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geography Finland

Geography of Finland

Located in the Northern part of Europe, the Republic of Finland borders Sweden, Russia, Norway and the Gulf of Finland. The total area of the country is 338 145 square meters and its capital is the city of Helsinki. The country is generally flat, with few hills and many lakes. There are also many islands, most of which situated in the Archipelago Sea.

An interesting fact is that the territory of Finland is growing by 7 square kilometres each year due to the post glacial rebound. Finland is mostly covered by coniferous taiga forests and features approximately 1200 species of vascular plant and 1000 species of lichen, pines and birches, oak and maples, all adapted to extreme weather in the country.

The local fauna is presented by many bird species and fish species, as well as more than sixty native mammals like the Brown Bear and the Gray Wolf, the Red Fox and the Mountain Hare. The exotic animals include the Golden Eagle and the Arctic Fox, as well as the flying squirrel. A symbol of Finland is the Whooper Swan. The climate in Finland is temperate, but characterized with cold weather, cool short summer and long, dark and severe winter.

As the country is near the Atlantic Ocean, it is warmed by the Gulf Stream which makes the temperatures bearable. Thanks to its latitude, Finland enjoys a special phenomenon called the Midnight Sun. It can be seen near the summer solstice when the sun actually never sets during the night and actually in the southern part of the country it does not become dark at all. The opposite phenomenon is called the Arctic Night which could be seen during the winter months when the sun does not come out at all.

In the northernmost point in Finland the Midnight Sun is enjoyed for 73 consecutive days during the summer season and the Arctic Nights could be experienced for 51 days during the winter months. Finlands population is approximately 5 303 000 people, which makes it the most sparsely populated area in the European Union. The official language used is Finnish and as second language is Swedish, which is spoken by a minority of 5.5 per cent. The biggest cities in Finland are the capital Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen, etc.