Finland

**Finland** (Finnish: *Suomi*), offeecially the *Republic o Finland*, (Finnish: *Suomen tasavalta*), is a Nordic kintra situatit in the Fennoscandie region o Northren Europe. Wastlins, it haes a mairch wi Swaden, norlins wi Norawa an eastlins wi Roushie, while Estonie lees soothlins athort the Gulf o Finland.

Aroond 5.4 million fowk reside in Finland, wi the majority concentratit in the soothren region. It is the aicht lairgest kintra in Europe in terms o aurie an the maist sparsely populatit kintra in the European Union. Finland is a pairliamentary republic wi a central govrenment based in Helsinki an local govrenments in 342 municipalities. A tot o aboot ane hunner residents live in the Greater Helsinki aurie; (whilk includes Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen an Vantaa), an a third o the kintra's GDP is produced thare. Ither lairger ceeties include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Kuopio an Kouvola.

Finland wis heestorically a pairt o Swaden an frae 1809 on, an autonomous Grand Duchy within the Roushie Empire. Finnish Declaration o Unthirldom frae Roushie in 1917 wis follaed bi a ceevil war, wars agin the Soviet Union an Nazi Germany, an a period o offeecial neutrality in the Cauld War. Finland jyned the Unitit Naitions in 1955, the OECD in 1969, the European Union in 1995, an the eurozone syne its inception.

Finland wis a relative latecomer tae industrialisation, remainin a lairgely agrarian kintra til the 1950s. Syne, economic development wis rapid, Finland biggit an extensive welfare state an balanced atween the East an the Wast in global economics an politics. The kintra taps continuously the internaitional comparisons o naitional performance. Finland ranks the best kintra in the warld in the 2010 *Newsweek* survey based on heal, economic dynamism, eddication, poleetical environment an quality o life. Finland haes been ranked the seicont maist stable kintra in the warld an the first in the 2009 Legatum Prosperity ratin.

## History
### Antient Finland
Finland mey be auldest bydit-in kintra o aa the Nordic kintras, gin the staid o Susiluola is as auld as jaloused - 130,000 year. Gin no, the auldest traces o human habitation in Finland is aboot 8500 BC, whan evidents o a hunter-gaitherir cultur hae been funn. Fowk seem tae hae settled mair aroond the 6t yearthoosan BC.
The Finnish Bronze Eild stairtit aroond 1500 BC, an the Airn Eild sum thoosan year efter that. The Airn Eild in Finland endit aroond 1200 AD. Atween the twa, thare wis a great cultural growthe, an graffs o the time shaw evidents o a sopheesticatit cultur, likely ruled ower bi a chieftanlike elite. Thare isnae onie evidents o state-formin at thair time.

### Middle Eilds
In the monie haundowers o pouer an chynges o whit wis the dominant kinrick in Scandinavie in thir tymes, Finland nivir got the upper haund, an wis aye ruled ower bi ane o the ithir naitions, fer ordinar Swaden, tho eistern pairts wur aften pairt o Roushie territory. As a result o this, Swadish becam a mair heich status leid nor Finnish.

It wis at this time that Finland wis convertit tae Christianity. Syne Wastren Europe at thair time wis Roman Catholic an Roushie wis Orthadox, it is eften said that at thair time Eastren Finland merked the mairch atween Catholick an Orthadox Christendom.

Eastron Finland wis the staid o monie fechts atween the Finns an Roushians - fer insaumple the war o 1495-7. Accordin tae Finnish fowklair, the dun-toun wis saufed in a muckle Roushie seige bi an unco o God.

### The 17t Yearhunder
As pairt o the Swadish Empire unner Gustav II Adolf, Finland jyned the Thirty Years War on the Protestant side. The Finnish cavalry, cried the *Hakkapeliitat* played a muckle pairt in monie o Adolphus' victories. In thir tymes, Swaden wis ane o Europe's maist important pouers, an her airmie wis ane o the best; aiblins the best in the warld, an the Hakkapeliitat wer an important factor in that; feared an respectit bi thair faes.

In a releegious sense, the 17t yearhunder wis a tyme o Lutheran domination an strickness efter the Reformation. The law o Moses wis declared the law o the land in 1608, an the skeel o readin became mair widespread due tae efforts tae teach the haill fowk tae read the Bible an ithir releegious texts.

A gey bad hership atween 1697 an 1699 reducit the Finnish population bi sumwhar in the region o 30%, an no lang efter anithir lang war furder hammered the Finns wi mair trouble.

### The 18t tae the 20t Yearhunder
Ower the 18t yearhunder, Finland wis twa tyme thirled bi Roushie, an a series o wars atween Roushie an Swaden followit. While pairt war annexed bi Roushie an the wars brocht misery tae the local fowk, Finland as pairt o Swaden wis haen sum muckle impruivments an aa - technological an social forbye, sic as the mair democratic reforms in parliament, or the makkin o the Empire's first het air balloon in 1784 (anerlie a year efter the device wis inventit in Fraunce).

Houmever, in 1771 Gustav III o Swaden teuk owerins o the kinrick, horsed oot the parliament an stairtit anithir, unsuccessfou war agin Roushie. Roushie agitatit naitionalist feelins in Finland tae try an set up an unthirlt Finnish state an turn Swaden's plans tapsalteerie, bot wi smaa success.

The Finnish War o 1808-9 saw Finland faa intae Roushian haunds, an it became a Grand Duchy o the Roushian Empire. The 19t yearhunder saw industrialisation (sic as minin, forestry an machin warkin) tak hauld o Finnish ceeties, tho the fowk as a haill wad remain fer ordinar landward warkers til the mid 20t yearhunder.

A surge o naitionalism, aften leid-based, saw Finns stairt tae demand mair autonomy, an rejeck Swadish fer Finnish. A muckle pairt o this wis the publication o the naitional epic Kalevala in 1835. The process o naition biggin lairgely involvit the "Leid Strife", whilk got monie Finns tae view thaimsels as pairt o Finnish naition, an stairtit tae want naethin tae dae wi Roushie ava. This, alang wi seemilar naitionalist movements in ithir pairts o the Empire, promptit a response o "Roushiefication" frae the authorities, whilk mainly servit tae hairden naitionalist feelin.

As a result o the 1905 Roushian Revolution, Finland wis grantit a parliament. Universal sufferage wis implementit, makkin Finland the first kintra in Europe tae gie wummin the vote.

### Unthirldom an Ceevil War

In the wheen o confusion follaein the Bolshevik takkin o pouer in Roushie in October 1917, it wis decidit that Roushie aither cuilnae or shuildnae hae control ower the non-Roushian pairts o the Empire, an sae the feck o thaim wer grantit unthirldom, Finland amang thaim. Finland became an unthirlt state fer the first tyme on the 6t o December 1917.
Frae Januar tae Mey 1918 a bitter ceevil war wis fechtit atween the bourgeois "Whites" led bi C.G.E. Mannerheim, an the communist "Reds". The Whites eventually won the war, tho it left a bitter legacy whilk didnae end suin, an causit diveesion fer monie year efterward. The economic devastation whilk the war haed causit wesnae owercum til 1925.

### Finland atween the twa Wurld Wars
Efter the election o Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg as Finland's first preses, the new republic haed a wheen o problems tae face. Ane o thir wis the issue o the Åland Islands, whilk wer owerwhelminly Swadish speakin an wantit tae return tae Swadish haunds. Housamever the Finns didnae want tae gie up the Islands, an offered the Islands unthirlt status as pairt o Finland. The Ålanders didna approve o this, an sae the League o Naitions wis cried in. The peacefu dounset o issue (muckle alang the lines the Finns wantit) wis ane o the League's gey few successes.

Relations wi the Soviet Union wernae gey guid atween the wars, despite the *Treaty of Tartu* in 1920. Incidents alang the mairch an, in 1932, Soviet restreections on Finnish shippin in the Gulf o Finland an Loch Lagoda (baith o whilk wer closed tae Finns in 1937).

Anithir problem wis the proto-facist *Lapua Movement*, whilk wis the result o naitionalist an anti-communist feelin left ower frae the Ceevil War. Efter a failed attempt tae tak pouer in 1932, the group wis banned.
At thir tyme ther wis an aa a failed attempt tae introduce prohibition. The attempt lastit frae 1919 tae 1932. As wi the seemilar attempt in Americae, this failed an haed a gey bad effect on crime rates an drinkin cultur.

### The Seicont Warld War

Anti-communist feelin wis still strang in Finland, an relation wi the USSR haed nevir been gey guid ava in onie case, an eikit till Finnish dreids fer thair survivin as a fowk an naition (syne thay kent mair anent the Purges nor maist ithir kintras) meant that whan the war stairtit, the Finns an Soviets wer in opposeetion tae ilk ithir. Finland fechtit the Soviet Union twa tyme in the Seicont Warld War, firstly defendin thairsels in the *Winter War* o 1939-40 an then, wi support frae Nazi Germany thay carriet oot the *Continuation War* o 1941-44, in whilk thay invatit pairts o wastron Roushie, tho thay eventually lost o Petsamo, thair ainlie ice-free hyne.
Eventually the USSR defeatit thaim, an unner armistice condeetions, thay fecht agin Germany in the *Lapland War* o 1944-5 in whilk the Finns forced the Germans tae retreat tae yont Northin Finland an bak intae Norrowey, whilk at thir tyme wes thirlt tae Germany.

### Efter the War
In 1955 Finland jyned baith the Nordic Council an the Unitit Naitions an the European Free Tred Association in 1986. Finland faced sum muckle economic problems in the eirlie 1990s fer twa main reasons. Firstly ther wis the "economic owerheat" frae thay gey leeberal policies o the auchties; an seicont the dissoultion o the USSR (Finland's mucklemaist tred pairtner) in 1991. Thir problems wer lairlie solvit bi jynin the EU (European Union) 1995. The day Finland is ane o the maist weil-aff an heichlie educatit kintras in the warld.

## Poleetics
Finland is a parliamentary democracy, an the preses the nou is Sauli Niinistö. Finland, lik the lave o the Nordic kintras is kent fer haein a leeberal society an a gey guid welfare state. It is ane o the maist free kintras an aw, wi great freedom o the press, ceevil liberties, poleetical richts an accordin tae *Transparency International* is the least corrupt kintra in the warld. Finland wis an aa the first kintra tae gie wummin the richt tae vote.

## Leids
Finland's offeecial leids is Finnish an Swadish, an forby thon, Sami leids is spak in northren pairts o Finland.

The muckle feck o Finnish fowk (92%) hae Finnish as thair mithir leid. Aboot 5.5% hae Finland Swedish (kent as *Finlandsvenska*, whilk is a tait deeferant frae whit is spak in Swaden), an less nor 7,000 hae ane o the thrie Sami leids spak in Finland. Roushie an Estonian ar spak bi gey smaa minorities. Forbye, maist Finns are mair nor a tait guid at Inglis, whilk thay leir at schuill, an monie hae French or German an aa.

## Internaitional rankins

## Fremmit Airtins
* http://fi.wikipedia.org Finnish Wikipedia

## Fitmerks