DESCRIPTION
Finland is one of the most technologically developed countries in the world. Located in Northern Europe, Finland shares borders with Russia, Norway, and Sweden. Although most people think Finland is one of the “Scandinavia Countries”, the more correct term that includes Finland is the “Nordic Countries”. Finland has an enormous amount of lakes, with over 187,000, which makes up about ten percent of the country. Finland also has a tremendous amount of islands with almost 180,000. As of July 2006 the populating in Finland was 5.2 million. The capital of Finland, Helsinki, is by far the largest city and is known as the “Daughter of Baltic”. Finns' claim the home of Santa Claus is in the mystical mountain of Korvatunturi. Finland’s cities that are most traveled are: Jyvaskyla, Oulu, Pori and Rovaniemi, which is the gateway to Lapland, which is the largest city in Europe measured from the surface area. Finns' are known to be the world’s heaviest coffee drinkers, averaging 3-4 cups per day. Finland is officially bilingual in Finnish and Swedish and most Finns speak some English, especially in the major cities, where tourists are more prevalent. Finns are known to be very nice, but also straight to the point, so don’t expect to hear words like thank you, you’re welcome, or please. They don’t intend to be rude; the average Finn just has a relaxed attitude towards manners and dressing. During winter, temperatures in the south reach -30c and in the north as cold as -50c, and the sun never really come up during the winter because of the extreme latitudes. Summer time, which is a much better time to visit, the temperatures average at around 20c and sometimes as warm as 30c in March and April. Contrary to the winter, during summer months, Finland experiences the famous Midnight Sun, which means the sun never really sets.