Olympic Custom Table #13 Finland

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Facts
Country name: Republic of Finland
Population: 5,244,749
Capital: Helsinki
National Anthem: Our Land, Maamme (Finnish)
Government: Republic
Languages: Finnish 91.5% (official), Swedish 5.5% (official), other 3% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities)
Religions: Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 15.1%
Ethnic Groups: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.6%, Russian 0.5%, Estonian 0.3%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%, Sami 0.1%
Life Expectancy: 78.82 years
Independence: 6 December 1917 (from Russia)
National Holiday: Independence Day, 6 December (1917)
Flag: white with a blue cross extending to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side in the style of the Dannebrog (Danish flag)
Climate: cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes
Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
Natural resources: timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone
Geography - note: long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent; population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain

History

Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now among the highest in Western Europe. A member of the European Union since 1995, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Olympic History

Finland first participated at the Olympic Games in 1908, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games and every Winter Olympic Games since then. Finland was also the host nation for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

Finnish athletes have won a total of 295 medals at the Summer Games, mostly in athletics (track and field) and wrestling. Finland has also won 151 medals at the Winter Games, mostly in nordic skiing events.

The National Olympic Committee for Finland is the Finnish Olympic Committee, and was created and recognized in 1907.