approved membership.

NATO membership and defence

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland applied for NATO membership on 18 May 2022 and became the alliance’s 31st member on 4 April 2023. Its accession more than doubled NATO’s land border with Russia.

Finland’s defence spending reached 2.8% of GDP in 2025, amounting to approximately USD 8.1 billion, well above NATO’s 2% minimum threshold. That figure was confirmed by SIPRI in April 2026. In April 2025, Finland announced plans to leave the Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel landmines, and Prime Minister Orpo committed to raising defence spending to at least 3% of GDP by 2029.

Economy

According to Statistics Finland’s revised preliminary data, Finland’s GDP volume fell by 0.1% in 2024, and the general government deficit grew to nearly EUR 12.5 billion that year.

The forest industry remains a significant export sector. In 2024, forest industry exports were worth roughly EUR 12 billion, accounting for 17% of Finland’s total goods exports. Paperboard was the most valuable product group at EUR 3.3 billion. The euro is Finland’s currency.

Did you know

  • In October 1991, Linus Torvalds, a student at the University of Helsinki, released the open-source Linux operating system; the Linux kernel now powers Android and Chrome OS. (icann.org)
  • With approximately 3.3 million saunas for a population of around 5.5 million, Finland has roughly one sauna for every two people, and almost 90% of Finns visit a sauna at least once a week. (unric.org)

Data sources

Data updated: 2026-10-31