Government and general data GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE
Surface: 338,145 Km²
Capital: Helsinki (568,000)
Main cities: Espoo (217,000), Tampere (198,000), Vantaa (180,000), Turku (175,000), Oulu (123,000)
Official Name: Republic of Finland Suomen Tasavalta Republiken Finland
Government type: parliamentary government
Chief of State: Ms Tarja Halonen (Social Democratic Party)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Mr Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Mr Alexander Stubb (National coalition)
Legislative Branch: unicameral Parliament (Eduskunta)
Juridical system: Scandinavian system (Roman-germanic tradition and Scandinavian pragmatism)
Suffrage: Parliament members are elected by popular vote (universal suffrage) to serve four-year terms.
President is elected by popular vote (universal suffrage) to serve six-year terms.
International Organization participation:
AfDB, Arctic Council, AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM (guest), NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMOGIP, UNTSO, UPU, WCO, WEU (observer), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC.
Population and social facts
Population: 5,300,000 (2008)
Population growth rate: 0,22 %
Life expectancy at birth: 77,75 years (female 81,52 – male 74,1)
Ethic groups: Finn 93% Swede 5,5% local minorities: Sami 0,1%;
Roma people, immigrants, and foreigners nearly 133 000 (mainly Russian, Estonian, Swedish and Somali)
Religions: Lutheran National Church 82%, Greek Orthodox in Finland 1,1%
Languages: The official languages are Finnish and Swedish
Main political Parties: Centre Party (Keskusta), in power; Social Democratic Party (SDP), in power; National Coalition (conservative) (Kokoomus), Left Alliance (Vasemmistoliitto), Green League (Vihreä Liitto), Swedish People’s Party (SFP/RKP), in power, Christian Democrats (KD), True Finns (PS)
Political pressure groups: Main trade-unions SAK, STTK and AKAVA, and the Federation of Finnish Enterprises.
www.tilastotietokeskus.fi