Background: Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory. In the subsequent half century the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Geographic coordinates: 64 00 N 26 00 E

Map reference: Europe

Area
Total: 338,145 km²
Land: 304,473 km²
Water: 33,672 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Montana

Land boundaries
Total: 2,681 km
Border countries: (3) Norway 727 km; , Sweden 614 km; , Russia 1,340 km

Coastline: 1250 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm (in the Gulf of Finland - 3 nm)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Current account balance: $5.043 billion (2005 est.)

Exports: $67.88 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals metals; timber paper pulp (1999)
Partners: Russia 11.2% Sweden 10.7% Germany 10.5% UK 6.6% US 6.2% Netherlands 4.8% (2005)

Imports: $56.45 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Commodities: foodstuffs petroleum and petroleum products chemicals transport equipment iron and steel machinery textile yarn and fabrics grains
Partners: Germany 16.2% Sweden 14.1% Russia 13.9% Netherlands 6.2% Denmark 4.6% UK 4.3% China 4.2% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $11.4 billion (2005 est.)

Debt external: $211.7 billion (30 June 2005)

Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005) 0.8054 (2004) 0.886 (2003) 1.0626 (2002) 1.1175 (2001)

Natural gas
Production: 0 m³ (2003 est.)
Consumption: 5.028 billion m³ (2003 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 4.567 billion m³ (2001 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 2.12 million (2005)
Mobile cellular: 5.231 million (2005)

Telephone system
General assessment: modern system with excellent service
Domestic: digital fiber-optic fixed-line network and an extensive cellular network provide domestic needs
International: country code - 358; 1 submarine cable (Finland Estonia Connection); satellite earth stations - access to Intelsat transmission service via a Swedish satellite earth station, 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean regions); note - Finland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden)