Country
Background
Finland
has a severe climate with long periods of darkness in the
winter and almost continuous daylight in
the summer. Despite the extreme cold, Finland
is heavily forested. The forests are mainly
made up of
conifers,
sturdy trees that can withstand the cold temperatures.
Popular Finnish activities take advantage of the cold,
snowy climate. Outdoor sports include whale watching and
cross-country skiing, which sometimes doubles as transportation. Finnish
saunas also developed as a result of the cold, and
were created to provide a way for people to bathe in freezing
temperatures.
Finnish terrain shows much evidence of the
last Ice
Age. For example, Finland is still rising
from the sea because during the Ice Age the
weight of glaciers depressed
the land. Since today the glaciers are gone,
the land is rising. Experts estimate that
Finland rises about 25 centimeters every
100 years.
Helsinki is the
capital of Finland. There are many museums to visit, like
the Ateneum,
the Museum of Finnish Art. Helsinki is the commercial and
administrative capital of Finland and is an important port.
Related
Links
There is a lot more to learn about Finland!
- Explore these sites for facts and figures
about Finland.
- Let Atlapedia's "Click-A-Map" show
you physical and political maps of Finland
- Explore Helsinki through a slide show
of photos.
See cathedrals, statues, harbors, streets,
and squares.
- Visit Virtual
Finland and listen to examples of some
simple Finnish words. Then try to say them
yourself.
- Access fast facts about important events
that happened during the Olympic Games in Helsinki
in 1952.
- View the Northern Lights, also called
the Aurora
Borealis, a phenomenon that occurs when
the solar wind meets the Earth's magnetic
field.
More Countries (past
hosts of Olympic Games)
USA
// TODAY Parade of Nations and National
// Geographic.
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