Finland

Overview

The visitor will be in an easy position to make as much or as little of Finland as they wish. The sedate traveller may wish to move from sauna to sauna, soaking in the spectacular countryside, whereas the more adventurous might want to explore a little more.

There is immense scope for water and winter activites, notably sailing on one of the many lakes, hiking and skiing. Without many inhabitants, but one of the larger European countries there is a lot of land to venture into, even if a lot of it is rather bright and white in the midnight sun!

History

Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.