| Capital | Helsinki |
| Largest city | Helsinki |
| Official language | Finnish, Swedish |
| Government
President of Finland
Prime Minister of Finland |
Parliamentary
democracy Tarja Halonen Matti Vanhanen |
| Independence Declared Recognized |
From Imperial
Russia December 6, 1917 January 3, 1918 |
| Area • Total • Water (%) |
338,145 km² (65th) 9.4% |
| Population • 2005 est. • [[As of |]] census • Density |
5,261,008 (110th) 15/km² (162nd) |
| Currency | Euro (€)1 |
The Republic of Finland is a
Nordic country in northeastern Europe, bounded by the Baltic Sea to the
southwest, the
Gulf of
Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the
west.
Finland has land frontiers with Sweden, Norway and Russia. The
Åland Islands, off the southwestern coast, are under Finnish
sovereignty while enjoying extensive autonomy.
Finland has a population of five million people in more than 330,000 square kilometres (127,000 sq. mi), making it the 162nd most densely populated country in the world. It ranked thirteenth on the 2005 United Nations Human Development Index.

