Finland is 338,000 sq. km in area, or roughly the size of Germany, with two thirds covered by forest and one tenth by water. With some 5 million inhabitants, Finland has a population density of only 15 per sq. km.

Finnish is the language most commonly spoken in Finland but some 6.4 percent speak Swedish, the other official language. The majority of Finns belong to the Lutheran Church, while approximately one percent are members of the Orthodox Church, both are State churches.