The conflict between Russia and Sweden evolved into a religious rivalry, resulting in the pope—the head of the Catholic Church—declaring Finland a Swedish territory in Finland remained a part of Sweden until , when Russia won control of the country. More than a hundred years later, in , Finland finally declared independence from Russia after the Russian Revolution, when Russian citizens overthrew their leader to form an elected government.
Finland has remained an independent country ever since. All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. Funny Fill-In. Amazing Animals. Weird But True! Party Animals. Try This! Explore More. Finland's capital city, Helsinki, sits on the country's southern coast alongside the Gulf of Finland.
Geographically, Helsinki belongs to Southwest Finland, but the Finns themselves allocate it separately—in my opinion, rather for advertising purposes. Because it is the only major city in the country, most travels around the country start from Helsinki, too.
If you are not going to Lapland, Lake Land or Archipelago, in Helsinki you can find the sea, pine forests, lakes, and swamps at the same time, and climb on low rocks—all within the city limits. The city blends in with the natural landscape—not the other way around. In my memory, to see a whole week of sunshine without cloudy and rainy weather is a rarity. It's more often overcast than sunny—there are only 60 clear days a year here where the sun is shining.
Even in summer, be sure to pack warm clothes, such as those you might wear in the spring and fall, while traveling to Finland and especially while hiking in the country. In addition to the very old rocks, there are also relatively new geological strata that can be divided into five main groups: Scandinavian Caledonides, Kola Domain, Karelian Domain, Svecofennian orogen, and Jotnian sediment.
If you are into geology and Finland, these names will not seem new to you. To see all this geological diversity you also don't have to travel inside the Earth like the characters of Jules Verne's book Journey to the Center of the Earth.
However, these are traces of the glaciers that once covered all of northern Europe. This time, for sure, this is not an advertising slogan, it is a reality that you will have to face. In late May , I saw two small baby bears during a short hike on the northern shore of the Ladoga Lake formerly the territory of Finland , which was supposed to be an easy walk, but turned into a real adventure: I stayed up all night, tossing and turning in my tent with a real fear waiting for the mama bear to come.
I was lucky. By the way, the brown bear is Finland's national animal together with white swan. I also saw much smaller but no less wild animals like hares and foxes right on the streets of Helsinki. In July in Helsinki, there are a lot of geese, and many other wild northern birds such as ducks, loons, cranes, swans, and others that nest in the lakes right in the city. In the rivers, the main fish is Atlantic salmon. It is only one of three lake seal species in the world, and it lives only in Saimaa Lake, where you can see them with relative ease.
In summer, they are quite numerous in Finland. Always watch your step, even when walking on designated paths, as these snakes like to hang out on them in order to be in the sun. Finland is not famous for its mountains, but in the very north-west corner of the country — around 69 degrees north of the equator — lies a wilderness area with several peaks reaching above metres. The name comes from the shape of Finland in that area; if you look at the map it really does look like an arm.
In the area, you can find snow spots that never melt, waterfalls, crystal clear lakes and rivers, reindeer herds, arctic animals and rare arctic flora that can survive the freezing 8 months of winter and burst into life during the short summer. The terrain around the mountain peaks is rocky and almost inaccessible by foot. It is metres high and around 50 kilometres away from the nearest road.
It has the most extensive area of permanent snow in Finland, although in recent years the area has diminished. It is the highest point in Finland metres on the Finnish side , but the actual peak of the mountain is in Norway, approximately 40 metres higher.
Reaching Halti requires a hike of several days from the nearest road — and some wilderness experience. The area is known for the roughest weather conditions in Finland. Most of the year it is covered in ice and snow — and it remains frozen underneath the surface until late in the summer.
There is a special word in the Finnish language, routa , which means frozen terrain. You might not see it with your bare eyes, but you will notice it once you start digging the ground to make foundations for a building, for instance. The ice on the mountain lakes usually melts during June, but it might take even longer.
The rivers and lakes remain cold through the summer and swimming requires some courage. I had taken a tent and some provisions with me, since I was planning to spend the night there. In the evening, I ended up by the Olhava cliffs. I climbed up to admire the spectacular view when I noticed movement along the rock wall: climbers were making their way up the near-perpendicular rock face, 50 metres above the lake surface.
It must be an amazing feeling! Not far from there is Saana Mountain. There are many reasons to fall in love with Finland and the Finns. In fact, it would be impossible to list them all. So, we decided to just make a random list of some interesting and fun facts, hope you enjoy it! We all have problem pigs in our lives, nasty little things that make us angry, tired or stressed out. Everything happens by the sea, naturally.
Whether it is Easter, Midsummer or the 1st of May Finns always put a special touch to their national holidays. You're welcome to celebrate with us!
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