Trivia

Finland has the greatest number of islands in the world -- 179,584

Total area: 338,000 square kilometres, of which 10% is water and 69% forest; 187,888 lakes, 5,100 rapids and 179,584 islands; Europe's largest archipelago, including the semi-autonomous province of Åland

Distances: 1,160 km north to south, 540 km west to east Finland's land border with Russia (1,269 km) is the eastern border of the European Union.

Climate: The climate of Finland is marked by cold winters and fairly warm summers. In the far north of the country the sun does not set for about 73 days, producing the white nights of summer. In winter the sun remains below the horizon for 51 days in the far north. In summer the temperature quite often rises to +20 Celsius or more and occasionally goes close to +30 in southern and eastern parts of the country. In winter, temperatures of -20 Celsius are not uncommon in many areas. Finnish Lapland invariably has the lowest winter temperatures. The mean temperature in Helsinki in July is +17 Celsius and in February -5.7 Celsius.