Finland

parliamentary republic

name: Helsinki geographic coordinates: 60 10 N, 24 56 E time difference: UTC+2 (7 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October etymology: the modern name is a Finnish derivation; King Gustav VASA of Sweden founded the city in 1550 as Helsingfors; the name came from Helsing , the Old Norwegian name for a local people, and the word fors , or "waterfall," referring to a waterfall at the city's original location on the Vantaa River

chief of state: President Alexander STUBB (since 1 March 2024) head of government: Prime Minister Petteri ORPO (since 20 June 2023) cabinet: Council of State or Valtioneuvosto appointed by the president, responsible to Parliament election/appointment process: president directly elected by absolute-majority popular vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a 6-year term (eligible for a second term); prime minister appointed by Parliament most recent election date: 28 January 2024, with a runoff on 11 February 2024 election results: 2024: Alexander STUBB elected in the second round; percent of vote in the first round - Alexander STUBB (KoK) 27.2%, Pekka HAAVISTO (Vihr) 25.8%, Jussi HALLA-AHO (PS) 19.0%, Olli REHN (Kesk) 15.3%; percent of vote in second round - STUBB 51.6%, HAAVISTO 48.4% 2018: Sauli NIINISTO reelected president; percent of vote - Sauli NIINISTO (independent) 62.7%, Pekka HAAVISTO (Vihr) 12.4%, Laura HUHTASAARI (PS) 6.9%, Paavo VAYRYNEN (independent) 6.2%, Matti VANHANEN (Kesk) 4.1%, other 7.7% expected date of next election: by 28 January 2030

legislature name: Parliament (Eduskunta - Riksdagen) legislative structure: unicameral number of seats: 200 (all directly elected) electoral system: proportional representation scope of elections: full renewal term in office: 4 years most recent election date: 4/2/2023 parties elected and seats per party: National Coalition Party (KOK) (48); The Finns Party (PS) (46); Social Democratic Party (SDP) (43); Center Party (KESK) (23); The Greens (13); Left Alliance (Vas) (11); Other (16) percentage of women in chamber: 45.5% expected date of next election: April 2027

highest court(s): Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (consists of the court president and 18 judges); Supreme Administrative Court (consists of 21 judges, including the court president; organized into 3 chambers) judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court judges appointed by the president of the republic; judges serve until mandatory retirement at age 68 subordinate courts: 6 Courts of Appeal; 8 regional administrative courts; 27 district courts; special courts for issues relating to markets, labor, insurance, impeachment, land, tenancy, and water rights note: Finland has a dual judicial system; courts with civil and criminal jurisdiction, and administrative courts with jurisdiction for litigation between individuals and administrative organs of the state and communities

history: previous 1906, 1919; latest drafted 17 June 1997, approved by Parliament 11 June 1999, entered into force 1 March 2000 amendment process: proposed by Parliament; passage normally requires simple majority vote in two readings in the first parliamentary session and at least two-thirds majority vote in a single reading by the newly elected Parliament; proposals declared "urgent" by five-sixths of Parliament members can be passed by at least two-thirds majority vote in the first parliamentary session only

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PFP, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNHRC, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNMOGIP, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNSOM, UNTSO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

2.8% of GDP (2025 est.) 2.4% of GDP (2024 est.) 2.1% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.7% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2021 est.)

Finnish Defense Forces (FDF; Puolustusvoimat): Army (Maavoimat), Navy (Merivoimat), Air Force (Ilmavoimat) (2025) note: the Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos) and National Police are under the Ministry of the Interior; the Border Guard becomes part of the FDF in wartime

all Finnish men are obligated to serve 5.5-12 months of service within a branch of the military or the Border Guard upon reaching the age of 18 (length of service depends on the type of duty); women 18-29 may volunteer for service; there is also an option to perform non-military service which lasts for 8.5 or 11.5 months; after completing their initial conscript obligation, individuals enter the reserves and remain eligible for mobilization until the age of 50 for rank-and-file and 60 for non-commissioned and commissioned officers (2025) note: Finland has had conscription since 1951; each year, the military inducts and active-duty units train approximately 21,000 conscripts; the resulting pool of trained reservists gives the FDF a wartime strength of approximately 280,000 and a total reserve of some 900,000 citizens with military service

the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) are focused primarily on territorial defense, which is based on having a large, trained reserve force created by general conscription; other FDF responsibilities include support to international peacekeeping operations and some domestic security duties, such as assisting the National Police in maintaining law and order in crises the FDF is also focused on fulfilling its commitment to NATO; following Russia s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Finland applied for NATO membership, gaining entry in April 2023; Finland had been part of NATO s Partnership for Peace program since 1994 and participated in NATO-led military missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq; in 2024, it joined NATO's Air Policing mission in Eastern Europe Finland is a signatory of the EU s Common Security and Defense Policy and actively participates in EU crisis management missions and operations; the FDF also cooperates closely with the militaries of other Nordic countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation structure (NORDEFCO; established 2009), which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and involves cooperation in such areas as armaments, education, human resources, training and exercises, and operations; Sweden, the UK, and the US are close bi-lateral defense partners; in 2022, Finland signed a mutual security agreement with the UK, and since 2014 has been part of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries designed to respond to a wide range of contingencies in the North Atlantic, Baltic Sea, and High North regions (2025)

165 Lebanon (UNIFIL); Finland also contributes to several ongoing EU and NATO missions (2025)

$313.591 billion (2024 est.) $314.075 billion (2023 est.) $317.078 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$55,600 (2024 est.) $56,200 (2023 est.) $57,100 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

-0.2% (2024 est.) -0.9% (2023 est.) 0.8% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

1.6% (2024 est.) 6.3% (2023 est.) 7.1% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

61.3% of GDP (2017 est.) note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

$124.531 billion (2024 est.) $127.098 billion (2023 est.) $129.389 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$122.644 billion (2024 est.) $126.175 billion (2023 est.) $135.119 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

8.3% (2024 est.) 7.2% (2023 est.) 6.8% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $126.337 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $131.978 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing

milk, barley, oats, wheat, potatoes, sugar beets, pork, chicken, peas, rye (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 5,550,449 (2025 est.) male: 2,750,057 female: 2,800,392

0.02% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 16.2% (male 464,939/female 444,585) 15-64 years: 60.3% (male 1,725,072/female 1,668,604) 65 years and over: 23.5% (2024 est.) (male 583,645/female 739,569)

7.75 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

11.01 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

3.44 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 82.2 years (2024 est.) male: 79.3 years female: 85.2 years

urban population: 85.8% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 0.42% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Estonian, Romani, Sami note: 90.9% of the population has a Finnish background (2022 est.)

Finnish (official) 85.9%, Swedish (official) 5.2%, Russian 1.7%, other 7.2% (2022 est.) major-language sample(s): World Factbook, korvaamaton perustietol hde. (Finnish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Lutheran 66.6%, Greek Orthodox 1.1%, other 1.7%, none 30.6% (2022 est.)

timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver, limestone

Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS)

refugees: 97,568 (2024 est.) stateless persons: 1,326 (2024 est.)

98 (2025)

total: 5,918 km (2020) 3,349 km electrified

total: 282 (2023) by type: bulk carrier 9, general cargo 75, oil tanker 4, other 194

total subscriptions: 7.07 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 126 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 94% (2023 est.)