Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, opposite Estonia. Its capital and largest city is Helsinki. Finland has a population of 5.7 million. With an area of 338,455 square kilometres, it is the eighth-largest country in Europe. The official languages are Finnish and Swedish, the mother tongues of 83.5 percent and 5.0 percent of the population, respectively. Finland's climate varies from humid continental in the south to boreal in the north. Its land is predominantly covered by boreal forest, with over 180,000 recorded lakes.
Finland was first settled around 9000 BC after the last Ice Age. During the Stone Age, various cultures emerged, distinguished by different styles of ceramics. The Bronze Age and Iron Ages were marked by contacts with other cultures in Fennoscandia and the Baltic region. From the late 13th century, Finland became part of Sweden following the Northern Crusades. In 1809, as a result of the Finnish War, Finland was captured from Sweden and became an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire. During this period, Finnish art flourished and an independence movement gradually developed.
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Finland declared its independence. A civil war ensued the following year, with the anticommunist Whites emerging victorious. Finland's status as a republic was confirmed in 1919. During World War II, Finland fought against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War, and later against Nazi Germany in the Lapland War. As a result, it lost parts of its territory to the Soviet Union but retained its independence and democracy. During the Cold War, Finland embraced an official policy of neutrality. After the Cold War, Finland became a member of the European Union in 1995 and the Eurozone in 1999. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland joined NATO in 2023.
Finland became the first country in Europe to grant universal suffrage in 1906, and the first in the world to give all adult citizens the right to run for public office. Finland remained a largely rural and agrarian country until the 1950s, when it pursued rapid industrialisation and a Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in an advanced economy and high per capita income. The country consistently ranks highly in international rankings across various categories, such as education, economic competitiveness, happiness, and prosperity. Finnish foreign policy based on its middle power status emphasizes international cooperation and partnership, which has recently shifted towards closer ties with NATO. Finnish cultural values, including egalitarianism, secularism, human rights and environmentalism, are actively promoted through membership in multiple international forums.
The name Suomi (Finnish for 'Finland') has uncertain origins, but a common etymology with saame (the Sámi) has been suggested. In the earliest historical sources, from the 12th and 13th centuries, the term Finland refers to the coastal region around Turku in the southwest of modern Finland; this region later became known as Finland Proper in distinction from the country name Finland.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, the southwest (Eura and Turku), the interior (around Lake Päijänne), and the southeast (reaching Lake Ladoga) regions of modern Finland were incorporated into the Swedish realm. The entire area was called Finlandia et partes orientales or Österland ("Eastland") by the Scandinavians. The term Österland was used until the 16th century. The interior was known as Tavastia. By the end of the Middle Ages, the term Finland was extended to the east as well.
The area that is now Finland was settled in, at the latest, around 8500 BC during the Stone Age towards the end of the last glacial period. The artefacts the first settlers left behind present characteristics that are shared with those found in Estonia, Russia, and Norway. The earliest people were hunter-gatherers, using stone tools.
The first pottery appeared in 5200 BC, when the Comb Ceramic culture was introduced. The area of present-day Finland was in the western limits of the culture, which produced pottery with a distinct comb pattern. The arrival of the Corded Ware culture in the south of coastal Finland between 3000 and 2500 BC may have coincided with the start of agriculture. Even with the introduction of agriculture, hunting and fishing continued to be important parts of the subsistence economy.
Based upon linguistic evidence, Finland seems to have been primarily inhabited by speakers of Paleo-European languages prior to the migration of the Finno-Ugric peoples, which influenced the Sámi languages who were the first Finno-Ugric peoples to move towards Finland. These languages have been divided into Paleo-Laplandic languages which were spoken around Lapland, and the Lakelandic languages spoken in most of modern-day Finland.
In the Bronze Age, permanent all-year-round cultivation and animal husbandry spread, but the cold climate slowed the change. The Seima-Turbino phenomenon brought the first bronze artefacts to the region and possibly also the Finno-Ugric languages. Commercial contacts that had so far mostly been to Estonia started to extend to Scandinavia. Domestic manufacture of bronze artefacts started 1300 BC.
In the Iron Age, population grew. Finland Proper was the most densely populated area. Commercial contacts in the Baltic Sea region grew and extended during the eighth and ninth centuries. Main exports from Finland were furs, slaves, castoreum, and falcons to European courts. Imports included silk and other fabrics, jewelry, Ulfberht swords, and, in lesser extent, glass. Production of iron started approximately in 500 BC. At the end of the ninth century, indigenous artefact culture, especially weapons and women's jewelry, had more common local features than ever before. This has been interpreted to be expressing common Finnish identity.
An early form of Finnic languages spread to the Baltic Sea region approximately 1900 BC. Common Finnic language was spoken around Gulf of Finland 2000 years ago. The dialects from which the modern-day Finnish language was developed came into existence during the Iron Age. Contacts with the ancient Baltic and eastern Germanic peoples greatly influenced the Proto-Finnic language. Although distantly related, the Sámi people retained the hunter-gatherer lifestyle longer than the Finns. The Sámi cultural identity and the Sámi languages have survived in Lapland, the northernmost province.
The 12th and 13th centuries were a violent time in the northern Baltic Sea. The Livonian Crusade was ongoing and the Finnish tribes such as the Tavastians and Karelians were in frequent conflicts with Novgorod and with each other. Also, during the 12th and 13th centuries several crusades from the Catholic realms of the Baltic Sea area were made against the Finnish tribes. Danes waged at least three crusades to Finland, in 1187 or slightly earlier, in 1191 and in 1202, and Swedes, possibly the so-called second Crusade to Finland, in 1249 against Tavastians and the third Crusade to Finland in 1293 against the Karelians. The so-called first Crusade to Finland, possibly in 1155, most likely never occurred.
As a result of the Crusades, mostly with the Second Swedish Crusade led by Birger Jarl, and the colonization of some Finnish coastal areas with Christian Swedes during the Middle Ages, Finland gradually became part of the kingdom of Sweden and the sphere of influence of the Catholic Church. Under Sweden, Finland was annexed as part of the cultural order of Western Europe. The Swedes built fortresses in Häme and Turku, while a Swedish royal council was instituted, an administrative structure and fiscal apparatus was created, and law codes were codified during the reigns of Magnus Ladulås (1275–1290) and Magnus Eriksson (1319–1364). As a result, the Finnish lands were firmly integrated into the Swedish realm.