Country · Europe
Finland
Republic of Finland
Finland is a country in Northern Europe. Its capital city is Helsinki. About 5.5 million people live there, in an area of 338 424 square kilometres.
Picture credit: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Ximonic (Simo Räsänen) (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Markus Säynevirta (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Old Pionear (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Diego Delso (CC BY-SA 3.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Finland?
Finland lies in Northern Europe, on the continent of Europe.
It sits in the northern half of the world, roughly 7 124 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 1 250 km long.
It shares a border with 3 countries: Norway, Sweden and Russia.
How big is Finland?
Finland covers 338 424 square kilometres.
That is about 8.2 times the size of Switzerland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 65th largest.
Spread out evenly, that is roughly 16.3 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Finland?
About 5.5 million people live in Finland.
That is the 115th biggest population in the world.
People here speak Finnish and Swedish.
They pay with the Euro (€).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 77 years.
The land of Finland
The land in Finland sits on average 164 metres above sea level, which makes it one of the flatter countries on Earth.
Its coast runs for about 1 250 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 63 days.
It lies between the tropics and the poles, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Finland different?
A dish the country is known for: Karjalanpaisti, Mämmi and Sautéed reindeer.
Websites from here often end in .fi.
Finland and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 0.7 live in Finland.
It takes up about 0.25 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Europe it is the 7th largest of 45 countries, and the 23rd most populated.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Finland and its neighbours
Russia, its largest neighbour, is about 50.5 times bigger.
Russia has more people: 144.5 million against 5.5 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 7 live wild in Finland: Brown bear, Arctic fox, Eurasian beaver, Red squirrel, Moose and Reindeer and more.
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Finland?
The capital of Finland is Helsinki. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Finland?
About 5.5 million people live in Finland, which makes it the 115th most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Finland?
Finland borders Norway, Sweden and Russia — 3 neighbours in total.
How big is Finland?
Finland covers 338 424 square kilometres, making it the 65th largest country in the world. That is about 8.2 times the size of Switzerland.
Which continent is Finland in?
Finland is in Europe, in the part called Northern Europe.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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