Finnish celebrated their independence day on 6th December. Here some of the quickest facts about Finland.
1. From the late 12th century until the early 19th, Finland was ruled by Sweden.
2. In 1809, as a result of wars between Russia and Sweden, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire.
3. Their first Grand Duke as part of the Russian Empire was Alexander I, who was also Emperor of Russia and later became King of Poland.
4. Finland has 179,888 islands and 187,888 lakes.
5. The Finnish for Finland is “Suomi”.
6. Finland’s capital Helsinki is the most northerly city to stage the Summer Olympics, which it did in 1952. It had been chosen for the 1940 event which was cancelled because of the Second World War.
7. The only common English word taken directly from Finnish is “sauna”.
8. The International Day for Failure, celebrated on October 13, was started in Finland in 2010.
9. “Saippuakivikauppias”, which is Finnish for a dealer in soapstone, is the world’s longest oneword palindrome (it reads the same backwards).
10. Finland hosts annual world championships in Wife Carrying, Mobile Phone Throwing and Air Guitar Playing.
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