Finland in brief

Finland is perhaps best known for its peacefulness and beautiful nature. Vast forests, a unique archipelago and thousands of lakes present a striking mixture of wooded hills and waters.

In addition to its mystical northern nature, Finland is also a modern Nordic country with a high standard of living and advanced economy and technology. Finland’s economy has traditionally been based on its most plentiful natural resource: wood. The forest product industries are still important, even if they face increased international competition, but manufacturing industries, engineering and high technology have also played a big economic role in recent decades.

That Finnish literacy rates are among the highest - if not the highest - in the world is a tribute to the effectiveness of the Finnish education system. The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which evaluates the educational achievement of children of school age in the OECD countries, placed Finland among the top countries in 2001, for example, and this is a status that is maintained from year to year.

Finland is officially bilingual: Finnish is the first language of 92%, and Swedish of 5.5% of the population. About 1,700 people in Lapland speak Sami (Lapp) languages.

Finland enjoys some of the most extensive and unspoilt natural environment in Europe. It is sometimes referred to as the 'land of the thousand lakes', but in fact there were a total of 187,888 at the last count.

Further information: www.visitfinland.com