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Finland

The Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavalta Swedish: Republiken Finland) is a Nordic country in northeastern Europe, bounded by the Baltic Sea to the southwest, the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west. Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are under Finnish sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy. The commonly used Finnish name for the country is Suomi, the Swedish one Finland. (In Latin, Finland is Fennia, this is used in scientific naming.)

Finland has a population of five million people in more than 330,000 square kilometres (127,000 sq. mi), making it the 162nd most densely populated country in the world. It ranked thirteenth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.

Politics

Finland has a semi-presidential system with Parliamentarism. The President of Finland is formally responsible for foreign policy. Most executive power lies in the cabinet (the Finnish Council of State) headed by the prime minister chosen by the parliament. The Council of State is made up of the prime minister and the ministers for the various departments of the central government as well as an ex-officio member, the Chancellor of Justice.

The 200-member unicameral Parliament of Finland is called the Eduskunta (Finnish) or Riksdag (Swedish). It is the supreme legislative authority in Finland. The parliament may alter the Constitution of Finland, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, and override presidential vetoes. Its acts are not subject to judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the Eduskunta members, who are elected for a four-year term on the basis of proportional representation through open list multimember districts.

The judicial system of Finland is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and administrative courts with responsibility for litigation between the individuals and the administrative organs of the state and the communities. Their jurisdiction can be illustrated with an example: Parents unsatisfied with the school placement of their child would appeal against the board of education in an administrative court as the school placement is subject to an administrative decision. Finnish law is codified and its court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. The administrative branch of justice consists of administrative courts and the Supreme Administrative Court. The administrative process has more popularity as it is cheaper and has lower financial risk to the person making claims. In addition to the regular courts, there are a few special courts in certain branches of administration. There is also a High Court of Impeachment for criminal charges (for an offence in office) against the President of the Republic, the justices of the supreme courts, members the Council of State, the Chancellor of Justice and the Ombudsman of Parliament.

The parliament has, since equal and common suffrage was introduced in 1906, been dominated by Conservative Nationalists, Agrarians, and Social Democrats — after 1944 Communists have been a factor to consider. Liberal parties and ideologues may have been somewhat less prominent in Finland than in many comparable countries. Since Finland is constitutionally bilingual, there also exists a language-minority party, the Swedish People's Party. The relative strengths of the parties vary only slightly in the elections due to the proportional election from multimember districts but there are some visible long-term trends.

It should be noted that the Finnish political system remained democratic during the Cold War, although the political atmosphere was largely influenced by the neighbouring Soviet Union and a certain degree of self-censorship.

The constitution of Finland and its place in the judicial system are unusual in that there is no constitutional court and the supreme court does not have an explicit right to declare a law unconstitutional. In principle, the constitutionality of laws in Finland is verified by a simple vote in the parliament. However, the Constitutional Law Committee of the parliament reviews any doubtful bills and recommends changes, if needed. In practice, the Constitutional Law Committee fulfils the duties of the constitutional court. A Finnish peculiarity is the possibility to make exceptions to the constitution in usual laws that are enacted in the same procedure as constitutional amendments. An example of such law is the State of Preparedness Act which gives the Council of State certain exceptional powers in cases of national emergency. As these powers, which correspond the US executive orders, affect the constitutional basic rights, the law was enacted in the same manner as a constitutional amendment. However, it can be repealed in the same manner as a usual law. In addition to the preview of the Constitutional Law Committee, all Finnish courts of law have the obligation to give precedence to the constitution when there is an obvious conflict between the constitution and a regular law. That is, however, very rare. The only other European countries that lack a constitutional court are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (which does not have a codified constitution).

Economy of Finland

Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy, based on abundant forest resources, capital investments, and technology. Traditionally, Finland has been a net importer of capital to finance industrial growth. In the 1980s, Finland's economic growth rate was one of the highest of industrialized countries, with per capita output roughly that of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden and Italy.

Finland's key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications and electronics industries. The telecommunications and electronics industries are now the biggest export sector. Trade is important, with exports equaling more than one-third of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population, although the importance has declined in the recent years.

In 1991, Finland fell into a deep recession caused by economic overheating, depressed foreign markets and the dismantling of the barter system between Finland and the former Soviet Union. More than 20% of Finnish trade was with the Soviet Union before 1991, and in the following two years the trade practically ceased. 1991 and again in 1992, Finland devalued the markka to promote export competitiveness. This helped stabilize the economy; the recession bottomed out in 1993, with continued growth through 1995. Since then the growth rate has been one of the highest of OECD countries.

The recession caused serious unemployment problem as unemployment soared from 3,2 % in 1990 to 16,6 % in 1994. Unemployment continues to be a problem for Finland even if rapid growth of the production after the recession and active employment policies have reduced unemployment to 8,8 % of labor force in 2004. According to Bank of Finland's statistics, the estimated total rate of unemployment including hidden unemployment accounted to 18% in the fall of 2003.

Exports of goods contribute more than 20% of Finland's GDP; combined exports of goods and services amount to at least 25% of GDP. Exports and imports of goods equal about 40% of GDP. Timber and metalworking are Finland's main industries, but other industries produce manufactured goods ranging from electronics to motor vehicles. Finnish-designed consumer products such as textiles, porcelain, and glassware are world-famous.

Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imported raw materials, energy, and some components for its manufactured products. Farms tend to be small, but sizeble timber stands are harvested for supplementary income in winter. The country's main agricultural products are dairy, meat, and grains. Finland's EU accession has accelerated the process of restructuring and downsizing of this sector, with the farming population decreasing.

An extensive social welfare system, constituting about one-fifth of the national income, includes a variety of pension and assistance programs and a comprehensive health insurance program. Although free education through the university level also is available, only about one child in four receives a higher education in the highly competitive system. In the mid-1970s, the educational system was reformed with the goal of equalizing educational opportunities. Beginning at age seven, all Finnish children are required to attend a comprehensive school (peruskoulu) of nine grade levels (six primary and three secondary). After this, they may elect to continue along an academic (lukio) or vocational (ammattikoulu) line. About 60% select the academic line. The number of openings in higher educational institutions is less than the demand. The education is based in Finnish or Swedish language. It is also now possible to study in English from primary up to University.

Finland generally welcomes foreign investment. Areas of particular interest for investors are specialized high-tech companies and investments. The good infrastructure in Finland has enhanced Finland's position as a gateway to Russia.

According to Transparency International, Finland has the lowest level of corruption in all the countries studied in their survey.

Finland is experiencing rapidly increasing integration with Western Europe: Finland was one of the 11 countries joining (Greece joined later) the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) on 1 January 1999. The national currency markka (FIM) in circulation was withdrawn and replaced by euro (EUR) in the beginning of 2002.

Nokialand

Finland is sometimes referred to as Nokialand. This has to do with Nokia being a Finnish company and the positive impact of Nokia´s succes on the Finnish economy. Nokia increased the Finland's GDP by more than 1.5 percent in 1999 alone. In 2004 Nokia's share of the Finland's GDP was 3.5 percent and accounted for almost a quarter of Finland's exports in 2003. Nokia is an important employee in Finland and several small companies have grown into large ones as Nokia's subcontractors.

Finnish innovation system

Finland is a relatively remote country with a small population and few natural resources. In Finland, education and innovation are seen as important means to success in the global economy. During the last century, Finland transformed from a poor and agrarian nation to a prosperous industrialized country.

The Finnish government and some regions have established different kinds of organizations to support innovation and business. Breeding innovations into successful businesses has traditionally been a problem. The international success of Nokia and many smaller high-tech companies has been seen as a proof of the competitiveness of the Finnish system.

Finland has one of the highest patents-per-person ratios in the world. Finns tend to attribute this to "creative insanity".

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