Finland is... | Finland Portrait

Land of Four Seasons

Warm summers and snowy winters. The “weather portrait” of Finland sounds almost perfect, doesn’t it?
Because of Finland’s excellent location between Eurasian continent and Atlantic Ocean, the climate in Finland is quite unique. It’s a combination of maritime and continental climates. And thanks to this combination, Finns get to enjoy best parts of all four seasons.

Warm summers and snowy winters.
The “weather portrait” of Finland sounds almost perfect, doesn’t it?

Because of Finland’s excellent location between Eurasian continent and Atlantic Ocean, the climate in Finland is quite unique. It’s a combination of maritime and continental climates. And thanks to this combination, Finns get to enjoy best parts of all four seasons.

Finland is a Land of Four Seasons

Everyone is free to have their own opinion on how to define each season, but for the official statistics season are defined by the daily mean temperatures. The actual date when one seasons ends and the next one starts can vary greatly from year to year. And because Finland is a long country, season starts different time in southern Finland compared to the northern parts of the country.

Each year is different, and so is the weather. But no matter how long the winter or summer season is, each season in Finland has typical characteristics on how they differ from each other. All the seasons are great in their own way, but usually summer and winter gets most votes in popularity contests.

Spring in Finland

When spring arrives, it feels like it’s a start of something new. And that what it is in nature. After long cold season it starts to get warm again. Snow melts away and slowly nature shows its beautiful colors again. Officially the spring season begins when mean temperature is consistently above 0 °C. In southern Finland this usually happens around April, in northern Finland about a month later.

Summer in Finland

Summer is the season everyone waits for. Even those who think that winter is the best season, they wouldn’t think so if there wasn’t summer first. We all hope that summer begins early and ends late, but unfortunately that’s not always the case. Officially summer begins when daily mean temperature rises above 10 °C. By this definition, summer usually last from late May until September in southern Finland.

But to make summer really feel like summer, the temperature must rise above 15 °C, or better yet above 20 °C. Best chances for this is usually between mid-June and mid-August. Sometimes, If we are lucky, the first heat waves might arrive as early as May, or might last until the first days of September. The highest summer temperatures in Finland are above 30°C but luckily that’s quite rare.

Autumn in Finland

At first autumn might seem a bit sad season as it is a farewell to summer. Leaves drop from trees, sky looks grey and it feels like it’s raining constantly. But before that happens, the beginning of autumn is one of the greatest times of the year. As the temperature drops below 0 °C during nights, nature starts to get ready for winter and reveals those amazing autumn colors, or “ruska” as it is called in Finnish. This is the most inspiring time to enjoy nature outdoors.

Winter in Finland

And then comes the winter. It’s good that everyone likes this season so much, because winter is the longest seasons in Finland. Winter lasts about 100 days in southern Finland and 200 days in Lapland.

The coldest days of winter are usually at the end of January or in the beginning February. In Lapland the temperature might drop as low as -50 °C. In southern Finland the coldest temperatures are usually about -25 °C. Lakes freeze over usually in late November or early December. The snow cover is deepest around mid-March. In eastern Finland the snow cover can be as deep as 90 cm.

Sources:
Finnish Meteorological Institute

Land of National Parks

Finland is a land of lakes and forests, so you have are not short of options if you want to go for a little adventure and discover new exciting places in nature. But if you just want to enjoy the best Finland’s nature has to offer, the easiest way is to visit one of Finland’s national parks.

Do you love spending time out in the nature?
That’s great. You have come to the right place.
Because Finland is a land of national parks!

Because national parks (kansallispuistot in Finnish) are designed just for that; to enjoy beauty of nature. National parks are protected areas, but they are also for people. They are places where people get to all the great things nature has to offer. Within the parks there are most beautiful national landscapes but also cultural heritage sites.

Open for Everyone

National parks are established on state-owned lands and are open for everyone. The is no entrance fee or opening hours. However, there are some rules and regulations to make sure that you don’t cause any harm to the nature while visiting. And there are some restricted areas to protect the wildlife, but other than that, feel free to go hiking, skiing, rowing or canoeing. Parks have marked hiking routes, nature trails and biking routes.

You are free to pick berries and mushrooms (except in restricted areas). Campfires and camping are allowed in designated areas. Some parks have services like guiding, lodging and equipment rentals provided by local companies.

Finland has 41 National Parks

Currently There are 41 national parks in Finland. The first one was Pallas–Ounastunturi National Park which was opened in 1938. The newest is Salla National Park opened in 2022. It is situated in eastern Lapland and covers over 9,900 hectares.

Smallest National Park is Petkeljärvi with a size of 7 km². The Largest is Lemmenjoki, which cover 2 858 km². Find our more at www.nationalparks.fi/nationalparks

Lake in Nuuksio National Park — Nuuksio National Park

Sources:
Metsähallitus metsa.fi
National Parks nationalparks.fi

The Land of Forests

Forests are an important part of Finland. Forests are important to Finland’s economy, but they also have a huge impact Finns wellbeing, nature’s diversity and help to fight against climate change

Forests are an important part of Finland. If you think of a typical Finnish landscape, the most dominating element in that view is forest. Perhaps it’s no surprise to hear that Finland is covered mostly by forests.

Forests are of course important to Finland’s economy, but they also have a huge impact Finns wellbeing, are necessary to nature’s diversity and help to fight against climate change. All in all, forests are a big part of Finland’s identity.

Finland is a Land of Forests

Finland has over 20 million hectares of land available for wood production. It means that forest areas cover more than 75 per cent of the Finland’s land area. This makes Finland the most forested country in Europe when comparing proportional forest areas.

Finnish forests represent about 10 per cent of all forest areas in Europe (excluding Russia). Finland is the eight largest country in Europe, but has fifth largest wood resources only behind Russia, France, Sweden and Germany.

Finland’s Wood Resources are Growing

Finland’s wood resources have been monitored since the 1920’s and nowadays situation looks better than ever before because Finland’s green resources are growing. In 2020 the total reduction in wood resources was approximately 83,5 million cubic metres.

This includes roundwood removals (about 69 million cubic metres), logging residues left in the forest and the old trees which died for natural causes. In 2020 the total annual growth of Finnish forests was approximately 108 million cubic metres. This means that the wood resources keep on growing.

This has been the case for the past decades. Today the growing stock volume in Finland’s forests is about 2.5 billion cubic meters. This is 1.7 times the growing stock volume first recorded in the 1920’s.

Protecting the Green Assets

Forest are so important to Finland, that forests must be protected. Almost three million hectares, about 12,6 per of the Finland’s forest area is protected or under restricted use. This is the highest share in Europe. And even though every forest area isn’t protected, the destruction of forest is still prohibited in Finland. If the trees are logged down, it’s the forest owner’s responsibility to make sure that the forest is being renewed.

Sources:
Ministry of Agriculture of Forestry of Finland
Metsähallitus
Statistics Finland

The Land of a Thousand Lakes

Finland is sometimes called the land of a thousand lakes. Why is that. Are there really that many lakes. Or are there even more lakes?

Finland is sometimes called the land of a thousand lakes. This is actually quite good description, because water is important part of Finnish landscape. Except only of the most northern parts, water seems to be present anywhere you go.

If you visit any city in Finland, it is most likely located by water. All the biggest cities in Finland are either coastal towns by the Baltic Sea or inland cities located by a lake.

And if there is no lake for some reason, you can be pretty sure to find at least a river that runs right through the city. Check this the next time you are visiting Finnish city, and you’ll notice this to be true.

Land of How Many Lakes?

So the land of a thousand lakes must have thousand lakes, right?
No, not exactly, but it’s partly true.

Although thousand lakes does sound like a lot, it’s not even close to the real number. There are a lot more of them. There are around 57 000 lakes in Finland, if we count just the big ones, with a size one hectare or larger.

If we include also the smallest ponds with the size larger than 500 m², than the number of lakes in Finland is around 168 000. Previously there have been estimates that Finland has over 187 000 lakes, but perhaps latest number of 168 000 published by the National Land Survey of Finland is closer to the truth.

Most of the Finnish lakes are small ponds, there are also some big ones. If we compare the number of large lakes in European Union, Finland is quite dominant. In the European Union there are 93 lakes with the size of 100 km² or larger. 47 of these lakes are in Finland.

Largest lake in Finland is Saimaa with the size of 1393 km² . The other four big ones in the top five are Päijänne, Inari, Pielinen and Oulujärvi. Although big, Finnish lakes aren’t very deep. The deepest one is Päijänne with a maximum depth of 95 meters.

Land of Islands

Finland isn’t just rich with lakes. There are also an amazing number of islands as well. Finland has around 187 000 islands with an area of 100 m² or more. More than half of these are inland islands. The largest inland island is Soisalo with the size of 1638 km². It’s that big that you don’t even understand that you are on an island.

The island of Soisalo itself has over 700 lakes, with around 200 islands on them. The biggest of these is the 76-hectare island on lake the Saamaisjärvi. No Finnish islands in lakes on islands have lakes. Or at least we don’t know any.

Some of the Finnish cities are located on islands. For example, Savonlinna, Kotka and Helsinki are cities which are partly on islands.

Finland is the Land of Waters

Finland has 168 000 lakes, 187 000 islands and 647 rivers. So you can fairly say that water really is a big part of Finland. Freshwater areas (33 000 km²) actually cover one tenth of Finland’s surface area of 338 000 km². And with the sea water area of 52 000 km², Finland isn’t just land of lakes, it is land of water!

Sources:
Statistics Finland

Finland is a Big Small Country

Is Finland a large country?
How many people live there?
Find out why Finland is a big small country!

Why would you call Finland a big small country. Find out!

Is Finland a Large Country?

Yes, Finland is quite large if you compare it to the other European countries. With the total land area of 338,440 km² (131,991 square miles) Finland is the eight largest country in Europe. But compared to eastern neighbor Russia, which covers over 17 million square kilometers, Finland feels almost tiny. If not large, at least Finland can be called long. The longest distance from north to south is 1,157 km (717 miles). The greatest width from east to west is 542 km (336 miles).

Is Finland a Small Country?

Most of the Finns will probably answer yes, is you ask them if they think that Finland is a small country. Although distances are sometimes long, Finland still feels comfortably small for people living here. One of the reasons for this is the small number of inhabitants. Finland is home to just five and a half million people.

Is Finland a Northern Country?

Yes, Finland is definitely a northern country. It is one of the most northern countries in the world. If you haven’t found it on the map yet, I can’t blame you. You have to look from quite far north to find it. Finland’s capital Helsinki is actually the second northernmost capital in the world, second only to Iceland’s capital Reykjavik. Finland is one of the Nordic countries, together with Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Is Finland Sparsely Populated?

Yes, Finland is very sparsely populated. The average population density is just 18 inhabitants per km². In the capital region, which is home to almost 1.5 million people, there are about 170 inhabitants per square kilometer. While in the northernmost part of Finland, in Lapland, which covers one-third of Finland, the population density is just two inhabitants per square kilometer.

Is Finland Isolated?

Just by looking at the map you might think that Finland must be one of the most remote countries in the world. And with small number of inhabitants, Finland sounds like very isolated. But that’s not true at all. When you are in here, Finland feels anything but isolated. Here, on the shores of the Baltic Sea, sharing borders with Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, Finland feels like a vibrant heart of the Northern Europe.

Sources:
Statistics Finland www.stat.fi