Coastline: 1,126 km excluding islands and coastal indentations

Maritime claims:

Contiguous zone: 6 nm;

Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;

Exclusive fishing zone: 12 nm;

Territorial sea: 4 nm

Climate: cold temperate; potentially subarctic, but comparatively mild
because of moderating influence of the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea,
and more than 60,000 lakes

Terrain: mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes
and low hills

Natural resources: timber, copper, zinc, iron ore, silver

Land use: 8% arable land; 0% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures;
76% forest and woodland; 16% other; includes NEGL% irrigated

Environment: permanently wet ground covers about 30% of land;
population concentrated on small southwestern coastal plain

Note: long boundary with USSR; Helsinki is northernmost national
capital on European continent

- People
Population: 4,977,325 (July 1990), growth rate 0.3% (1990)

Birth rate: 13 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 10 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 71 years male, 80 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 1.7 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun--Finn(s); adjective--Finnish

Ethnic divisions: Finn, Swede, Lapp, Gypsy, Tatar

Religion: 97% Evangelical Lutheran, 1.2% Eastern Orthodox, 1.8% other

Language: 93.5% Finnish, 6.3% Swedish (both official); small Lapp- and
Russian-speaking minorities

Literacy: almost 100%

Labor force: 2,556,000; 33.1% services, 22.9% mining and manufacturing,
13.8% commerce, 10.3% agriculture, forestry, and fishing, 7.2% construction,
7.1% transportation and communications (1989 est.)

Organized labor: 80% of labor force

- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Finland

Type: republic

Capital: Helsinki

Administrative divisions: 12 provinces (laanit, singular--laani);
Ahvenanmaa, Hame, Keski-Suomi, Kuopio, Kymi, Lappi, Mikkeli, Oulu,
Pohjois-Karjala, Turku ja Pori, Uusimaa, Vaasa

Independence: 6 December 1917 (from Soviet Union)

Constitution: 17 July 1919

Legal system: civil law system based on Swedish law; Supreme Court
may request legislation interpreting or modifying laws; accepts compulsory
ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 6 December (1917)

Executive bra