The country of Finland: nature, people, languages and municipalities

Quick answers

What are the national languages of Finland?

Finnish and Swedish. This is written in section 17 of the Constitution. At the end of 2025, 83.5 percent spoke Finnish as their mother tongue and about 5 percent Swedish.

What are everyman's rights (jokaisenoikeudet)?

Everyone's right to move freely in Finnish nature. For example, you may walk in the forest and pick berries and mushrooms. You may not light an open fire or walk through someone's yard.

How many municipalities does Finland have?

In 2026 Finland has 308 municipalities. There are also 21 wellbeing services counties and 19 regions when Åland is counted.

What does a wellbeing services county do?

It organises social and health services and rescue services. Helsinki and Åland organise these services themselves.

Chapter 1 is about Finland as a country: its location, nature and climate, population, two national languages, the Sámi and Åland, and how it is divided into municipalities, wellbeing services counties and regions. The course is based on public sources, and we will update it to match the official material of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri) when it is published.

Where is Finland?

Finland is in Northern Europe. It is one of the Nordic countries (Pohjoismaat), together with Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Finland is a member of the EU and NATO.

Finland has a land border with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The longest border is with Russia, 1,344 kilometres. At the start of 2025, Finland’s area was 338,491 square kilometres, land and lakes together. From Hanko in the south to Utsjoki in the north it is 1,157 kilometres.

What is Finnish nature like?

Finland is a large and sparsely populated country. Over 70 percent of its area is forest. Statistics Finland estimates that there are about 168,000 lakes of at least 500 square metres. The largest lake is Saimaa. The longest river is Kemijoki. The highest point is Halti, 1,324 metres. There are archipelagos along the coast, and the largest island at sea is Ahvenanmanner.

What is the climate like in Finland?

Finland has four seasons. Winter is cold and dark. The temperature can drop below -20 degrees, and in the north even below -30 degrees. In the far north the sun does not rise for several weeks. This time is called kaamos (polar night).

In summer it is light even at night. In the far north the sun does not set at all in early summer. This is called yötön yö (the midnight sun). The warmest month is often July. In June Finns celebrate midsummer (juhannus).

In September and October the leaves turn yellow and red (ruska). In autumn and winter you can see the northern lights, most often in Lapland.

What are everyman’s rights?

Everyman’s rights (jokaisenoikeudet) mean that everyone may move freely in Finnish nature. The older Finnish name is jokamiehenoikeudet. They are free of charge, and you do not need the landowner’s permission.

You may, for example, walk, ski and cycle in nature, camp for a short time, pick berries and mushrooms, and fish with a rod and line or ice-fish. You may not cross someone’s yard or a cultivated field, cut down living trees, light an open fire, leave litter or drive off road. In Finland’s 41 national parks, everyman’s rights are limited.

How many people live in Finland?

Finland’s population was 5,652,881 at the end of 2025. At the same time, about 1.3 million people lived in the Helsinki capital region, that is, in Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen. Helsinki is the capital. Other large cities are Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu and Turku. At the end of 2025, 11.7 percent of the population had a foreign background.

What are the national languages of Finland?

According to section 17 of the Constitution, the national languages (kansalliskielet) of Finland are Finnish and Swedish. At the end of 2025, 83.5 percent of the people living in Finland spoke Finnish as their mother tongue and about 5 percent Swedish. Swedish is spoken most on the western and southern coast. The Swedish spoken in Finland is called Finland Swedish (suomenruotsi).

Everyone has the right to use Finnish or Swedish in court and with other authorities. A municipality is bilingual when at least 8 percent or at least 3,000 of its residents speak the minority language as their mother tongue. The Government decides the language status of municipalities for ten years at a time.

Who are the Sámi?

The Sámi are an indigenous people (alkuperäiskansa). The Constitution protects their right to maintain and develop their language and culture. About 10,000 Sámi live in Finland. Their homeland is Enontekiö, Inari, Utsjoki and the northern part of Sodankylä, but over 60 percent of the Sámi live outside it. Three Sámi languages are spoken in Finland: North Sámi, Inari Sámi and Skolt Sámi. All of them are endangered. In their homeland the Sámi have self-government over their language and culture, run by the Sámi Parliament (Saamelaiskäräjät).

What is Åland’s status?

Åland (Ahvenanmaa) is one of the regions of Finland, but it has self-government (itsehallinto). This is set out in section 120 of the Constitution and in the Autonomy Act. Åland has its own regional parliament (maakuntapäivät). The region is Swedish-speaking, and the language of the authorities is Swedish.

How is Finland divided into municipalities and regions?

According to the Constitution, Finland is divided into municipalities (kunnat). In 2026 there are 308 municipalities. The administration of a municipality is based on the self-government of its residents, and the municipality has the right to levy taxes. The council (valtuusto) makes the decisions and is elected in municipal elections for four years.

The municipality organises, for example, early childhood education, pre-primary and basic education, culture, sports and youth services, and employment services. Social and health services and rescue services are organised by the wellbeing services county (hyvinvointialue). There are 21 wellbeing services counties, and they started on 1 January 2023. Helsinki and Åland organise these services themselves.

If you move to Finland for at least one year, you can usually get a municipality of residence (kotikunta), which gives you access to municipal and county services.

There are 19 regions (maakunnat) when Åland is counted. The regional council develops the area and makes the regional land use plan.

What could the test ask about this chapter?

The official test material is not yet published. From this chapter, know at least:

• the Nordic countries and Finland’s neighbouring countries
• kaamos, yötön yö and everyman’s rights
• the national languages and section 17 of the Constitution
• the Sámi as an indigenous people and the Sámi languages
• Åland’s self-government
• what the municipality and the wellbeing services county do.

Practise chapter 1

Test yourself with the chapter 1 practice questions. They are our own questions, not official test questions, and they are in Finnish because the test is in Finnish or Swedish. Read each explanation.

Difficult words in this chapter

Pohjoismaat (the Nordic countries)

Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland

jokaisenoikeudet (everyman's rights)

everyone's right to move freely in Finnish nature; the old Finnish name is jokamiehenoikeudet

kaamos (polar night)

the time in winter in the far north of Finland when the sun does not rise at all

kansalliskieli (national language)

an official language of the country; in Finland Finnish and Swedish

alkuperäiskansa (indigenous people)

a people who lived in the area before today's states existed; in Finland the Sámi

itsehallinto (self-government)

the right to decide on your own affairs

kunta (municipality)

the smallest administrative area in Finland; the municipality provides services for its residents, such as schools

hyvinvointialue (wellbeing services county)

an area that organises social and health services and rescue services