Finland Population, People, Languages and Religions

Finland Country Overview

Where is Finland located? The Parliamentary Republic of Finland is located in Northern Europe and is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Europe. The capital of Finland is Helsinki. The time zone map of the world divides countries into world time zones along lines of longitude. The allocation to a zone determines the size of the time difference between the respective country and the official world time (also called UTC). The time zone in Finland is different from that in Germany. The time there deviates by 2 hours from the coordinated world clock or is 2 hours ahead of it. As in the rest of Europe, in the summer months (from March to October) Finland puts the time forward one hour to save daylight.

Bordering Countries of Finland

According to abbreviationfinder, Finland is a Nordic country located in Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east. In the south, it shares a maritime border with Estonia across the Gulf of Finland. Finland has an estimated population of 5.5 million and covers an area of 338,455 square kilometers.

To the east of Finland lies Russia which is one of the world’s largest countries in terms of land mass. It shares a 1,340 km long border with Finland and has an estimated population of around 145 million people. Russia’s capital city is Moscow which houses some of its most famous landmarks such as Red Square and St Basil’s Cathedral. Beyond its European borders lies Siberia which makes up 77% of Russia’s landmass and has a climate that varies from subarctic to Arctic depending on location.

Norway is Finland’s northern neighbour with whom it shares a 727 km border along its northernmost region known as Lapland. Norway has an estimated population of 5 million people and covers an area of 385,207 square kilometers making it one of Europe’s most sparsely populated countries. Norway’s capital city is Oslo which boasts many attractions such as Holmenkollen Ski Jump, Vigeland Sculpture Park and Akershus Fortress. Norway also has many popular natural attractions such as fjords, glaciers and waterfalls due to its rugged terrain made up mainly by mountains that span much of its coastline.

To the west lies Sweden with whom Finland shares a 614 km border along its westernmost region known as Åland Islands or Aland Islands in Finnish language. Sweden has an estimated population of 10 million people and covers an area 449,964 square kilometers making it one of Europe’s most populous countries despite being relatively large in size compared to other European nations. Stockholm is Sweden’s capital city which houses many famous attractions such as Drottningholm Palace, The Vasa Museum and Old Town (Gamla Stan). Sweden also boasts many stunning natural attractions including mountains, lakes, islands and forests due to its diverse topography ranging from flatlands in the south to mountainous regions in the north.

Finally, Estonia borders Finland across the Gulf Of Finland on its southernmost region. Estonia has an estimated population 1.3 million people covering 45227 square kilometers making it one of Europe’s smallest countries in terms both size and population. Tallinn is Estonia’s capital city boasting some interesting attractions such as Toompea Castle, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral & Kadriorg Park. Much like other Nordic nations, Estonia also offers many natural attractions such as beaches, forests & wetlands due to its location on Baltic Sea coastline combined with low lying hills & plains inland.

Population Distribution

As of 2023, the latest population of Finland is 5,571,665, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).

People in Finland

Around 5.5 million people live in Finland in an area that is only slightly smaller than Germany. But 83 million people live in Germany. So Finland is much sparsely populated.

Most of the Finns live in the south of the country. Almost all of the country’s larger cities can be found there. 1.4 million people live in and around Helsinki alone. 85 percent of Finns live in a city.

The Sami people live in the far north of the country. In Finland there are just under 10,000 seeds, 1.8 percent of the population.

Languages in Finland

There are two official languages ​​in Finland: Finnish and Swedish. 92 percent of the population speak Finnish, 6 percent speak Swedish. In the north of Finland the Sami speak their own language, Sami.

Swedish is spoken mainly on the coast in the south and southwest and on the islands of Åland. However, the Swedish they speak here is different from the Swedish they speak in Sweden. Swedish spoken in Finland is therefore called Finland Swedish. It has a different pronunciation and partly a different vocabulary.

Finnish but says the majority of Finns. Finnish is very different from the other Scandinavian languages ​​Swedish, Norwegian and Danish. While these belong to the same language family, Finnish is one of the Finnish-Ugric languages. It is closely related to Estonian and distantly related to Hungarian. Finnish has a lot of vowels. You may know a Finnish word: sauna!

Examples of Finnish

Here are a few examples of Finnish phrases:

Hän ei puhu means: He doesn’t speak.
Minulla on auto means: I have a car.
Tuleeko Anna kesällä? means: is Anna coming in summer?

Would you like to learn to count to 10 in Finnish? It works like this:

1 yksi, 2 kaksi, 3 kolme, 4 neljä, 5 viisi
6 kuusi, 7 seitsemän, 8 kahdeksan, 9 yhdeksän, 10 kymmenen

Religions in Finland

Around 77 percent of Finns belong to the Evangelical Church. All other faiths are minorities. There are only a few Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of free churches and Mormons.

The largest minority is the Orthodox Church of Finland with 1.1 percent of the population. The Orthodox Faith spread in Finland since the Middle Ages and during the Russian rule.