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There are two official languages in Finland: Finnish, spoken by about 92% of the population, and Swedish, a mother tongue for about 5.5% of the population. The majority of the population also speaks proficient English as a second language. Finnish people - both the Finnophones and the Swedophones - are considered to represent a common ethnicity in the view of most people in Finland across both language groups. There is a slight cultural difference between the culture of the Finnophones, traditionally more focused on lakes and woods, and the traditionally more coastal-oriented culture of the Swedophones. This difference may be considered an ethnic division by some. Other minority languages include Russian and Estonian. To the north, in Lapland, are found the Sami, numbering less than 7,000, who like the Finns speak a Finno-Ugric language. There are three Sami languages that are spoken in Finland: Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. The right of minority groups (in particular Sami people) to cherish their culture and language is protected by law. Of religion, most Finns (83.1%) are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, with a minority of 1% belonging to the Finnish Orthodox Church. These two churches are the state churches of Finland. The remainder of the population consists of relatively small groups of other Protestant denominations, Catholics, Muslims and Jews beside the growing population of unaffiliated (15%). After the Winter War (1939) (and confirmed by the outcome of the Continuation War) 12% of Finland's population had to be re-settled. War reparations, unemployment, and uncertainty regarding Finland's chances to remain sovereign and independent of the Soviet Union contributed to considerable emigration, abating first in the 1970s. Until then, some 500,000 Finns had emigrated, chiefly to Sweden, although half of the emigrants ultimately re-migrated again. Since the late 1990s, Finland has received refugees and immigrants at a rate comparable with the other Nordic countries, although the total ethnic-minority population remains far lower in Finland than the rest. A considerable number of immigrants have come from the former Soviet Union claiming ethnic (Finnic) kinship. However, over 20 languages are now spoken in Finland by immigrant groups of significant size — that is, with at least a thousand speakers. Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of the country, which is even more pronounced after the 20th century urbanization. The biggest and most important cities in Finland are the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area (including the cities of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa), Tampere, Turku, and Oulu. After having one of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world in the 1970s, improvements in the Finnish diet and exercise have paid off. Finland is now one of the fittest countries in the world. |
Finland Information: Inside
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