Finland: form of government, general information

Finland is a state in the northern part of Europe. It bears the title of the best and most stable country in the world. What are the characteristics and features of Finland? The form of government, geographic location and description of the population are described in the article.

Geography

Finland borders on Norway, Russia, Sweden. By sea, it divides the border with Estonia (in the Gulf of Finland) and with Sweden (the Gulf of Bothnia). The area of Finland is 338 430 053 square kilometers. More than 20% of the country is beyond the Arctic Circle.

The coastline of the continental part stretches for 46 thousand kilometers. In addition, Finland has more than 80,000 islands and archipelagos. The most famous are the archipelago of Turku and the Åland Islands.

In the area between the Finnish and Botnichesky Bays is the Archipelago Sea. This is a site in which many small islands are concentrated, uninhabited rocks and skerries. Their total number reaches 50 000, which makes the archipelago the largest in the country.

The territory of the state is stretched in a meridian direction. The length from north to south is 1030 kilometers, the distance from west to east is 515 kilometers. The highest point - Mount Hulti - the country shares with Norway. In Finland, its height is 1324 meters.

Finland: the form of government and political structure

Finland is a unitary state, where the Aland Islands have partial autonomy. The special status of the islands is defined in Swedish by the official language, it frees the residents of the given territory from military service (unlike the rest of Finland), allows one to have its own parliament and much more.

Finland is a parliamentary-presidential republic. The head of state is a president whose term of office lasts six years. The main ruling structures of the country are located in the capital city of Helsinki. The judicial system has several branches and is divided into a civil, criminal and administrative court.

The laws in the country are based on Swedish or civil law. Considering that the country is a parliamentary-presidential republic, the parliament and the president are responsible for the legislative power. Executive power belongs to the president and the State Council.

Which territorial units are Finland divided into? The form of government of the country suggests a slightly more complicated division. The whole territory is divided into regions, they are divided into cities, which, in turn, are divided into communes. Each unit has its own controls. There are 19 regions in the country.

Population of the country

The country is home to approximately 5.5 million people. The population of Finland in the majority lives only on five percent of territory of the country. The total population growth is negative, the birth rate is lower than the death rate. Nevertheless, the total number of inhabitants increases.

In recent years, citizens of other countries have accounted for about 4%. The population of Finland is 89% Finnish. The largest national minority is the Finnish Swedes. Russians represent 1.3%, almost 1% belongs to Estonians. The Saami and the Gypsies are the smallest.

The first language is Finnish, more than 90% of the population speaks it. Together with Swedish is the official language of Finland. In Swedish, only 5.5% of the population speaks, mainly on the Åland Islands, in the western and southern parts of the state. Among immigrants, Russian, Somali, Arabic and English are common.

Economy

Finland's share in the world economy is modest, in trade it is 0.8%, in manufacturing - about 5%. It is a small highly developed industrial country. GDP per capita is about 45 thousand dollars. The national currency of Finland is the euro, until 2002 the Finnish brand operated.

The industry accounts for the largest share of the country's economy (33%). The main branches are engineering, metallurgy, woodworking, light and food industries. Agriculture is focused on growing cereals and meat and dairy cattle. It accounts for 6%, for forestry - 5%.

In Finland, the sphere of Internet technologies is developing rapidly, investment attractiveness is growing. Negative factors of the economy are the country's large external debts and an undeveloped domestic market.

Almost half of the population is engaged in services, industry and trade, 28% work in forestry, 12% in fisheries. In Finland there is a tendency towards aging of the population, which also has a negative impact on the development of the country's economy.

Nature

Finland is often called the Land of Thousand Lakes, there are more than 180 thousand of them here. Most of them, along with swamps and swamps, are located in the central part of the country. The largest are Lake Inari, Oulujärvi, Saimaa, Päyanne. All the lakes are connected by small rivers, in which waterfalls, rapids and rapids are often formed.

The area of Finland is 60% covered with forests. The relief is represented by hilly plains, in the east - by a plateau. The highest point is in the north, in the rest of the country the elevations do not exceed three hundred meters. The formation of the relief was significantly influenced by glaciation.

The country has a temperate climate, continental in the northern part, in the rest of the territory - transitional from continental to marine. Active precipitation is observed throughout the year. Summer days are especially long and cool, lasting up to 19 hours. In remote northern areas, sunset does not occur for 73 days. Winters, on the contrary, are short and cold.

Animal and plant life

Finland is characterized by a diversity of flora and fauna. Forests cover more than 20 million hectares of the country. Basically, these are pine forests located in the central part. They grow a large number of berries (blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, etc.) and mushrooms. In the south, beech forests predominate.

In the northern part of the country the vegetation is low. There are no forests, but the cloudberry grass is actively growing, forming whole thickets. The spring vegetation is represented by various herbs, for example, liverwort, mother-and-stepmother.

The fauna is widely represented by birds. In Finland, swan swans live, which became a symbol of the country. Here you can find finches, chibis, thrushes, starlings, herons, cranes. In the list of mammals there are wolverines, lynxes, flying moths, beavers, brown bears, nights, wolves, ferrets and, of course, reindeer.

Interesting Facts

• On the territory of Finland there are 38 national parks, which are allowed to walk freely according to the law. Within their limits there are many parking lots for overnight.
• Tap water in this country is considered the cleanest in the world.
• To see the Northern Lights, you do not need to go far. You can observe it even in the southern part of the country.

• The local sport is "Nordic walking". It is a normal sport walking with ski poles for weighting. They are engaged in it even in the summer.
• On average, every Finn uses more than two thousand cups of coffee a year. For this they deserve the title of world coffee lovers.
• In a small town in Finland it is quite possible to meet a deer or bear right on the street.

Conclusion

The country of a thousand lakes and the "midnight sun" is Finland. The form of government of the state is a republic. This unitary country, which includes a territory with a special status. The main city of the country are Helsinki.

The ecological situation in Finland is considered one of the best in the world. Even from the taps there is pure water. The hilly country is covered with pine and beech forests, berry bushes and numerous lakes. And the state carefully protects its unique landscapes.