Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic nation in Northern Europe. It shares land boundaries with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, as well as Russia to the eastern, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and also the Gulf of Finland throughout Estonia to the south. Finland covers a location of 338,455 square kilometres (130,678 sq mi) with a population of 5.5 million. Helsinki is the funding and largest city, forming a bigger metropolitan area with the neighbouring cities of Espoo, Kauniainen, and also Vantaa.

The large bulk of the populace are ethnic Finns; Finnish is a main language along with Swedish are main languages. Finland’s environment varies from humid continental in the south to the boreal in the north. The land cover is mostly a boreal forest biome, with more than 180,000 videotaped lakes.

Finland was first populated around 9000 BC after the Last glacial period. The Stone Age introduced numerous different ceramic designs as well as cultures. The Bronze Age and also Iron Age were identified by extensive contacts with various other societies in Fennoscandia and also the Baltic region. From the late 13th century, Finland slowly came to be an important part of Sweden as a consequence of the North Crusades. In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War, Finland became part of the Russian Realm as the self-governing Grand Duchy of Finland, throughout which Finnish art grew and the suggestion of freedom began to take hold.

In 1906, Finland came to be the initial European state to approve global suffrage, as well as the very first in the world to offer all grown-up citizens the right to run for public office. Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, tried to russify Finland as well as end its political freedom, but after the 1917 Russian Change, Finland stated freedom from Russia.

In 1918, the fledgling state was split by the Finnish Civil Battle. During World War II, Finland battled the Soviet Union in the Winter Season War as well as the Continuation Battle, as well as Nazi Germany in the Lapland Battle. It consequently shed parts of its region, consisting of the culturally and historically considerable community of Vyborg, but preserved its freedom.

Finland mainly remained an agricultural country till the 1950s. After The Second World War, it rapidly industrialized and created a sophisticated economic climate, while constructing a comprehensive welfare state based upon the Nordic design; the nation soon appreciated extensive success and a high per capita income. Finland signed up with the United Nations in 1955 and also adopted an official plan of neutrality; it joined the OECD in 1969, the NATO Partnership for Tranquility in 1994, the European Union in 1995, the Euro-Atlantic Collaboration Council in 1997, and also the Eurozone at its inception in 1999. Finland is a leading performer in countless metrics of national efficiency, including education, financial competitiveness, constitutional freedoms, lifestyle and human growth.

In 2015, Finland placed first in the World Human Capital, top of the Press Freedom Index, as well as was most stable nation on the planet during 2011– 2016, according to the Fragile States Index; it is 2nd in the Global Gender Gap Report, and has actually rated first in every yearly World Happiness Record between 2018 and 2022.