The population of Finland is currently about 5,400,000. Finland has an average population density of 16 inhabitants per square kilometre. This is the third-lowest population density of any European country, behind those of Norway and Iceland. Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of the country, a phenomenon that became even more pronounced during 20th-century urbanisation. The largest cities in Finland are those of the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area—Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa. Other cities with population over 100.000 are Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä and Lahti.
The share of foreign citizens in Finland is 3.4%, among the lowest in the European Union. Most of them are from Russia, Estonia and Sweden. The children of foreigners are not automatically given Finnish citizenship. If they are born in Finland and cannot get citizenship of any other country, they become citizens.
Languages Main articles: Finnish language, Finland Swedish, and Languages of FinlandFinnish and Swedish are the official languages of Finland. Finnish predominates nationwide while Swedish is spoken in some coastal areas in the west and south and in the autonomous region of Åland. The Sami language is an official language in northern Lapland. Also Finnish Romani and Finnish Sign Language are recognized in the constitution. The Nordic languages and Karelian are also specially treated in some contexts.
The native language of 90% of the population is Finnish, which is part of the Finnic subgroup of the Uralic languages. The language is one of only four official EU languages not of Indo-European origin. Finnish is closely related to Karelian and Estonian and more remotely to the Sami languages and Hungarian.
Swedish is the native language of 5.4% of the population (Swedish-speaking Finns),
To the north, in Lapland, are the Sami people, numbering around 7,000 and recognized as an indigenous people. About a quarter of them speak a Sami language as their mother tongue. There are three Sami languages that are spoken in Finland: Northern Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami. Finnish Romani is spoken by some 5,000–6,000 people, who usually also speak Finnish. The Finnish Sign Language is used as a first language by 4,000–5,000 people. Tatar language is spoken by a Finnish Tatar minority of about 800 people who moved to Finland mainly during the Russian rule from the 1870s until 1920s.
The right of minority groups (in particular Sami, Swedish-speaking Finns and Romani people) are protected by the constitution.
Immigrant languages include Russian (1.1%), Estonian (0.6%), Somali, English and Arabic (see Languages of Finland).
The best-known foreign languages are English (63%), German (18%), and French (3%). English is studied by most pupils as a compulsory subject from the third or fifth grade (at 9 or 11 years of age respectively) in the comprehensive school (in some schools other languages can be chosen instead). German, French and Russian can be studied as second foreign languages from the eighth grade (at 14 years of age; some schools may offer other options). A third foreign language may be studied in upper secondary school or university (at 16 years of age or over).
Norwegian and, to some extent, Danish are mutually intelligible with Swedish and are thus understood by a significant minority, although studied only slightly in school.
Religion Main article: Religion in Finland Religion in Finland year Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland Finnish Orthodox Church Other No religious affiliation 1900 98.1% 1.7% 0.2% 0.0% 1950 95.0% 1.7% 0.5% 2.8% 1980 90.3% 1.1% 0.7% 7.8% 1990 87.8% 1.1% 0.9% 10.2% 2000 85.1% 1.1% 1.1% 12.7% 2005 83.2% 1.1% 1.2% 14.5% 2010 78.3% 1.1% 1.4% 19.2% 2011 77.3% 1.1% 1.5% 20.1% 2012 76.4% 1.1% 1.4% 21.0% Petäjävesi Old Church is an old wooden Lutheran church and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Turku Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.Approximately 4.1 million (or 76.4% at the end of 2012) adherents are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world, although its share of the country's population has declined in recent years. The second largest group, accounting for 21.0% of the population, has no religious affiliation. A small minority belong to the Finnish Orthodox Church (1.1%). Other Protestant denominations and the Roman Catholic Church in Finland are significantly smaller, as are the Muslim, Jewish and other non-Christian communities (totaling 1.4%). The main Lutheran and Orthodox churches are national churches of Finland with special roles such as in state ceremonies and schools.
In 2012, 75.3% of Finnish children were baptized and 83.0% were confirmed in 2011 at the age of 15, and nearly all funerals are Christian. However, the majority of Lutherans attend church only for special occasions like Christmas ceremonies, weddings and funerals. The Lutheran Church estimates that approximately 2% of its members attend church services weekly. The average number of church visits per year by church members is approximately two. According to a 2010 Eurobarometer poll, 33% of Finnish citizens responded that "they believe there is a God"; 42% answered that "they believe there is some sort of spirit or life force"; and 22% that "they do not believe there is any sort of spirit, God, or life force". According to ISSP survey data (2008), 8% consider themselves "highly religious", and 31% "moderately religious". In the same survey, 28% reported themselves as "agnostic" and 29% as "non-religious".
Health Main article: Healthcare in FinlandLife expectancy is 82 years for women and 75 years for men. There are 307 residents for each doctor. About 18.9% of health care is funded directly by households and 76.6% by taxation.
A recent study by The Lancet medical journal found that Finland has the lowest stillbirth rate out of 193 countries, including UK, France and New Zealand. In April 2012, Finland was ranked 2nd in Gross National Happiness in a report published by The Earth Institute.
SocietyFinnish family life is centred on the nuclear family. Relations with the extended family are often rather distant and Finnish people do not form politically significant clans, tribes or similar structures. According to UNICEF, Finland ranks fourth in the world in child well-being.
After examining the position of women around the world, the Washington-based Population Crisis Committee reported in 1988 that Finland, slightly behind top-ranked Sweden and just ahead of the United States, was one of the best places in which a woman could live. The group reached this conclusion after examining the health, educational, economic, and legal conditions that affect women's lives. Finnish women were the first in Europe to gain the franchise, and by the 1980s they routinely constituted about one-third of the membership of the Eduskunta (parliament) and held several ministerial posts. In the 1980s, about 75% of adult women worked outside the home; they made up about 48% of the work force. Finnish women were as well educated as their male counterparts, and, in some cases, the number of women studying at the university level, for example, was slightly ahead of the number of men. In addition to an expanding welfare system, which since World War II had come to provide them with substantial assistance in the area of childbearing and child-rearing, women had made notable legislative gains that brought them closer to full equality with men.
In a number of areas, however, the country's small feminist movement maintained that the circumstances in which Finnish women lived needed to be improved. Most striking was the disparity in wages. Although women made up just under half the work force and had a tradition of working outside the home, they earned only about two-thirds of the wages paid to men.
The Equality Law that went into effect in 1987 committed the country to achieving full equality for women. In the late 1980s, there was a timetable listing specific goals to be achieved during the remainder of the twentieth century. The emphasis was to be equality for everyone, rather than protection for women. Efforts were undertaken not only to place women in occupations dominated by males, but also to bring males into fields traditionally believed to belong to the women's sphere, such as child care and elementary school teaching. Another aim was for women to occupy a more equal share of decision-making positions. Finland ranks second in the Global Gender Gap Report 2012.
In 1906, Finland was the first nation in the world to give full suffrage (the right to vote and to run for office) to all adult citizens, including women. Finland has general elections every fourth year.
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