FINLAND-Land of Suomi

 

 

This week we are heading far north to Finland! Situated in the Fennoscandian Region of Northern Europe, Finland is a Nordic Country with a very interesting culture. Finland has only been an independent country since 1918. Before that it belonged to Russia or Sweden. It is bordered by Sweden,  Norway, Russia, and Estonia to the south across the Gulf of Finland. Finland along with Iceland is Nordic rather than Scandinavian. This is reflected in their language which is not Germanic in origin. While many social values are the same, there are subtle differences with Scandinavians.

 

5.4 million people live in Finland with the majority concentrated in its southern regions. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.

Finland is a country of thousands of lakes and islands—about 188,000 lakes and 179,000 islands. Its largest lake, Saimaa, is the fourth largest in Europe. The area with most lakes is called Finnish Lakeland. The greatest concentration of islands is found in the southwest in the Archipelago Sea between continental Finland and the main island of Åland.

 The quiet and reserved Finnish people have adapted to their Nordic environment by developing a love for hot saunas and winter sports. They have also made use of the land around them by growing a few staple crops and combining those crops with fish, moose and even reindeer.

                                                                   

Ninety-eight percent of the Finnish population speak Finnish. However, it was not until the publication of the Kalevala in 1836, a book of folk poetry, that Finnish became the official language of the country. Swedish is the second official language and is the mother tongue of about 6 percent of the population. In school, Finnish children learn both Swedish and Finnish and may also learn Russian, German or English. English is the most popular foreign language in the country, so you can get around Finland without speaking Finnish or Swedish.  Finnish, unlike Scandinavian languages, is not Germanic but in a class of its own. It belongs to the Uralic family of languages. Theoretically, it is related to Hungarian but in practice the two are not mutually comprehensible. 
                                                               

 Finns have a word to describe themselves called "sisu," which roughly translates to a combination of courage, strength and determination. They are fond of technology; the Finns are leaders in Internet usage and have more mobile phones than landline phones.

                                                                               

The Finnish word for their country is "Suomi," which means marshland. Even though Finland has many lakes,  less than 8 percent of the country is arable. This means crops are limited. Potatoes and grains are staple crops, including wheat, barley and oats. Flax is grown for food and for creating textiles such as rugs and curtains.

                                                                     

Traditional breads are a part of every meal in Finland. In western Finland the bread is ruisleip, a sour rye bread that is flat and crispy and has a hole in the middle. In eastern Finland the bread is round and thick. Fish is also a staple, with varieties such as salmon, whitefish and herring. Finns usually serve boiled potatoes with fish. Common meats include smoked ham or smoked reindeer.   

 Taking a sauna is one of the most popular pastimes in Finland; there are about 2 million saunas in Finland for less than 6 million people. It is an experience shared with family and friends. Important business meetings may be followed by a sauna in which the conversation is continued on a more informal basis. International sauna championships are held each year to see who can last the longest in the hottest temperatures. Winter sports such as Nordic skiing and downhill skiing are popular as well. More unusual pastimes for Finns include competing in sports such as wife-carrying and mosquito-killing.  

 

Some famous Finns in History are famed composer Jean Sibelius, Tarja Halonen-the First Female President of Finland, and notable author Johan Ludwig Runeberg.

A unique tradition of Finland is the tradition of celebrating Juhannus, the Finnish Midsummer. A majority of Finns retreat to summer cottages (mökki) on any one of Finland's numerous lakes. Depending on the region, a bonfire at midnight celebrates the summer solstice, and in the Åland Islands, the Swedish-originated tradition of dancing around the Maypole is observed. The midsummer traditions also include different versions of pairing magic and folklore in the festivities.

                                                                   

 

Santa Claus is known in Finland as Joulupukki or "Yule Goat". Santa officially resides in a house built right on top of the Arctic circle, near the town of Rovaniemi, in the northern province of Lappland. The Santa Claus Post Office (address: Santa Claus Village, FIN-96930 Arctic Circle) receives some 700,000 letters every year from children from 198 countries.
                                                                       

Sources: http://traveltips.usatoday.com/food-culture-finland-16053.htm,
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/finland-country-profile.html,  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Finland