REPUBLIC OF FINLAND Official name: Suomen Tasavalta / Republiken Finland (Republic of Finland) Location: Northern Europe International organisations: The Council of Europe, The European Union, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, The United Nations, The Western European Union, The World Trade Organisation Borders: Norway, Russia, Sweden Coastline: Gulf of Bothnia, Gulf of Finland Land area: 337,030 Km2 Population: 5,100,000 Ethnicity: Finnish 93%, Swedish 6%. There is a small Sami (Lapp) minority in the north. Languages: Finnish and Swedish are the official languages. There are small Sami and Russian-speaking minorities.

Religion: About 90% are at least nominally Protestant Christians, although the country is increasingly secular. There are small Catholic and Orthodox Christian minorities.
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Finland is divided into six provinces.
Capital: Helsinki (Helsingfors in Swedish)
Constitution: The Constitution of the Republic of Finland came into effect on 17 July 1919. It was substantially revised on 1 March 2000.
Head of state: The President, elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term. The President's functions are largely ceremonial.
Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President. The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority coalition in the legislature and is accountable to it.
Legislature: Finland has a unicameral legislature. The Parliament (Eduskunta / Riksdag) has 200 members, elected for four-year terms by proportional representation from multi-member constituencies.
Electoral authority: The Ministry of Justice administers national elections
Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 1, Civil Liberties 1

Political history

Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden until 1809, when it was ceded to Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. Although Russian rule was fairly benign, a nationalist movement arose in the later 19th century. The Finns joined the 1905 Russian revolution, and the resultant repression inflamed national sentiment. When the communists seized power in Russia in November 1917, Finland declared its independence. There was then a bitter civil war between the Finnish communists and the anti-communist White Guards, ending in the victory of the latter. During the 1920s Finland re-established domestic peace and became a stable democracy. In 1939, however, Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union, and was forced to agree to the loss of some territory in the 1940 peace treaty. Finland fought on the German side in the Second World War and was lucky to escape Soviet occupation. Since the war Finland has become one of Europe's most stable and progressive democracies. As in the other Scandinavian countries, the social democrats have dominated political life. The Social Democratic Party of Finland has been in government for much of the postwar period. It has been aided by the disappearance of the once-powerful communist party. The left is now represented by the Left Wing League and the Green League. The largest party on the right is the moderate Finnish Centre of the current Prime Minister. The Finnish Christian-Democrats are also on the moderate right. Further to the right is the National Rally. The Swedish People's Party represents the Swedish minority.