Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries, and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809.

It won its complete independence in 1917.

During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory.

In the subsequent half century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe.

A member of the European Union since 1995, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 5,238,460 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 16.9% (male 449,548/female 433,253) 15-64 years: 66.7% (male 1,768,996/female 1,727,143) 65 years and over: 16.4% (male 344,798/female 514,722) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 41.6 years male: 40 years female: 43.1 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.127% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 10.42 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 9.93 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: 0.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.038 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female total population: 0.958 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 3.52 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.84 deaths/1,000 live births female: 3.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 78.66 years male: 75.15 years female: 82.31 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 1.73 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1,500 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2003 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Finn(s) adjective: Finnish

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Ethnic groups: Finn 93.4%, Swede 5.7%, Russian 0.4%, Estonian 0.2%, Roma (Gypsy) 0.2%, Sami 0.1%

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Religions: Lutheran Church of Finland 84.2%, Orthodox Church 1.1%, other Christian 1.1%, other 0.1%, none 13.5% (2003)

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Languages: Finnish 92% (official), Swedish 5.6% (official), other 2.4% (small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100% (2000 est.)

Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany, and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing - principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications, and electronics industries. Trade is important; exports equal two-fifths of GDP. Finland excels in high-tech exports, e.g., mobile phones. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy, and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. High unemployment remains a persistent problem.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $176.4 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $199 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $33,700 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 2.7% industry: 30.3% services: 67% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 2.62 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture and forestry 4.4%, industry 17.5%, construction 6%, commerce 22%, finance, insurance, and business services 12%, transport and communications 8%, public services 30.2%

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Unemployment rate: 7% (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 4.2% highest 10%: 21.6% (1991)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 26.9 (2000)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 18.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $105.6 billion expenditures: $101 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 37.7% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: barley, wheat, sugar beets, potatoes; dairy cattle; fish

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Industries: metals and metal products, electronics, machinery and scientific instruments, shipbuilding, pulp and paper, foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles, clothing

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Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 81.6 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 80.79 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 6.8 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 11.7 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 9,105 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 220,400 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: 118,300 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - imports: 333,400 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - proved reserves: 0 bbl

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Natural gas - production: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 4.86 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 4.866 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Current account balance: $8.749 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $84.72 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, metals; timber, paper, pulp (1999)

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Exports - partners: Germany 11.3%, Sweden 10.5%, Russia 10.1%, UK 6.5%, US 6.5%, Netherlands 5.1% (2006)

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Imports: $71.69 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: foodstuffs, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, transport equipment, iron and steel, machinery, textile yarn and fabrics, grains

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Imports - partners: Germany 15.6%, Russia 14%, Sweden 13.7%, Netherlands 6.6%, China 5.4%, UK 4.7%, Denmark 4.5% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $6.561 billion (August 2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $251.9 billion (30 June 2006)

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Economic aid - donor: ODA, $850,536,746.4905 (2005)

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Currency (code): euro (EUR) note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

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Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002)

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Fiscal year: calendar year