Finland numbers some five million inhabitants and has an average population density of 17 inhabitants per square kilometre. This makes it, after Norway and Iceland, the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Population distribution is very uneven: the population is concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain. About 60 % live in towns and cities, with one million living in Helsinki Metropolitan Area alone. In Arctic Lapland, on the other hand, there are only 2 people to every square kilometre. “km” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Central Helsinki, the focal point of the Capital Region, from the sky Greater Helsinki (Finnish: Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: Storhelsingfors), Capital Region (Pääkaupunkiseutu, Huvudstadsregionen), Helsinki Metropolitan Area, and Helsinki Region (Helsingin seutu, Helsingforsregionen) all refer to the conurbation surrounding the Finnish capital, Helsinki. ...

The earliest inhabitants of most of the land area that makes up today's Finland and Scandinavia were in all likehood hunter-gatherers whose closest successors in modern terms would probably be the Sami people (formerly known as the Lapps). There are 4,500 of them living in Finland today and they are recognised as a minority with their own language. They have been living north of the Arctic Circle for more than 7,000 years now. During the late 19th and 20th century there was significant emigration, particularly from rural areas to Sweden and North America, while most immigrants into Finland itself come from other European countries. The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps, sometimes also Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. ... For the fast food restaurant chain, see Arctic Circle Restaurants. ... A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country or region to settle in another. ... North America North America is a continent [1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ...

The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the latter being the native language of about five per cent of the Finnish population.^[1] There is a historical and a political explanation for the status of Swedish as an official language. From the 13th to the 19th century Finland was ruled by the Kingdom of Sweden. The status of the language has remained to these days as the Swedish speaking minority had a relatively high degree of power in Finland compared to its size.

With 84 per cent of Finns in its congregation, the Lutheran Church is the largest in the country.

Language distribution

Finnish people speak the Finnish language, which the dominant language and is spoken almost everywhere in the country. Year 1750 (MDCCL) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1880 (MDCCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... 1760 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar). ... For the village in Queensland, see 1770, Queensland. ... Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1790 (MDCCXC) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920) of the Gregorian calendar. ... // ON MAY 5 1853 MR.FADER HAD SEX WITH A MAN NAME MR WIEN THEN THEY HAD SON NAMEDMRS COTURE AND MR MANOOGIAN WENT INTO MRS HASKELLS OFFICE NAKED AND DANCED AROUND AND MASTERBATED ON HER CHEST AND SHE LICKED IT OFF THEN THEY HAD ORAL SEEX WITH NAPLOEAN OF... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1810 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 (MDCCCXXX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the game, see: 1850 (board game) 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday [1] of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... 1870 (MDCCCLXX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... Template:Languaklkkkhytgf Finnish ( , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (91. ...

Significant populations of Swedish-speakers are found only in coastal areas, from Ostrobothnia to the southern coast, and in the archipelago of Åland. Several rural communities on the western and southern coast have Swedish majorities. Coastal cities, however, are majority Finnish-speaking, with a few small towns as exceptions. There are very few Swedish-speakers in the inland. “Aland” redirects here. ...

Generally speaking, Finnish language usage is still expanding in relative and absolute terms due to the slow but steady language switching of the Swedish-speaking population, natural population growth, and immigration. The immigrant population is growing faster than the general population, both naturally and by immigration, and immigrant minorities will become more significant in the future. Currently, the percentage of immigrants is one of the smallest in Europe.

Concerning native languages, the Finnish-speaking population has a comparatively high natural growth rate (compared to other EU countries),^{[citation needed]} while the death rate of the Swedish-speaking population is higher than its birthrate.^{[citation needed]} It is predicted that these rates will even out in 2012 and that the absolute size of the Swedish-speaking population will remain constant.^{[citation needed]} while its percentage of the total population will diminish as the total population grows. Politically, the result is that local Swedish majorities and dominance are diminishing.^{[citation needed]} Most Swedish speakers lived in monolingually (more than 94%) Swedish areas in 1880, but the figure had dropped to 14% in 2002.^{[citation needed]} However, 50% of Swedish speakers still live in communities in which they form the majority and exercise considerable political power.

Demographics

Finnish population pyramid in 2005. Male: left, dark blue. Female: right, light blue.

At the end of 2006.^[1] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

• Population: 5,276,955
• Life expectancy at birth:
  • male: 75.8 years
  • female: 82.8 years
• Total fertility rate: 1.83 children born/woman (2007 est.)

Age structure

At the end of 2006.^[1]

• 0-14 years: 17.1% (male 459,955; female 441,226)
• 15-64 years: 66.5% (male 1,772,605; female 1,734,452)
• 65 years and over: 16.5% (male 351,182; female 517,535)

Rates per 1 000 mean population in 2006.^[1]

• Population growth: 4.6
• Live births: 11.8
• Deaths: 9,1
• Net migration: 1,9

Ethnic groups

^{[citation needed]}

• Finnish 97.6 % (Finnish-speakers 92 %, Swedish-speakers 5.6 %)
• Russians 0.6 %
• Roma 0.12%
• Sami 0.11%
• Finnish Tatars 0.02%
• Other 1.55%

Languages Romani, languages of native region Religions Christianity, Islam Related ethnic groups South Asians (Desi) The Roma (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom) or Romanies are an ethnic group living in many communities all over the world. ... The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps, sometimes also Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. ... The Finnish Tatar community, about 800 people, is recognized as a national minority by the government of Finland, which considers their language as a non-territorial language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. ...

Languages

At the end of 2006.^[1]

• Finnish language 91.51% (official)
• Swedish language 5.49% (official)
• Russian language 0.80%
• Sami languages 0.03% (semi-official)

Template:Languaklkkkhytgf Finnish ( , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (91. ... Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic language, spoken predominantly in Sweden, parts of Finland, especially along the coast, on the Ã…land islands, by more than nine million people. ... Russian ( , transliteration: , IPA: ) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages. ... Sami is a general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken in parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and extreme northwestern Russia, in Northern Europe. ...

Religions

At the end of 2006.^[1]

• Evangelical Lutheran 82.5 % (Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, state church)
• Russian Orthodox 1.1 % (Finnish Orthodox Church, second state church)
• other ca. 1.2 %
• none ca. 15.1%

The Lutheran movement is a group of denominations of Protestant Christianity by the original definition. ... The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is the Lutheran national church of Finland (The Finnish Orthodox Church is also recognized as a state church). ... See also civil religion. ... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ... The Finnish Orthodox Church is the national jurisdiction of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Finland. ...

Literacy

• Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• Total population: 100% (2000 est.)^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Statistics Finland: Finland in Figures]. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.
2. ^ Aunesluoma, Juhana; Heikkonen, Esko; Ojakoski, Matti (2006). Lukiolaisen yhteiskuntatieto. WSOY. 
3. ^ Cite error 8; No text given.