Finland
From Familypedia
Finland is a republic of about 5.3 million people north-east of the Baltic Sea.
[edit] History
The land area that now makes up Finland was settled immediately after the Ice Age, beginning from around 8500 BC. The region was part of Kingdom of Sweden from the 13th century to 1809, when it was ceded to the Russian Empire becoming the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. The catastrophic Finnish famine of 1866-1868 was followed by eased economic regulation and political development.
In 1917, Finland declared independence. A civil war between the Russia-supported Red Guards and the Germanophile White Guard ensued a few months later with the "Whites" gaining the upper hand. After the internal affairs stabilized, the still mainly agrarian economy grew relatively fast. Relations with the West, especially Sweden and the United Kingdom, were strong but the pre-World War II relations with the socialist Soviet Union remained weaker. During the Second World War, Finland fought twice against the Soviet Union, and had to cede most of Karelia to the USSR, but remained an independent democracy.
[edit] Geography
- See also: List of cities and towns in Finland, Administrative divisions of Finland, Provinces of Finland, Historical provinces of Finland, Regions of Finland, Sub-regions of Finland, and Municipalities of Finland
[edit] External links
- email forum for people who have ancestors in Finland or are interested in Finnish culture and history - mostly in English; some in Swedish; 18,000 posts, hundreds of "active members"
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