I’ve been to more than 50 countries in this world during my 50 years of travelling since I first caught a bus in 1971 from Kathmandu in Nepal to London.  But I’ve never been to Finland.  So when our QANTAS frequent flier points enabled me to fly via Helsinki to the UK, I jumped at the chance to spend 5 days in Helsinki on the way home.  I was fascinated to watch a documentary about Finland on the trip over on June 12th 2024, so here’s some interesting facts about Finland that you may or may not already know.

Finland has been voted the happiest place on earth to live.

Finland has 187,000 glacial lakes formed when the glaciers retreated beginning 10,000 years ago.  

40% of Finland is covered by forests.

Population of Finland is 5 million people, with 1 million living in the capital Helsinki

More than half the population own a holiday home near a lake.

The traditional sauna, a timber hut fueld by wood fires heating stones, is now a national cultural icon.

Lapland, the most northerly part of Finland has 6 months of winter, most of the time temperatures are below -30°C

Tourists visit Lapland for the aurira borealis, the northern lights

30% of Finland’s Power Supply is from Nuclear Sources