Finland

Finland (Finnish: Suomi; Swedish: Finland), officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland. Finland is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finland's population is 5.5 million (2014), staying roughly on the same level over the past two decades. The majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.
== Links To Peel ==
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Peel played many artists from Finland during his radio career, initiallly Finnish Kantele music from the BBC Archives on Night Ride in 1968-9, and later various genres of music from the country, including (in the early 1970s) prog rock bands Tasavallan Presidentti and Hot Thumbs O'Riley, and electronic artist Aavikko, who he mentioned on his 03 June 2001 (BBC World Service) show as his favourite Finnish artist.
Peel's interest in the country, especially his 1987 European road trip with Sheila and the family to visit Finland, which he did not reach due to running out of money and everything closing down in Sweden and Denmark during the Easter holidays, helped him decide to make his programmes for Finnish Radio at Peel Acres between 1987 and 2003, first for Rock Radio and later for Radio Mafia, which he thought was an awful name.
On many occasions, Peel made comments on his interest in visiting Finland, especially on his 08 November 1998 (BFBS) show where he said he hoped to visit the country before the millennium. Peel did finally visit with Sheila in 2001, and recorded his 09 May 2001 show in that nation. During his time in Finland, Peel visited the Levitation music festival in Lapland.
== Sessions ==
The following artists from Finland recorded sessions for the John Peel Show:
* Aavikko: (1 session, 2001)
* Circle: (1 session, 2002)
* Deep Turtle: (1 session, 1994)
* Panasonic: (1 session, 1995)
== Compilations ==
(2x7" - If It Ain't The Snow It's The Mosquitos) Sympathy For The Record Industry
*29 January 1993: Paska: Ace Of Spades 
*Peel Out In The States (Program 06): Paska: Ace Of Spades
== See Also ==
* Countries
* Bitch Alert (Riot grrrl band)
* Can Can Heads (Finnish fringe band)
* Deep Turtle (The first Finnish act to perform for a Peel session)
* Laika & The Cosmonauts (Finnish surf rock band)
* Melrose (Peel's favourite Finnish record)
* Mieskuoro Huutajat (Finnish shouting choir)
* Paska (Finnish one-man acapella band)
* Aleksi Perälä (Finnish electronic artist)
* Silver (Finnish children's noise rock band) 
* Teenage Kicks (Finnish garage rock band) 
* Terveet Kädet (Finnish hardcore punk band)
* Ukkidukkibukkidukkizui (Finnish minimalist act)
* Värttinä (Finnish folk music group)
*Wigwam (Finnish progressive rock band)
== External Links ==
* Wikipedia
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Category:Places
Category:Compilations