The Republic of Finland is located in Northern Europe, bordering Sweden, Norway, and Russia. Finland has over 5 million people and is sparsely populated compared to other European Union countries. Helsinki is the capital and largest city. Finland has a diverse landscape that includes over 188,000 lakes and 179,500 islands, as well as dense forests covering 86% of the country.

2. The official name of Finland is the Republic of Finland.

3. Finland is the most sparsely populated country
within the European Union.

4. Finland shares a land border with Sweden, Norway, and Russia.

5. The official languages of Finland are Finnish, native to 90%
of the population and Swedish, native language to 5.4%
of the population. The indigenous Sami language is an
official language in the area of northern Lapland.

6. The population of Finland is over 5.4 million (5,454,444)
as of 2013.

7. Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland.

8. In the far north of Lapland on the Finland and Norway border is the
highest point in the country, the mountain Halti at 1,324 metres.

9. Between the 12th and 19th centuries, Finland was part of
Sweden, before it became a part of the Russian Empire until
gaining independence during the Russian Revolution in 1917.

10. Finland has thousands of lakes (about 188,000) and islands
(about 179,500) leading to the nickname for the country
"Land of the Thousand Lakes".

11. Another nickname for Finland is "land of midnight sun".
During summer the sun does not drop below the horizon
in the north instead shining all day and night.

12. Finland has some interesting and unique wildlife including
the grey wolf, wolverine, elk (its national animal)
the brown bear and national bird the whooper swan.

13. Forests including pine, spruce, and birch cover over 86%
of Finland, making the country the largest forested area
and largest producer of wood, in all of Europe.

14. Finnish software engineer Linus Torvalds, created the open-
source operating system called Linux.

15. Telecommunications company Nokia is from Finland, it is
headquartered in Espoo, and is one of the world's largest
manufacturers of mobile phones.

16. Rovio Entertainment, creators of the phone app Angry Birds
are from Finland.

17. Karelian pasty is a traditional Finnish dish made
from a rye crust filled with rice.

18. The national sport of Finland is called Pesapallo,
which is a bit like baseball.

19. By gold medals won per capita, Finland is the most successful
country in Olympic history. Success in javelin throw and
distance running with the "Flying Finn" Hannes Kolehmainen
in 1912 (won 3 gold medals), and Paavo Nurmi in 1920, 1924,
1928 (won 9 gold medals) has helped contribute to the success.

21. GOODBYE FINLAND! GOODBYE SUOMI!