General tourist information |
| Tourist Visas: Most western nationals, including Americans, citizens of EU countries, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, Malaysians, Singaporeans and most South Americans do not need a visa for travel into Finland. Time: GMT/UTC +2 Electricity: 220V, 50Hz |
Your trip to Finland |
 Vantaa Airport serving Helsinki is a modern and efficient gateway to many parts of Europe and the Far East. There are excellent flight connections to Finland from all over the world. Finnair and other airlines have scheduled flights to Helsinki from most major cities in Europe, as well as from New York, Miami, Cairo, Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo. Twenty-two other international airlines offer flights to Helsinki. There are no departure taxes when leaving Finland. In addition to air transportation, arrival by land and boat from Sweden, Russia and Estonia are common and quite easy. Baltic ferries run from Sweden, Estonia and Germany to Helsinki and Turku. |
The finnish flag |
 The flag with "the blue of our lakes and the white snow of our winters", as a poet described these symbolic colours in 1870, was made official in a law enacted on 29th May, 1918, less than six months after Finland had achieved independence. |
Basic history of Finland |
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Population facts and figures |
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Religion |
Religion: 85,6% Lutheran and about 1% Orthodox |
The landscape |
Trees and water are the most obvious features of Finland’s natural landscapes. Forests cover more than two-thirds of the land, and lakes and rivers account for almost another tenth. But what gives Finnish scenery its own particular charm is the interplay between these two elements. Even the densest forests are interspersed with countless lakes, ponds and rivers; while even the largest lakes are dotted with tree-covered islands and promontories. |
Other informations |
Whatever time of year you visit Finland, there's something happening. Most museums and galleries are open year-round, and there is as much to do in the depths of winter as there is at the height of summer.
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Finland is situated in northern Europe between the 60th and 70th parallels of latitude. A quarter of its total area lies north of the Arctic Circle. Finland's neighbouring countries are Sweden, Norway and Russia, which have land borders with Finland, and Estonia across the Gulf of Finland. Much of the country is a gently undulating plateau of worn bedrock and boreal forests, presenting a striking mixture of wooded hills and waters. 
During the winter months, particularly in January and February, temperatures of minus 20 Celsius are not uncommon. In the far north, beyond the Arctic Circle, the sun does not set for about 73 days, producing the white nights of summer. In the same region, during the dark winter period, the sun remains below the horizon for 51 days, creating the polar night known in Finnish as kaamos.
The traditional sauna is a wooden building where the bathers sit on benches splashing water on the hot stones of the stove and gently beating themselves with leafy birch whisks. ‘Sauna’, the most commonly borrowed Finnish word, has spread from Finnish to several world languages, although the Finns believe not always in its original sense. 