6th December: Finland Independence Day

Finland gained independence from Russia on this date in 1917 - so here are 10 things you might not know about Finland:

1. There are 187,888 lakes larger than 500 m² and 179,584 islands within the territory of Finland. It is sometimes referred to as the Land of a Thousand Lakes.
2. It's also called the Land of the Midnight Sun, because at the height of summer, the Sun never sets in the far north. This means that in the depth of winter, the sun never rises.
3. Finnish and Swedish are the official languages of Finland. Helsinki is the name of the capital city in most languages, except Swedish. The Swedish call it Helsingfors.
4. There are around 2.2 million saunas in Finland, 1 for every 2.5 people. Finland also has the most heavy metal bands, with 53 per 100 000 people, including heavy metal band especially for children, Hevisaurus, who dress up as dinosaurs. However, there are no public telephones.
5. Finnish people drink more Coffee per person than any other country (12 kg per year) and the most Milk (around 1 quart per person per day).
6. Motorists must have their headlights on at all times when driving, regardless of the time of day or the weather. Traffic fines are based on the offender's income as well as the severity of the offence. In 2003, Jussi Salonoja was fined 170,000 Euros for driving 80 km/hr in a 40 km/hr zone, thought to be the most expensive speeding fine ever.
7. Finland hold world championships for several wacky sports, including wife carrying, mobile phone throwing, Mosquito catching, swamp soccer, boot throwing, sauna and air guitar. Even the losers are celebrated on Finland's annual Failure Day on October 13.
8. Finland was the first country in Europe to give women the vote. The men may well have regretted this decision, since the first thing women did with their new influence was bring in a ban on alcohol that was in force from 1919 to 1932.
9. Finnish inventions include the rescue toboggan, the Heart-rate monitor, salty liquorice (‘Salmiakki’), the Linux Operating System, ice skates, Angry Birds, the Molotov cocktail, the SMS and the sauna, which is the most used Finnish word outside of Finland.
10. A Finnish slang word for money is ‘oravannahka’, meaning squirrel skins, which were once used as currency. Today, they use Euros - but not the one or two cent coins.