VERY INTERESTING: FINLAND

 Hello ladies and gents this is the Viking telling you that today we are talking about

Fun Facts About Finland

Learn something new about Norway’s Nordic neighbours Finland. Here are 16 Finland facts to impress your family and friends.

Continuing our tour of Scandinavia and the Nordic region, it’s time to look at Finland. The heavily forested Nordic nation lies to the east of Norway and Sweden, and has a long border with Russia.

I've been to Finland a couple of times. I'm a big fan of the capital city Helsinki but I also enjoyed my time in Tampere, which had a very Trondheim-like vibe. If and when the world of international travel returns to normal, I'm looking forward to exploring Finland much more.

In the meantime, here are some of the top Finland facts you may or may not know about this fascinating Nordic country. Enjoy!

1. Finland is the world's happiest country

The Nordic countries consistently rank at the top of the UN's annual World Happiness Report. But in 2020, Finland leapfrogged the rest to finish top of the pile.

The rankings take into account many factors. Life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, economic strength, generosity, social support from friends, perceived corruption, and views of the survey respondents.

2. Finland's population is only slightly bigger than Norway

According to preliminary data from Statistics Finland, the country's population stood at 5,532,333 at the end of August 2020. That compares to 5,374,807 in Norway at the end of July 2020.

3. But Oslo is slightly bigger than Helsinki

Norway's capital city is home to approximately 693,000 people, whereas 656,000 people call Helsinki home. Of course, much of this comes down to somewhat arbitrary borders and definitions. When considering the total urban area, Helsinki (1.26 million) outnumbers Oslo (1.02 million).

4. Almost half of Finland's foreign population lives in Helsinki

We have Statistics Finland to thank once again for this fact! At the beginning of 2020, there were 423,494 people with a foreign background living in Finland. Of those, 209,108 lived in the Greater Helsinki region. Those with a Somali and Indian background have the greatest concentration in the capital region.

5. The Finnish language is totally different from the Scandinavian languages

Although Finland is often lumped in with Scandinavia, the country's language shares nothing in common with its Scandianvian friends. Finnish is part of the Uralic language family, of which Hungarian is the closest relation.