Finland Facts

Interesting Finland Facts for Kids

Here are some interesting Finland Facts which were chosen and researched by kids especially for kids.

What you will find on our Finland Facts page:

Facts - Snapshot
Finland - Basics
Geography
Landmarks
People

Famous Finns
Languages
Economy
Animals
Food

First let's have a quick glance at the most important basic facts about Finland:

Finland Facts - Snapshot

Name: Republic of Finland or Suomi
Location: Northern Europe
Population: 5.6 million
Total area: 390,906 km²/ 150,929 sq mi
Capital City: Helsinki
Official Languages: Finnish and Swedish
Currency: Euro
Highest peak: Halti
Longest river: Kemi
Coastline: Baltic Sea

Last updated: 13.01.2026

Finland Facts for Kids
Finland Basics

Finland Facts: Coat of Arms, Flag, Lily of the Valley

Continent: Europe
Population: 5.6 million people live in Finland (2026)
Capital: Helsinki with 1.6 million inhabitants
Name: Republic of Finland, in Finnish (short form): Suomi
Government: Republic, parliamentary democracy
Languages: Finnish (88%) and Swedish
Religion: mainly Christians (more than 62% are Evangelical Lutheran)
Life expectancy: 79 years (men) and 84 years (women)
Currency: 1 Euro (€) = 100 cents
National Symbols: Swan (national bird), brown bear (national animal), lily-of-the-valley (national flower), silver birch (national tree)
National Day: 6 December (Independence Day)
National Flag: The flag colours depict the blue of the lakes and the white of the snow.
National Anthem: The anthem is called "Maame" (meaning 'Our Land')
History: Finland was settled already around 200 BC. In 12th century invaded by the Swedes and christianised. It was first a province and later Grand Duchy of Sweden. In the 17th and 18th century Russians claimed the territory and Finland was made an autonomous Grand Duchy of Russia. Finland gained its independence on 6 December 1917.
President: Alexander Stubb (since March 2024)

Finland Geography
Where is Finland? - Finland Map

Finland is a country in northern Europe. Finland belongs to the Nordic countries which also include Norway, Sweden and Iceland. It is the easternmost country of the Scandinavian countries.

Finland borders Sweden to the West, Norway to the North, Russia to the East and the Baltic Sea to the South, Southwest and Southeast.

Map of Finland

Finland borders three countries: Norway, Sweden and Russia. The longest border is between Finland and Russia and is 1,309 km/ 813 miles long.

The country is wider in the south than in the north and is a little more than twice as long as it is wide. Finland stretches about 1,160 km/ 720 miles from north to south, while its greatest width from east to west is about 540 km/ 335 miles.

Finland's coastline is entirely along the Baltic Sea and stretches over 1,250 km/ 777 miles.

Finland's land area is about half the size of Texas/ USA. Finland is also slightly smaller than Norway, Germany, or the US state of Montana.

A flight to Helsinki takes a three hours from London/UK, or eight hours from New York/USA.

Geography Superlatives

Helsinki is the northernmost capital city of continental Europe.
Finland is among the most forested countries in the world and the most forested country in Europe. About 74% of the country's land area has forests.

Forest in Finland - image by Tonis Valing

The highest point in Finland is the Halti (also called Haltiatunturi) on the border to Norway in Lapland. It is 1,324 m/ 4,344 ft high.
The longest river in Finland is called Kemi or in Finnish Kemijoki.
There are over 187,000 lakes in Finland which the country is often named as the European country with the most lakes. Finland's nickname is "The Land of a Thousand Lakes."
Finland has the largest lake district in Europe. This lake district is called Finnish Lakeland or in Finnish: Järvi-Suomi.
There are over 41,000 islands in the country, about 20,000 do not even have a name!
As Finland is one of the most northern countries and the area extends into the Arctic region, you can experience the Northern lights and Midnight sun in Finland.

Northern Lights in Finland

Finland Attractions and Landmarks

Here are two of our two Finland attractions for kids:

Helsinki: The capital and main cultural city of Finland is Helsinki, which is nicknamed the "Daughter of the Baltic". Amongst the most popular attractions of Helsinki are the Ateneum, a renowned art museum, Kaisaniemi Botanic Garden or Helsinki Cathedral is also known as St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Helsinki and St Nicholas Cathedral

Together with the Government Palace and the University building, Helsinki Cathedral overlooks the city's huge main square called "Senate Square". Sederholm House which is located on the square is known as the oldest building in Helsinki. It was built in 1757. Today, the popular City Museum is located in the building.

A unique and extraordinary museum in Helsinki is "Amos Rex". It is housed in a futuristic building that is part of Lasipalatsi, which means "Glass Palace" in English. Lasipalatsi is a famous Helsinki landmark that is built the Finnish modernist style of the 1930s.

Amos Rex Museum in Helsinki - image by Ilari Nackel/ shutterstock.com

Rovaniemi: The capital of Finnish Lapland is not only home to the Santa Claus Village, but also the center of the husky sledding and snowmobile safaris.

Dog sled ride in northern Finland

This is also a good place to marvel at the northern lights (called aurora borealis) in winter.

In summertime, from early June to early July, the sun does not set in this region and midnight sun can be experienced.

Summer night in northern Finland

Other fascinating landmarks in Finland

Olavinlinna Castle

Suomenlinna Fortress

Rock Church or Temppeliaukio in Helsinki

Porvoo

Rauma in Finland- old wooden houses - UNESCO site

Rauma, one of Finland's oldest towns - image by Eric Carlander

Vaasa Cathedral - image by Henri Elemo/shutterstock.com

Vaasa - image by Henri Elemo

Koli National Park

Frozen Korouoma waterfalls in Lapland

Rovaniemi Santa Claus Village

Finland Facts | Finland People

Finland is one of Europe's most sparsely populated countries, along with Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. The country's interior areas are sparsely populated, with most inhabitants living in the Southern parts of the country or along the coastline.

The capital city Helsinki is the largest city of Finland, other big cities include Espoo, Turku, Tampere and Oulu.

Flag of the Sámi people

The Saami or Sámi people are Finland's indigenous people.

There are only few Sámi-language schools in Finland, but more and more schools offer bilingual education so that the languages do not die out.

Finland is ranked as one of the best countries for its strong education system.

Did you know?

Did you know that the Sámi people are the only recognised indigenous people in the EU area?
Sámi people also live in Sweden, Norway and Russia and their population counts in total about 75,000 people.

Finnish school children go to school in the mornings and usually join various clubs in the afternoon. A long standing tradition in Helsinki schools is the participation in the annual magazine that is written and produced by primary school children from grades 1 to 6 to support local charities. The magazine called Kevätpörriäinen (Buzzing Spring Bee) first appeared in 1949 and is created every spring, it is sold in schools and by school children who raise funds for charitable causes.

Iceskating in Helsinki - image by Watermelontart

Ice hockey, ice skating and cross-country skiing are popular sports in winter. Finnish pastimes in the summer months include swimming, various watersports and fishing.

Most families have their own sauna at home or in their apartment block, some Finns visit public saunas as well. There are about 1.5 million saunas in the country!

No wonder, the Finnish group KAJ took part in the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest (as a Swedish speaking trio, they participated for Sweden) with a Sauna song called "Bara Bada Bastu" (which means "Let’s Just Sauna")!

This is just such a fun song! - Note that about 5% of the Finnish population, speak Swedish as home language.

Famous Finnish People | Famous Finns

Famous Finns are:

Kimi Räikkönen (born 1979): Formula One World Champion, won 21 Grands Prix over 19 years!
Mika Häkkinen (born 1968) nicknamed "The Flying Finn": Formula One World Driver
Tove Marika Jansson (1914 - 2001): comic strip author, painter and illustrator, famous for the Moomin characters and comics

Moomin characters by Tove Jansson on display in Helsinki

Jean Sibelius (1865 - 1957): Finnish composer and violinist
Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877): Finland's most celebrated poet, playwright and patriot. Runeberg wrote of the text of the Finnish anthem. Finland celebrates Runeberg Day on the anniversary of the poet’s birthday on 5 February.
Martti Ahtisaari (born 1937): Finland's former president won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008.
Sanna Marin (born 1985): Former prime minister who was one of the youngest heads of state.

Finland Facts| Languages

About 150 first languages are spoken in Finland. The official languages in Finland are Finnish and Swedish. Finnish belongs to the finno-ugric languages and together with the Hungarian language is often said to be one of the most difficult languages to learn.

About 4.9 million people in Finland speak Finnish as home language. Whilst the mother tongue for most is Finnish, there are minor groups of Swedish speakers in the country. Finland Swedish is a regional variant of Swedish spoken in Sweden. Some other minority languages such as Saami or Karelian are registered as official languages in some regions too.

The indigenous language in Finland is called Saami (also referred to as Sámi). In Finland there are about 10,000 speakers of the Sámi language. There are about 100,000 Saami speakers in total, most of them live in Norway. Three of the ten Saami languages spoken in Europe's northern regions are spoken in Finland: Inari Saami, Skolt Saami and Northern Saami. Each of the Saami languages is different and has its own spelling and own form of written language!

Other languages such as Finnish Romani, Finnish sign language, Finland-Swedish sign language and Karelian are spoken by some people in Finland.

Finland Facts | Finland Economy

Finland is Europe’s largest producer of wood. About 74% of the country is covered by forests, lakes, and moors, and the most common trees are pine and spruce. Most farming takes place in the coastal regions.

Timber logs

The main natural resources of Finland include timber, iron ore, copper and zinc. Hydropower is the main source of energy. Finland’s biggest exports are wood and paper products, as well as manufactured goods and technology.

Finland trades mainly with Sweden and Germany. Some of the country's largest companies are Nokia, known for network equipment, and KONE, which is famous for elevators and moving walkways.

Finland is the only Nordic country that uses the Euro as their currency, while all other Nordic countries have not joined the European monetary union or opted out of the Euro.

The Finnish national bird, the whooper swan, is featured on the reverse side of the Finnish 1-euro coin.

Finland Facts | Finland Animals

The national animal is the brown bear (Ursus arctos). There are still about 2000 of these fascinating mammals roaming around freely in Finland. Below you can see a bear roaming the forests near Kuusamo in northeastern Finland. Karhu (KAH-roo) is the common Finnish word for bear.

Brown bear in Finland

Male bears can weigh up to 300 kg and hunt mainly deer and elks (moose). The eastern parts of Finland along the border to Russia are the best places to see bears in their natural habitat.

In Finland you can also see caribou and reindeer which roam freely in the countryside.

Reindeer in Lapland/northern Finland

Finland Facts | Food in Finland

Typical Finnish food includes:

Kalakukko is considered the national dish of Finland. It consists of fish, pork and bacon baked inside a bread dough. Finns usually drink buttermilk with this filling dish.

Typical Finnish Kalakukko

Ruisreikäleipä: Finnish bread is typically a round flat disk of bread. This Finnish rye bread has a hole in the middle and is lighter and softer than German rye bread

Finnish rye bread

Hernekeitto: This pea soup consists of mushed peas that are cooked with onions and mustard. Sometimes pork or minced meat is added. Traditionally eaten every Thursday, this dish is still served in many Finnish restaurants mainly on Thursdays. The soup is accompanied by a tasty desert: thick sweet pancakes that have been baked in the oven and are then topped with jam. Yummy!
Runebergintorttu: known as Runeberg Cakes: This cake and bread crumb pastry is baked in a tray that is higher than the usual muffin mould. The cake is topped with raspberry jam and was originally created by Runeberg’s wife Fredrika.

Runebergcake

lanttulaatikko: traditional casserole dish made with swedes, carrots, potatoes that is eaten on Christmas.
mämmi: soft Finnish pudding made with malted rye, rye flour, water, salt and orange zest, often served with milk or cream and eaten cold. A traditional Easter dessert that is either loved or hated.

Interesting Finland Facts
Did you know...?

... that many Finns own holiday homes in the countryside. They visit their holiday cabins or cottages which are called mökki especially during the summer holidays after Midsummer.

In 2026, Midsummer, called in Finnish Juhannuspäivä, will be celebrated with bonfires on Saturday 20 June. On this traditional holiday, the people in Finland will spend time with family and friends swimming in the nearby lakes, hiking, cycling or fishing and meeting for barbecues, going to the sauna and enjoying the typical summer "white nights" when the sun does only barely set.

Summer home in Finland with sauna building and barn

Finland Facts for Kids
Useful Resources

Finland Promotion Board. "A Guide to Finnish Customs and Manners." This is Finland. Last accessed 13 January 2026
Finland Promotion Board. "A Finnish Poet and his Pastry". This is Finland. Last accessed 13 January 2026
Institute for the Languages of Finland. "Languages of Finland." Kotus.fi. Last accessed 13 January 2026
Amos Rex. "About Us. An Extraordinary Art Museum." AmosRex. Last accessed 13 January 2026
Central Intelligence Agency. "Europe: Finland." World Fact Book. Last updated 9 January 2026. Accessed 13 January 2026
Helsinki Tourism. Top 15 sights in Helsinki. MyHelsinki. Last accessed 13 January 2026
Kati Pohjanpalo. World’s Happiest Ranking Goes to Finland for Fifth Year in a Row. Bloomberg. 18 March 2022. Last accessed 13 January 2026

Image Credits: all images own and shutterstock.com/; Forest image by Toris Valing/shutterstock.com; Rauma image by Eric Carlander/shutterstock.com; Vaasa image by Henri Elemo/shutterstock.com

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