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 on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.
Full Name: Republic of Finland
Area: 338,145 sq km (water: 33,672 sq km, land: 304,473 sq km )
Population: 5,250,275 (July 2009 est.)
Capital City: Helsinki
People: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.6%, Russian 0.5%, Estonian 0.3%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.1%, Sami 0.1% (2006)
Language: Finnish 91.2% (official), Swedish 5.5% (official), other 3.3% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2007)
Religion: Lutheran Church of Finland 82.5%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 15.1% (2006)
Government Type: Republic
Chief of State President Tarja HALONEN (since 1 March 2000)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Matti VANHANEN (since 24 June 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Jyrki KATAINEN (since 19 April 2007)
GDP: $US 271.9 billion (2008 est.)
GDP per Capita: $US 37,000 (2008 est.)
Inflation: 4.1% (2008 est.)
Unemployment: 6.4% (2008 est.)
Industries: Metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing
Currency: Euro (€ - EUR)
Member of EU: Yes
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