Lapland Odyssey (by Dome Karukoski, Helsinki-filmi) photo by Peter Salovaara

FACTS & FIGURES

  • Politics: Republic, parliamentary democracy, member of the European Union as well as UN, OECD and WTO.
  • President: Mrs. Tarja Halonen
  • Population: 5,3 million of which 62 % live in towns or urban areas, 38% in rural areas.
  • Capital City: Helsinki. Population of the capital region 564 000 or about a million with neighboring cities Espoo and Vantaa included.
  • Other principal cities: Tampere (206 000), Turku (175 000), Oulu (130 000).
  • Location: Northern Europe, between Sweden and Russia.
  • Flight connections: Directs flights from many European, American and Asian cities to Helsinki, domestic flights from Helsinki to other cities in the country. Open map Open domestic flights map
  • Ferry connections: There is international passenger and cargo traffic from Helsinki and Turku. Helsinki has ferry connections to Germany (Travemünde, Rostock), Poland (Gdynia), Sweden (Stockholm) and Estonia (Tallinn).
  • Official languages: Finnish, Swedish. English is widely spoken.
  • Religion: 89% Christian Lutheran, 1% Christian Orthodox.
  • Currency: Euro
  • Country Phone Code: +358
  • Country Code: FI
  • Time Zone: GMT+2
  • Time difference: www.timeanddate.com

Geography

  • Surface Area: 338 424 square kilometres of which 10% is water, 70% forest and 6% farmland.
  • Dimensions: 1160 km south to north, 540 km west to east.
  • Coastline: 1100 km
  • Lakes and islands: 187 888 lakes and 179 584 islands.
  • Largest lake: Saimaa (4400 km²)
  • Some of the highest fells: Halti (1328 m), Saana (1029 m), Pallas (807 m).
  • Finland is as northerly as Alaska. A quarter of the country lies north of the Arctic Circle. Finland has Europe’s largest archipelago off the southwest coast. Finland is the most heavily forested country in Europe. Finland shares a border with Russia to the east, measuring 1269 km (the longest in the European Union). Its other neighbors are Sweden (614 km) and Norway (727 km).
  • Main roads Open map
  • Railroads Open map
  • Transportation:
    Airlines: www.finnair.fi, www.blue1.fi
    Train: www.vr.fi
    Bus: www.matkahuolto.fi
  • Distances and directions: www.viamichelin.com
  • Regional film commissions on the map: Open map
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CLIMATE

  • Four distinct seasons. The climate is marked by cold winters and warm summers. The temperatures vary greatly, with extremes of +25ºC in the summer and -25ºC in the winter.
  • Snow cover usually spans from December to April in the north of Finland. Summer is from June to August.
  • From June to July the sun does not set at all in the north, whereas it does not rise at all in the darkest months of the north, December and January.
  • Average Snow Cover Arrival Open map
  • Average Depth of Snow Open graph
  • Average Temperatures Open graph
  • Daylight Hours Open graph
  • Average Rainfall Open graph

Weather services:
Foreca www.foreca.fi
Finnish Meteorological Institute www.fmi.fi/en

More questions? Send us an e-mail.

info@filmfinland.fi