Category: Finland

Finland is one of the Nordic countries in Scandinavia. There are 5.5 million residents (2018). The capital is Helsinki. From the 12th to the 19th centuries, Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden. After 1809, it became an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia and an independent country in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its independence and resist invasions by the Soviet Union, albeit with some loss of territory. In the second half of the 20th century, Finns made a remarkable transformation from an agricultural / forestry economy to a modern and diverse industrial economy. As a member of the European Union, Finland joined the euro system at its inception in January 1999.