According to Programingplease.com, the Republic of Finland or simply Finland is one of the five Nordic countries. It is the northernmost country in the European Union and one of the most sparsely populated. It borders Sweden to the west, Norway to the north and Russia to the east. The most important sectors of the Finnish economy in 2015 were public administration, defense, education, health and social services (21.8%), industry (20.6%), and wholesale and retail trade, the transport and hospitality (17.0%). Its main export partners are Germany, Sweden and the United States, while its main import partners are Germany, Sweden and Russia.
Population
Finnish customs
Scottish philosopher David Hume wrote:
” Custom constitutes the fundamental guide of human life.”
Indeed, knowledge of customs is an important guide to understand the soul of a country and its people. The following text tries to offer an overview of the environment of national customs: how its residents marry, how families celebrate their parties or festive occasions, what they eat, how they interact, how they have fun.
Population characteristics
According to data from 2008, Finland had a population of 5,244,749 residents, with a density of 17 residents / km², which makes Finland one of the countries in Europe with the highest rate of population dispersion. More than two-thirds live in the southern third of the country. Life expectancy is very high; 75 years for men and 83 years for women.
Administrative divisions
Since 1 as September as 1997, Finland is divided into 6 provinces (lääni in Finnish, Swedish län) and 19 regions, each administered by a governor appointed by the president. Åland enjoys considerable autonomy and has its own Parliament.
Main cities
The population of Helsinki, in 2006, was 564,521 residents. Helsinki is Finland’s foremost cultural, industrial and commercial center, and the seat of government. The two largest cities, after Helsinki, Tampere, with 202,932 residents, and Turku, the old capital, with 174,824 residents, are also notable industrial centers.
Education
In Finland, schooling is compulsory between the ages of 7 and 16. Literacy is 100% of adults. In addition to primary and secondary schools, Finland has an extensive adult education system with higher schools, popular academies and vocational training institutes. The infrastructure for adult education is managed privately, or by municipal or provincial authorities, and receives state subsidies. In 1998, education accounted for 10.4% of state spending.
Primary and secondary education
Compulsory education covers 10 years, six of primary schooling and three of secondary schooling. In 2000 392,150 children attended 3,851 primary schools and there were 493,187 secondary school students. Finland also has a secondary vocational training system with schools of trade, arts and crafts, home economics, agriculture and technology, with a total of 123,296 students enrolled in 1991.
The Ministry of Education has stipulated to supplant, as of 2016, the teaching of traditional calligraphy in schools to give way to instruction based on writing on portable tablets, a measure that has caused controversy but that reaffirms the indisputable role that they are performing ICT in today’s modern society.
Higher education
Finnish institutions of higher education, which include 13 universities, several higher education institutions and teacher training schools, had a total of more than 188,000 students enrolled in 1992 ; number during 2001 – 2002 was 283,805. The largest of the universities in Finland is the University of Helsinki, which was originally established in Turku in 1640 and moved to Helsinki in 1828.
Among other important institutions of higher education are:
- Turku University (1919)
- Helsinki School of Economics and Administrative Management (1911)
- Tampere University (1966)
- University of Oulu (1958).
