An Introduction to Finland
The territory now known as Republic of Finland was a part of Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and then spent a century as a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire before winning independence in a civil war in 1918-9. It remained a largely agrarian country until the 1950s but its economy then developed rapidly, partly through an artful combination of close relations with the Sov'et Union and a Western European market economy, giving it benefits from both sides. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Europe (Other)
1 current Other European job:
GOVERNMENT: democratic parliamentary republic
AREA: 338,424 sq km
POPULATION: 5,410,233 (2012 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Official Languages: Finnish, Swedish
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Finland
Other wildlife is endangered in other ways. With a combination of a disproportionate share of the world's fastest drivers - rally specialists in their droves plus Formula One world champions Keke Rosberg, Mika Hkkinen and Kimi Rikknen - and 100,000 square miles of trees, it's not surprising that animals such as moose and reindeer cause several thousand traffic accidents every year.
In Olympic terms, fleet-of-foot Finnish finishing first have included legendary Olympic long-distance runners Paavo Nurmi, Ville Ritola and Lasse Virãn.
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The territory now known as Republic of Finland was a part of Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and then spent a century as a Grand Duchy within the Russian Empire before winning independence in a civil war in 1918-9. It remained a largely agrarian country until the 1950s but its economy then developed rapidly, partly through an artful combination of close relations with the Sov'et Union and a Western European market economy, giving it benefits from both sides.
Finland now has a liberal and highly competitive economy, a high standard of living and an ageing population. Forest covers 86% of the country's area, the highest percentage in Europe.
GDP: $195.7bn (2011 est.) - $36,236 per capita
Religions Evangelical Lutheran 77.2%; No religious affiliation 20.1%; Finnish orthodox 1.1%; other religions 1.5%
Currency: Euro
Telephone Code: + 358
MR Association(s):
SMTL (Finnish Association of Market Research Agencies)
Finland is the 29th largest research market in the world, and the 16th largest in Europe. 85 percent of MR turnover comes from domestic clients and 15 percent from international.
Source: ESOMAR
Finland has a highly industrialised mixed economy, with 66% of GDP from services and 31% from manufacturing and refining. Forestry is a major component - Finland is the largest producer of wood in Europe and among the largest in the world. From 1984, Finnish authorities introduced a long-term plan to raise lumber output toward the country's ecological limits to allow the country to keep its lead in the sector.
Finland is the only Nordic country to have joined the Eurozone - in fact, it appeared to do so keenly, commencing minting of the new Euro coins as early as 1999 - three years before they replaced the Finnish markka. A Finnish Euro coin with the date 1999 is a curiosity as other countries started much later.
The country's foreign trade is well-balanced. Exports of $73.53bn in 2010 consisted largely of electrical, optical and mechanical equipment, paper, pulp and timber, with key partners in 2009 including Germany (10.3%), Sweden (9.8%), Russia (9%) and the US (7.9%). Imports of $69.11bn were dominated by foodstuffs, petrol and chemicals, metals and yarns, with around half the 2009 total coming from three countries: Russia (16.3%), Germany (15.8%) and Sweden (14.7%).
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laurence@mrweb.com
