Finland

Finland (Suomi), with a population of 5.5 million, is a parliamentary republic in Northern Europe, bordered by Norway, Sweden, and Russia. It has one of the freest media systems in the world, regularly ranking at the top in different international press freedom ratings. Finland is an advanced and a progressive free-market economy with one of the highest per capita incomes in Western Europe. It has been a member of the European Union since 1995. The country’s two official languages are Finnish (almost 90%) and Swedish (over 5%). In addition, the indigenous Sámi people’s Sámi languages (about 2,000 speakers) have an official recognition. Legislation also guarantees rights to Romany and sign language users. Russian, Estonian, Arabic, Somali, and English top the list of the steadily growing ...