French | Spanish | German | Japanese | Chinese(Mandarin) | Hindi | Korean | Other 

GDP: US$103.6 billion
GDP per head: US$20,100
Annual growth: 5%
Inflation: 1.2%
Major industries: Metals and engineering equipment, telecommunications, paper products
Major trading partners: EU, USA, Russia
Member of EU: yes

Events

Midsummer's Day (Juhannus) is the most important annual event for Finns. People leave cities and towns for summer cottages to celebrate the longest day of the year. Bonfires are lit and lakeside merrymakers swim and row boats. Enthusiastic alcohol consumption is also a feature of midsummer partying. The Pori Jazz Festival in July is one of the country's most popular festivals, but the Savonlinna Opera Festival, held at medieval Olavinnlinna Castle, is the most famous. Some of the best (and the most international) festivals are the most remote: check out chamber music in Kuhmo, or folk music in Kaustinen (near Kokkola). For rock, there are big festivals during the Midsummer weekend, and big annual events, such as Ruisrock, the longest-running of rock festivals, at Turku in July. On the lighter side, check out the Sleepyhead Day, where on 27 July the laziest person in the towns of Naantali and Hanko is thrown into the sea. Finland's strangest event is the annual wife-carrying championship held every July in tiny Sonkajärvi.

Traveling Guidelines

Visas: Most western nationals, including Americans, citizens of EU countries, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Malaysians, Singaporeans and most South Americans do not need a visa.
Health risks: Slippery pavements. If you're mushroom picking, make sure you know what you're eating.
Time: GMT/UTC plus two hours
Electricity: 220V, 50Hz
Weights & measures: Metric
Tourism: 2.5 million visitors per year

Ideal Time to Visit

Whatever time of year you visit Finland, there's something happening. Most museums and galleries are open year-round, annd there is as much to do in the depths of winter as there is at the height of summer. Nevertheless, you'll probably have a better time if you come in the warmer months, either in summer or anytime from May to September. As well as the advantages of warm weather, summer is the time of the midnight sun. Winter north of the Arctic Circle is a chilly confluence of strange bluish light and encroaching melancholy. Despite snow falls from November, it stays pretty sludgy until late winter: skiing isn't great until February, the coldest month, and you can ski in Lapland right through to June.