Top 10 Finland facts

East Sea. In all Germanic languages except English the Baltic Sea is called "East Sea" - this includes German (Ostsee), Dutch (Oostzee) and all Scandinavian languages. The name has been used since the Viking age, and was also adopted (through Swedish) into Finnish language, disregarding the geography (the sea is west of Finland).

Tove Jansson herself. Tove Jansson (pictured) was not only a writer, but also an illustrator. She created a series of comic books about the Moomins.

In Helsinki. These powerful icebreakers are docked for the summer season at the port of Helsinki. Almost all of Finland trade comes through the brackish Gulf of Finland, which freezes easily during winter.

Nordic Countries. In the early twentieth century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America came from moralistic convictions of pietistic Protestants. Nordic countries had started prohibition before the United States did. Between 1915-1919, laws were passed in Norway, Iceland and Finland.

Swedish. From the early Middle Ages till 1809 Finland was a part of Sweden. Today, about 5% of the country's population speak Swedish. In one region of Finland - the Åland Islands - Finnish is not used at all, and Swedish is the sole official language.

Nokian Tyres was split from the Nokia Corporation in 1988. Nokia, which became the largest mobile telephone manufacturer in 1998, ended its ownership interest in Nokian Tyres in 2003.

In Scandinavia. The state-run vendor is called Systembolaget in Sweden, Vinmonopolet in Norway and Alko in Finland. The governments of these countries claim that the purpose of these monopolies is to reduce the consumption of alcohol.

Estonian. Finnish is not an Indo-European language. It is (together with Estonian) a member of Finnic group, which itself belongs to the Uralic family. Estonian and Finnish are not mutually intelligible, although many words and the grammar are similar, so people can typically understand written texts in the other language to some extent (similarly to Portuguese and Spanish).

In Finland. The Moomins were created by Swedish-speaking Finnish writer Tove Jansson, and were originally published in Swedish in Finland in 1945. There is a theme park called Moomin World in Naantali, Finland.

In Helsinki. The Sibelius Monument is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius located in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. The sculpture is a series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes, welded together in a wavelike pattern an weighs 24 tonnes.