Exporting to Finland -guide

Finland as an export market
Small country,
high standard of living
Finland is the most northern country of the
European Union. Its neighbours are Sweden and
Norway in the west, Russia in the east and Estonia
– across the Gulf of Finland – in the south.
The population is about 5.3 million, of which
two thirds live in the urban areas. The capital of
Finland, Helsinki, lies on the south coast. Other
bigger cities are Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Kuopio
and Oulu. Around one million people live in
the Helsinki metropolitan area. The population
density is quite low with 15.5 inhabitants per
square kilometre. By their ethnic background,
the population is very homogeneous, only about
2% having a foreign origin. The official languages
are Finnish – 94% of the population speak Finnish
as their mother tongue – and Swedish (6%).
Finland’s history is very much linked with the
neighbouring countries. In the 12th century, the
first missionaries from Sweden crossed the Baltic
Sea and Finland became part of the Swedish
realm. In 1809, Sweden surrended Finland to
Russia and in 1917 Finland declared independence
from Russia. In 1995, Finland joined the
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