Finland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4.3 Parliament
4.4 Cabinet
4.5 Law
4.6 Foreign relations
4.7 Social security
4.8 Armed forces
5 Economy
5.1 Energy
5.2 Transport
5.3 Industry
5.4 Public policy
5.5 Tourism
6 Demographics
6.1 Languages
6.2 Religion
6.3 Health
6.4 Society
7 Culture
7.1 Education and science
7.2 Literature
7.3 Visual arts
7.4 Television
7.5 Music
7.6 Cinema
7.7 Media and communications
7.8 Cuisine
7.9 Public holidays
7.10 Sports
8 International rankings
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Finland
- 2015 estimate
- 2000 census
- Density

5,477,359[3] (114th)
5,180,000
18/km2 (201st)
46/sq mi

GDP (PPP)
- Total

2015 estimate

- Per capita

$40,838[4]

GDP (nominal)
- Total

2015 estimate
$235.276 billion[4]

- Per capita

$42,732[4]

Gini (2012)

25.9[5]
low

HDI (2013)

0.879[6]
very high 24th

Currency

Euro () (EUR)

Time zone
- Summer (DST)

EET (UTC+2)
EEST (UTC+3)

Date format

d.m.yyyy

Drives on the

right

Calling code

+358

Patron saint

St Henry of Uppsala

ISO 3166 code

FI

Internet TLD

.fia

a.

$224.846 billion[4]

The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with other

European Union member states.

Etymology and concept of Finland

Etymology
The name Finland appears on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti (U 582).
The third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi (G 319) and dates from the 13th century.[21] The name can be
assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD 98 (disputed meaning).
Suomi
The name Suomi (Finnish for "Finland") has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *em, meaning "land". In
addition to the close relatives of Finnish (the Finnic languages), this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian.
Alternatively, the Indo-European word *gm-on "man" (cf. Gothic guma, Latin homo) has been suggested, being borrowed as *oma. The word
originally referred only to the province of Finland Proper, and later to the northern coast of Gulf of Finland, with northern regions such as
Ostrobothnia still being sometimes excluded until later. Earlier theories suggested derivation from suomaa (fen land) or suoniemi (fen cape), and
parallels between saame (Sami, a Finno-Ugric people in Lapland), and Hme (a province in the inland) were drawn, but these theories are now
considered outdated.[22]

Concept
In the 12th and 13th centuries, the term "Finland" mostly referred to the area around bo (Turku), a region that later became known as Finland
Proper, while the other parts of the country were called Tavastia and Karelia, but which could also sometimes be collectively referred to as
"sterland" (compare Norrland). (Medieval politics concerned tribes such as the Finns, the Tavastians and the Karelians more than geographical
boundaries.)
In the 15th century, "Finland" became a common name for the whole land area to the east of the Bothnian Sea, possibly even including land,
when the archipelago was seen as belonging to bo (Turku). What the term actually refers to can vary between sources, also the boundaries to the
east and the north were not exact. A sort of establishment for Finland as a unity, if only in name, came when John III of Sweden called his duchy
as the "grand duchy of Finland" (about 1580), as a strategy to meet the claims of the Russian tsar. The term became part of the title of the King of
Sweden but had little practical meaning. The Finnish land area had the same standing as the area to the west of the Bothnian Sea and the Finnish
part of the realm had the same representation in the parliament as the western part had. In 1637, Queen Christina named Per Brahe the Younger as

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