Finland

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Finland

Finland is a highly developed democratic country situated in northeastern Europe. It borders Russia to the east, Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, and the Baltic Sea to the south. Since gaining independence from Russia in 1917, Finland has had a democratic form of government. From 1945 to 1991, Finland, although a democratic state with historical ties to Western Europe, pursued an official policy of neutrality and maintained close ties with the Soviet Union. With the Cold War's end came a tilt to the West in Finnish foreign policy, and Finland joined the European Union (EU) in 1995. Finns enjoy an advanced and productive economy, extensive social welfare programs, and one of the highest standards of living in the world.

basic facts

Finland is a presidential/parliamentary republic that is 337,115 square kilometers (130,160 square miles) in area, approximately the size of Montana, with its capital in Helsinki. The population is estimated at 5.2 million; the ethnic breakdown is as follows: Finns (93%), Swedes (6%), and small numbers of Saami (Lapps), Romani (gypsies), and Tatars. The overwhelming majority of Finland's citizens are Lutheran (89%). The gross national product (GNP) per capita is 26,800 euros. Both Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of the nation.

historical development

The origins of the Finnish people remain relatively obscure, but most agree that they arrived in Finland thousands of years ago from Siberia. Finns speak an Finno-Ugric language that is distantly related to Turkish and Mongolian and far removed from West European languages. The first written accounts of Finnish history recount a Swedish "crusade" in the 1150s to spread Christianity to the Finns and incorporate Finnish lands into the Swedish Crown. For over 600 years Finland was an integral part of the Swedish kingdom. Finns played a prominent role in many aspects of the state, particularly the military, but the land-owning elites on the territory of today's Finland were Swedish-speaking. Meanwhile, the peasants engaged in small-scale farming—the majority of the population—and retained Finnish as their native tongue. This heritage is important, as there was still a sizable Swedish-speaking minority in Finland in the early twenty-first century and Swedish has been recognized as one of the official languages of the state.

As Russia began to emerge as a great power in the 1700s, Finland and adjoining lands on the Baltic coast became targets of Russian expansionism. At the same time the Swedish state was becoming militarily weaker, and Sweden and Russia fought several wars for control of the Baltic region. In 1809 Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar Alexander I of Russia and incorporated into the Russian Empire as a semiautonomous grand duchy . With this status Finland enjoyed a high degree of self-rule, including for a time its own diet or parliament. Ironically, it was under Russian rule that Finland began to experience a nationalist renaissance, led by intellectuals and an emerging middle class. The publication in 1835 of The Kalevala, an epic of Finnish myths and legends, would rank as one of the most important events in the Finnish national movement. Although Finland enjoyed the political liberalization pursued by Czar Alexander II (1855–1881) (a statue of whom may be found in Helsinki today), by the 1890s "Russification" and a curtailment of Finnish rights began to provoke more resistance, culminating in the assassination of the Russian governor-general in 1904. The 1905 revolution in Russia brought another round of liberalization to Finland, including the first freely elected parliament in 1906.

On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, Finland declared its independence from Russia. This was recognized by the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924). In 1918 a civil war broke out in Finland between Reds (communists) and Whites (noncommunists), with the latter prevailing. In 1919 Finland adopted a democratic constitution, and Finnish democracy would survive throughout the interwar period despite marked tensions between the extreme right and extreme left. In November 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland, and even though the Finns fought ferociously, they agreed to a peace accord in March 1940. From 1941 to 1994 Finland, as an ally of Nazi Germany, would fight the Soviets, with an end to the conflict declared after Finland made territorial concessions and promised to expel the Nazis, which occurred in 1945.

major developments since 1945

Finland's most immediate task after World War II was to repair relations with the Soviet Union. Finland and the Soviets signed a peace treaty at Paris in February 1947 limiting the size of Finland's military forces and providing for the cession, to the Soviet Union, of the Petsamo area on the Arctic coast, the Karelian Isthmus in southeastern Finland, and other territory along the former eastern border. In 1948 Finland and the Soviet Union concluded the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, which pledged, among other items, that neither side would enter into an alliance against the other. This essentially guaranteed Finnish neutrality during the Cold War, and some referred to Finnish deference to the Soviets on foreign policy questions as "Finlandization." Finland joined the United Nations (UN) in 1955 and was active in UN peacekeeping operations. Finland did not, however, join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the European Economic Community.

Postwar Finnish politics was dominated by three political figures: President Juho Paasikivi (1870–1956) was elected in 1946 and served until 1956; Urho Kekkonen (1900–1986), was president from 1956 until 1981; and President Mauno Koivisto (b. 1923) held power from 1982 until 1994. Paasikivi and Kekkonen were credited with securing Finnish independence and managing periodic crises with the Soviet Union during which the Soviets attempted to meddle in Finnish domestic politics. Under Kekkonen a politics of social consensus between right and left and between business and labor developed and contributed to Finnish development. Koivisto was the first postwar president from the Social Democratic Party and, as the Cold War ended, reoriented Finnish foreign policy toward the West. Finland unilaterally abrogated restrictions imposed by the 1947 and 1948 treaties and gave unofficial encouragement to independence movements in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. In 1995 Finland, together with Sweden, joined the European Union (EU), and in 1999 Finland gave up its currency and joined eleven other countries in creating the euro, the currency for the EU. Finland also joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program.

socioeconomic conditions

Finland is one of the most developed countries in the world. On a variety of measures, such as literacy (100%), infant mortality (3.8 in 1,000), low poverty rates, and life expectancy (for males 74, for females 81), Finland ranks among the best in the world. According to the 2003 United Nations Human Development Report, which takes into account life expectancy, literacy, educational enrollment, and GDP per capita, Finland ranked fourteenth among all the countries in the world. By 2002 the country was 67 percent urban, with the main population centers in the south of the country.

For much of its history the Finnish economy was dominated by agriculture even though arable land is in short supply and is concentrated in the south. In the nineteenth century the timber industry began to develop, and after World War II metalworking and shipbuilding assumed a prominent role in the economy. By the end of the twentieth century electronics had become Finland's main export, as the country was a world leader in such sectors as cellular phones and environmental equipment. However, services (e.g., finance, insurance, public services) employed more workers (45%) than did industry (21%). Unemployment in 2002 stood at 9.1 percent.

Aside from timber, Finland has few natural resources and imports much of its energy and many of its consumer goods, such as textiles and cars. For much of the postwar period the Soviet Union was Finland's largest trading partner, but by 2002 Germany topped the list for both exports and imports. Over half of Finland's trade is with other EU countries. It joined the euro effort in 1999, and in the first years of the new currency Finland's economy outperformed euro-area partners in terms of economic growth and public finance.

structure of government

Finland adopted a new constitution in 1999, which went into effect in 2000. Finland is a presidential/parliamentary republic, similar to France. This means that there are two executives. One is a president, who is directly elected by voters for a six-year term (with a two-term maximum limit). Any party that has a representative in the Eduskunta (parliament) can nominate a candidate, and if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, there is a run-off election between the top two vote-getters. The president is the official head of the Finnish state and traditionally has overseen foreign policy and defense (the president is commander in chief of the armed forces), oversees numerous appointments in the government, can veto legislation, and has the right to initiate legislation. Whereas in the past the president was the dominant figure in Finland, the president's powers have been reduced by the new constitution (e.g., the Eduskunta now elects the prime minister and the president can dismiss the Eduskunta only on the recommendation of the prime minister).

In Finland the prime minister is the head of government and traditionally, as in France, has been responsible for the day-to-day running of the government, leaving the most important issues for the president to decide. Whereas in the past the prime minister was appointed by the president, now the prime minister is elected by the Eduskunta, typically by a coalition of parties that agree to form a government. The prime minister, together with the president, then appoints a Council of State (a cabinet) of up to seventeen ministers to oversee various government departments. As was noted, the power of the prime minister has grown in recent years, and with Finnish ascension to the EU and less distinction between domestic and foreign affairs, the prime minister has become nearly equal to the president in power, having formal responsibility for relations with the EU.

This system, as in France, functions rather smoothly when the president and prime minister are from the same party. However, conflict may arise if the two come from different parties, resulting in what is called cohabitation between the two executives.

The Eduskunta is a single body of 200 elected representatives. Representatives are elected through a system of proportional representation in multimember districts, thereby allowing several parties to gain seats in the Eduskunta. Elections are held every four years unless the Eduskunta is dismissed by the president. The Eduskunta is the supreme governing body in the country. It makes the laws and can override presidential vetoes, and its decisions are not subject to judicial review . It elects the prime minister and can remove the prime minister with a no-confidence vote, meaning that a majority of the members vote for his or her removal.

The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and special courts with responsibility for litigation between the public and the administrative organs of the state. Finnish law is codified, and much of it dates back to the years of Swedish rule. The Finnish court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, and a supreme court of twenty-one judges. Judges are appointed for life, and the president appoints judges to the supreme court.

For administrative purposes the country is divided into six provinces, with the Aland Islands (populated by Swedish speakers) enjoying a degree of special autonomy. Below the provincial level the country is divided into cities, townships, and communes administered by municipal and communal councils elected by proportional representation once every four years. At the provincial level the five mainland provinces are administered by provincial boards composed of civil servants, each headed by a governor. The boards are responsible to the Ministry of the Interior and play a supervisory and coordinating role within the provinces.

parties, interest groups, and political participation

Finland's proportional representation system fosters the creation of a multiparty system. In the 2003 parliamentary elections, for example, eight parties gained parliamentary seats. Traditionally, Finnish politics has been dominated by two parties: the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Center (formerly Agrarian) Party. The primary constituency of the SDP is urban professionals and workers, whereas the Center Party has catered more to rural interests. Since World War II one of these parties, if not both in a coalition, has served in every Finnish government. Finland also formerly had a sizable Communist Party (which in the 1950s received as much as 20 percent of the vote), but this group suffered from internal dissension in the 1970s and after the end of the Cold War lost much of its appeal, although it still exists as the Leftist Alliance. The National Coalition Party has been the leading party on the right but rarely has joined a coalition government. Since the 1980s the greens have become a sizable party on the left, and there is also a Swedish Peoples' Party whose primary constituency is the Swedish-speaking population.

Finland experienced a great deal of political instability from 1919 through the 1960s as coalition governments would fall over such issues as labor unrest and relations with the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, however, Finland, like other Scandinavian countries, developed a "social consensus" model of government that featured grand coalition governments between the left and right, strong support for social welfare programs, and a prominent role for trade unions in economic policy making. Unionization rates (80% in 2001) remain high in Finland, and organized labor remains by far the most important interest group in the country.

women and politics in finland

Finland has one of the best records in the world regarding female participation in politics. In 1906 Finland became the second country in the world (after New Zealand) to give women the right to vote at the national level. In the postwar period the number of female members of parliament steadily increased, rising from 8.5 percent of the total in 1945 to 37.5 percent of the total in 2003, placing Finland among the top three countries in the world (together with Norway and Sweden) in terms of female composition of the legislature. Generous social benefits such as maternity leave and day care also have contributed to a growing role for Finnish women in the work force. In 2000 Tarja Halonen (b. 1943) of the Social Democratic Party became the first female president, and in 2003 the leader of the Center Party, Anneli Jaatteenmaki (b. 1955), became Finland's first female prime minister.

Finns enjoy a wide range of political and economic rights, and Finland ranks as one of the freest countries in the world in terms of civil liberties and political rights. All Finns over eighteen have the right to vote, and voter turnout has generally been high, reaching 85 percent in 1962, although it has declined (70% in 2003). There is universal male conscription , in which all men serve in the military from six to twelve months. As of 1995 women were permitted to serve as volunteers.

See also: European Union; France; Political Party Systems; Russia; Sweden.