Facts about Finland

Nordic Location

Finland is in Northern Europe between Sweden to the west and Russia to the East. We also share a Northern land border with Norway. 

Finland belongs to Nordic countries along with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Estonia is located to the South across the Gulf of Finland, only a short ferry ride from Helsinki to Tallinn.

5.5 Million People

Finland has approximately 5.5 million inhabitants. The population is concentrated in the Southern part of the country which is more industrialised and home to our biggest cities. Northern Finland, or Lapland as it is s called, is above the Arctic circle. It is more remote and allows adventurers to experience true, untouched wilderness.

Then there is Adventure Apes, travelling North to South across the whole country.

8th largest country in Europe

In terms of area, Finland is the eighth largest country in Europe making up more than three hundred thousand square kilometers. It is the most sparsely populated country in the European Union. About 10 percent of the land area is made up of inland lakes.

Capital: Helsinki

(population: 664 921)

Other "big cities"     

  • Espoo (population: 305 179)

  • Tampere (population: 249 060)

  • Vantaa (population: 242 917)

  • Oulu (population: 211 858)

  • Turku (population: 197 917)

  • Jyväskylä (population: 145 943)

Official languages: Finnish & Swedish        

Finland is a bilingual country; the official languages are Finnish and Swedish. Approximately 90 percent of the population speaks Finnish as their mother tongue while a small minority of 5 percent grew up speaking Swedish. You’ll hear Swedish most often on the Western and Southern coast of Finland. Finland has also some other domestic languages: Three different Sami languages are indigenous of Finland and are spoken in the northern parts of the country.

No worries! Most Finns also speak fluent English, often they start learning in the 3rd grade.  On our adventures you will always have a guide who speaks English (or whatever your native language is as long as you arrange it in advance).

Finland is a young country, we celebrated our 100 year anniversary in 2017

Since the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden. After that, we were part of Russia. We have been independent since 1917 and celebrated our 100 year anniversary in 2017. Finland’s Independence Day is December 6th, a day complete with fireworks and festivities.

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