question: Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of , an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over 1.4 million, making it the most populous municipality and urban area in Finland. Helsinki is some north of Tallinn, Estonia, east of Stockholm, Sweden, and west of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities.

The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the urban core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns. It is the world's northernmost metro area of over one million people, and the city is the northernmost capital of an EU member state. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the third largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries after Stockholm and Copenhagen, and the City of Helsinki is the third largest after Stockholm and Oslo. Helsinki is Finland's major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europe's major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies that operate in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region. The nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia.
1. what is the most populous municipality in Finland?
2. how many people live there?
3. what percent of the foreign companies that operate in Finland are in Helsinki?
4. what towns are a part of the metropolitan area?
5. is Helsinki the capital of Finland?
6. what region is it in?
7. is it near a body of water?
8. which one?
9. where is Uusimaa located within Finland?
10. how many countries neighbor it?
11. is it east of Russia?
12. which city is it east of?
13. who is to the North?
14. what country is that in?
15. and what country is Stockholm in?
16. how does the Helsinki metro area rank in size within Nordic countries?
17. which cities are larger?
****
answer: 1. Helsinki
2. 1.4 million in the metropolitan area
3. 75%
4. Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen, and surrounding commuter towns
5. yes
6. Uusimaa
7. yes
8. Gulf of Finland
9. southern Finland
10. at least 3
11. no
12. Stockholm
13. Tallinn
14. Estonia
15. Sweden
16. third
17. Stockholm and Copenhagen

question: Roger Federer and Serena Williams have been named as 2009' s world champions by the International Tennis Federation(ITF) after topping the year-end rankings.

Federer, who wins the honour for the fifth time, completed a career Grand Slam at Roland Garros before winning his 15th Grand Slam ride at Wimbledon.

And Williams won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, her llth major success.

The pair will receive their awards at the annual 1TF world champions dinner in Paris in June.

Federer regained the world number one ranking from Rafael Nadal after his Paris victory and his Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick saw him surpass Pete Sampras' haul of Grand Slam titles.

He was also runner - up at the Australian Open and the US Open and helped his country retain its Davis Cup world group status.

" It is an honour for me to be named ITF world champion for a fifth time.It was an incredible year for me both on and off the court," said the 28 - year - old Swiss star whose wife Mirka gave birth to twin girls in July.

"To win my first Roland, Garros title, break the all - time Grand Slam record and regain the number one ranking is amazing.It means a lot to me to finish the year again at the top."

Williams takes _ for the first time since 2002.As well as her Grand Slam wins, she won the season - ending WTA Championships in Doha.sealing the top ranking in the last event of die year.

She also took the doubles year award with sister Venus after taking their career total to 10 Grand Slam titles.In doing so, she joins Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis as the only players to become singles and doubles world champions in the same year.

American twins Bob and Mike Bryan were named as the men' s doubles world champions for the sixth time in seven years.
1. Who named them world champions?
2. Was this the first time for Roger Federer?
3. How many times had he won it before?
4. Will he get an award?
5. Who else?
6. Does he have any children?
7. How many?
****
answer: 1. the International Tennis Federation
2. no
3. five
4. yes
5. Serena Williams
6. yes
7. at least two

question: The Aland Islands or Aland is an archipelago at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea belonging to Finland. It is autonomous, demilitarised and is the only monolingually Swedish-speaking region in Finland. It is the smallest region of Finland, constituting 0.49% of its land area and 0.50% of its population.

Aland comprises Fasta Aland on which 90% of the population resides and a further 6,500 skerries and islands to its east. Fasta Aland is separated from the coast of Sweden by of open water to the west. In the east, the Aland archipelago is contiguous with the Finnish Archipelago Sea. Aland's only land border is located on the uninhabited skerry of Market, which it shares with Sweden.

Aland's autonomous status means that those provincial powers normally exercised by representatives of the central Finnish government are largely exercised by its own government.

The autonomous status of the islands was affirmed by a decision made by the League of Nations in 1921 following the Aland crisis. It was reaffirmed within the treaty admitting Finland to the European Union. By law, Aland is politically neutral and entirely demilitarised, and residents are exempt from conscription to the Finnish Defence Forces. The islands were granted extensive autonomy by the Parliament of Finland in the Act on the Autonomy of Aland of 1920, which was later replaced by new legislation by the same name in 1951 and 1991. Aland remains exclusively Swedish-speaking by this act.
1. is it bilingual?
2. where do most of the people live?
3. which country does it belong to?
4. what is in the west of the Aland?
5. where is it located?
6. is it just one island?
7. where is it's land border?
8. does it share this with anyone?
9. who?
10. when was it affirmed?
11. who decided this?
12. what had happened for this to be decided?
13. what happened in 1920?
14. by who?
15. was this ever changed?
16. was it replaced?
17. how many times?
18. when?
19. is it a large part of Finland?
****
answer:
1. No
2. Fasta Aland
3. Finland
4. open water
5. Baltic Sea
6. No
7. on the uninhabited skerry of Market
8. Yes
9. Sweden
10. 1921
11. League of Nations
12. the Aland crisis
13. the Act on the Autonomy of Aland
14. the Parliament of Finland
15. No
16. Yes
17. Twice
18. 1951 and 1991
19. No