Mostly low flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
Climate
Cold temperate; potentially subarctic but comparatively mild because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current Baltic Sea and more than 60 000 lakes
Natural Hazards
Mostly low flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
Note:
Long boundary with Russia; Helsinki is northernmost national capital on European continent; population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain
Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now among the highest in Western Europe. A member of the European Union since 1995 Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999. Read more on Wikipedia
