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FINLAND (Finnish, Suomi or Suomenmaa)

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Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 387 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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FINLAND (Finnish, Suomi or Suomenmaa)  , a See also:grand-duchy governed subject to its own constitution by the See also:emperor of See also:Russia as grand-See also:duke of See also:Finland . It is situated between the gulfs of See also:Bothnia and Finland, and includes, moreover, a large territory in See also:Lapland . It touches at its See also:south-eastern extremity the See also:government of St See also:Petersburg, includes the See also:northern See also:half of See also:Lake See also:Ladoga, and is separated from the See also:Russian governments of Arkhangelsk and See also:Olonets by a sinuous See also:line which follows, roughly speaking, the See also:water-parting between the See also:rivers flowing into the Baltic See also:Sea and the See also:White Sea . In the See also:north of the Gulf of Bothnia it is separated from See also:Sweden and See also:Norway by a broken line which takes the course of the valley of the Tornea See also:river up to its See also:sources, thus falling only 21 M. See also:short of reaching the See also:head of See also:Norwegian Lynven-See also:fjord; then it runs south-See also:east and north-east down the See also:Tana and Pasis-joki, but does not reach the Artic Ocean, and 13 M. from the Varanger-fjord it turns southwards . Finland includes in the south-See also:west the Aland See also:archipelago—its frontier approaching within 8 m. from the See also:Swedish See also:coast—as well as the islands of the Gulf of Finland, Hogland, Tytars, &c . Its utmost limits are: 590 48'—70° 6' N., and 19° 2'—32° 50' E . The See also:area of Finland, in square See also:miles, is as follows (See also:Alias de Finlande, 1899): See also:Orography.—A line See also:drawn from the head of the Gulf of Bothnia to the eastern coast of Lake Ladoga divides Finland into two distinct parts, the lake region and the nearly uninhabited hilly tracts belonging to the Kjolen mountains, to the See also:plateau of the See also:Kola See also:peninsula, and to the slopes of the plateau which separates Finland proper from the White Sea . At the head-See also:waters of the Tornea, Finland penetrates as a narrow See also:strip into the See also:heart of the See also:highlands of Kjolen (the See also:Keel), where the Haldefjall (Lappish, Halditjokko) reaches 4115 ft. above the sea, and is surrounded by other Dellis, or See also:Hat-topped summits, of from 3300 to 3750 ft. of See also:altitude . Extensive plateaus (1500-1750 ft.), into which Lake Enare, or Inari, and the valleys of its tributaries are deeply sunk, and which take the See also:character of a See also:mountain region in the Saariselka (highest See also:summit, 2360 ft.), occupy the See also:remainder of Lapland . Along the eastern border the dreary plateaus of Olonets reach on Finnish territory altitudes of from 700 to moo ft . Quite different is the character of the pentagonal space comprised between the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, Lake Ladoga, and the above-mentioned line traced through the lakes Ule$ and Piellis . The meridional ridges which formerly used to be traced here along the See also:main water-partings do not exist in reality, and the See also:country appears on the hypsometrical See also:map in the See also:Atlas de Finlande as a plateau of 350 ft. of See also:average altitude, covered with countless lakes, lying at altitudes of from 250 to 300 ft .

The three main lake-basins of See also:

Nasi-jarvi, Pajane and Saima are separated by See also:low and See also:flat hills only; but one See also:sees distinctly appearing on the map a line of flat elevations See also:running south-west to north-east along the north-west border of the lake regions from Lauhanvuori to Kajana, and reaching from 65o to 825 ft. of altitude . A See also:regular See also:gentle slope leads from these hills to the Gulf of Bothnia (Osterbotten), forming vast See also:prairie tracts in its See also:lower parts . A notable feature of Finland are the (See also:Isar or narrow ridges of morainic deposits, more or less reassorted on their surfaces . Some of them are See also:relics of the See also:longitudinal moraines of the See also:ice-See also:sheet, and they run north-west to south-east, parallel to the striation of the rocks and to the countless parallel troughs excavated by the ice in the hard rocks in the same direction; while the Lojo as, which runs from Hangoudd to Vesi-jarvi, and is continued farther east under the name of Salpausellia, parallel to the See also:shore of the Gulf of Finland, are remainders of the frontal moraines, formed at a See also:period when the ice-sheet remained for some See also:time stationary during its See also:retreat . As a See also:rule these See also:forest-clothed (Isar rise from 30 to 6o and occasionally 120 ft. above the level of the surrounding country, largely adding to the already See also:great picturesqueness of the lake region; See also:railways are traced in preference along them . Lakes and Rivers.—A See also:labyrinth of lakes, covering ii°o of the aggregate territory, and connected by short and rapid streams (ijdrdrn), covers the See also:surface of South Finland, offering great facilitiesfor See also:internal See also:navigation, while the connecting streams See also:supply an enormous amount of See also:motive-See also:power . The See also:chief lakes are: Lake Ladoga, of which the northern half belongs to Finland; Saima (three and a half times larger than Lake Leman), whose outlet, the Vuoksen, flows into Lake Ladoga, forming the mighty Imatra rapids, while the lake itself is connected by means of a sluiced See also:canal with the Gulf of Finland; the basins of Pyha-selka, Ori-vesi and Piellis-jarvi; Pajane, surrounded by hundreds of smaller lakes, and the waters of which are discharged into the lower gulf through the Kymmene river ; Nasi-jarvi and Pyha-jarvi, whose outflow is the Kumo-See also:elf, flowing into the Gulf of Bothnia; Ulea-trask, discharged by the Ulea into the same gulf ; and Enare, belonging to the See also:basin of the See also:Arctic Ocean . Two large rivers, Kemi and Tornea, enter the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, while the Ulea is now navigable throughout, owing to improvements in its channel . See also:Geology.—See also:Cambrian, See also:Silurian, Devonian and Carboniferous deposits are found on the coasts of the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, and also along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean (probably Devonian), and in the Kjolen . Eruptive rocks of Palaeozoic See also:age are met with in the Kola peninsula (See also:nepheline-syenites) and at Kuusamo (See also:syenite) . The remainder of Finland is built up of the See also:oldest known crystalline rocks belonging to the Archaeozoic or Algonkian period . The most See also:ancient of these seem to be the granites of East Finland .

The denudation and destruction of the granites gave rise to the Ladoga See also:

schists and various deposits of the same period, which were subsequently strongly folded . Then the country came once more under the sea, and the debris of the previous formations, mixed with fragments from the volcanoes then situated in West Finland, formed the so-called Bothnian See also:series . New masses of granites protruded next from underneath, and the Bothnian deposits underwent foldings in their turn, while denudation was again at See also:work on a grand See also:scale . A new series of Jalulian deposits was formed and a new See also:system of foldings followed; but these were the last in this See also:part of the globe . The Jotnian series, which were formed next, remain still undisturbed . It is to this series that the well-known Rapakivi See also:granite of Aland, Nystad and See also:Viborg belongs . No marine deposits younger than those just mentioned—all belonging to a pre-Cambrian See also:epoch—are found in the central portion of Finland; and the greater part of the country has probably been dry See also:land since Palaeozoic times . The whole of Finland is covered with Glacial and See also:post-Glacial deposits . The former of these, representing the bottom-See also:moraine of the ice-sheet, are covered with Glacial and post-Glacial See also:clays (partly of lacustrine and partly of marine origin) only in the peripheral coast-region—or in See also:separate areas in the interior depressions . Some Finnish geologists—Sederholm for one—consider it probable that during the Glacial period an Arctic sea (Yoldia sea) covered allrsouthern Finland and also Scania (Skhne) in Sweden, thus connecting the See also:Atlantic Ocean with the Baltic and the White Sea by a broad channel; but no fossils from that sea have been found anywhere in Finland . Conclusive proofs, however, of a later submergence under a post-Glacial Littorina sea (containing shells now living in the Baltic) are found up to 150 ft. along the Gulf of Finland, and up to 26o, or perhaps 330 ft., in Osterbotten . Traces of a large inner post-Glacial lake, similar to Lake See also:Agassiz of North See also:America, have been discovered .

The country is still continuing to rise, but at an unequal See also:

rate; of nearly 3.3 ft. in a See also:century in the Gulf of Bothnia (Kvarken), from 1.4 to 2 ft. in the south, and nearly zero ,in the Baltic provinces . See also:Climate.—Owing to the prevalence of moist west and south-west winds the climate of Finland is less severe than it is farther east in corresponding latitudes . The country lies thus between the See also:annual isotherms of 41° and 28° Fahr., which run in a W.N.W.-E.S.E. direction . In See also:January the average monthly temperature varies from 9° Fahr. about Lake Enare to 30° along the south coast; while in See also:July the difference between the monthly averages is only eight degrees, being 53° in the north and 61° in the south-east . Everywhere, and especially in the interior, the See also:winter lasts very See also:long, and See also:early frosts (See also:June 12-14 in 1892) often destroy the crops . The amount of See also:rain and See also:snow is from 25a in. along the south coast to 13.8 in. in the interior of See also:southern Finland . See also:Flora, Forests, See also:Fauna.—The flora of Finland has been most minutely explored, especially in the south, and the Finnish botanists were enabled to See also:divide the country into twenty-eight different provinces, giving the See also:numbers of phanerogam See also:species for each See also:province . These numbers vary from 318 to 400 species in Lapland, from 508 to 651 in Karelia, and attain 752 species for Finland proper; while the See also:total for all Finland attains 1132 species . Alpine See also:plants are not met with in Finland proper, but are represented by from 32 to 64 species in the Kola peninsula . The chief forest trees of Finland are the Scotch See also:fir (Pinus sylvestris, L.), the fir (Picea excelsa, See also:Link.); two species of See also:birch (B. verrucosa, Ehrh., and B. odorata, Bechst.), as well as the birch-See also:bush (B. nana); two species of Alnus (glutinosa and incana); the See also:oak (Q. pedunculata, Ehrh.), which grows only on the south coast; the See also:poplar (Populus tremula); and the Siberian See also:larch, introduced in culture in the 18th century . Over 6,00o,000 trees are cut every See also:year to he floated to See also:thirty large saw-See also:mills, and IO Government . See also:Continent .

Islands Islands Lakes . Total . in Lakes. in Seas . Nyland 4,062 24 210 286 4,582 See also:

Abo-See also:Bjorneborg 7.594 8 1331 400 9,333 See also:Tavastehus 6,837 97 .. 1,400 8,334 Viborg 11,63o 362 130 4,502 16,624 St See also:Michel . 5,652 ioi8 .. 2,149 8,819 See also:Kuopio 13,160 643 .. 2,696 16,499 See also:Vasa . 14,527 62 203 1,313 16,105 See also:Uleaborg . 60,348 171 94 3,344 63,957 Total 123,810 2385 1968 16,090 144,253 about I,000,000 to be transformed into See also:paper pulp . The total export of See also:timber was valued in 1897 at 82,16o,Ooo marks . It is estimated, however, that the domestic use of See also:wood (especially for See also:fuel) represents nearly five times as many cubic feet as the wood used for export in different shapes .

The total area under forests is estimated at 63,050,000 acres, of which 34,662,000 acres belong to the See also:

state . The fauna has been explored in great detail both as regards the vertebrates and the invertebrates, and specialists will find the necessary See also:bibliographical indications in Travaux geographiques en Finlande, published for the See also:London See also:Geographical See also:Congress of 1895 . See also:Population.---The population of Finland, which was 4.29,912 in 1751, 832,659 in 1800, 1,636,915 in 1850, and 2,520,437 in 1895, was 2,712,562 in 1904, of whom 1,370,480 were See also:women and 1,342,082 men . Of these only 341,602 lived in towns, the remainder in the country districts . The See also:distribution of population in various provinces was as follows: 1904 . Population . See also:Density per sq. kilometre . See also:lobo-Bjbrneborg . 447,098 20.3 Kuopio . . 313,951 8.9 Nyland 297,813 29'3 St Michel 189,360 11.1 Tavastehus . 301,272 17.7 Uleaborg . 28o,899 1.9 Viborg 421,610 14.6 Vasa 460,460 12.5 Total 2,712,562 8.6 The number. of births in 1904 was 90,253 and the deaths 50,227, showing an excess of births over deaths of 40,026 .

See also:

Emigration was estimated at about three thousand every year before 1898, but it largely increased then owing to Russian encroachments on Finnish See also:autonomy . In 1899 the emigrants numbered 12,357; 10,642 in 1900; 12,659 in 1901; and 10,952 in 1904 . The bulk of the population are Finns (2,352,990 in 1904) and Swedes (349,733) . Of Russians there were only 5939, chiefly in the provinces of Viborg and Nyland . Both Finns and Swedes belong to the Lutheran faith, there being only 46,466 members of the See also:Greek Orthodox See also:Church and 755 See also:Roman Catholics . The leading cities of Finland are : See also:Helsingfors, See also:capital of the grand-duchy and of the province (lan) of Nyland, See also:principal seaport (111,654 inhabitants); lobo, capital of the Abo-Bjorneborg province and ancient capital of Finland (42,639) ; Tammerfors, the leading manufacturing See also:town of the grand-duchy (40,261); Viborg, chief town of province of same name, important seaport (34,672) ; Uleaborg, capital of province (17,737) ; Vasa, or Nikolaistad, capital of Vasa lan (18,028); Bjorneborg (16,053); Kuopio, capital of province (13,519) ; and Tavastehus, capital of province of the same name (5545) . See also:Industries.—See also:Agriculture gives occupation to the large See also:majority of the population, but of See also:late the increase of manufactures has been marked . See also:Dairy-farming is also on the increase, and the See also:foreign exports of See also:butter See also:rose from 1930 cwt. in 1900 to 3130 cwt. in 1905 . See also:Measures have been taken since 1892 for the improvement of agriculture, and the state keeps twenty-six agronomists and instructors for that purpose . There are two high See also:schools, one experimental station, twenty-two See also:middle schools and See also:forty-eight lower schools of agriculture, besides ten horticultural schools . Agricultural See also:societies exist in each province . Fishing is an important See also:item of income .

The value of exports of See also:

fish, &c., was £140,000 in 1904, but fish was also imported to the value of £61,300 . The manufacturing industries (wood-products, metallurgy, machinery, textiles, paper and See also:leather) are of See also:modern development, but the aggregate See also:production approaches one and a half millions See also:sterling in value . Some See also:gold is obtained in Lapland on the Ivalajoki, but the output, which amounted in 1871 to 56,692 grammes, had fallen in 1904 to 1951 grammes . There is also a small output of See also:silver, See also:copper and See also:iron . The last is obtained partly from mines, but chiefly from the lakes . In 1904 22,050 tons of See also:cast iron were obtained . The textile industries are making rapid progress, and their produce, notwithstanding the high duties, is exported to Russia . The fabrication of paper out of wood is also rapidly growing . As to the timber See also:trade, there are upwards of 500 saw-mills, employing 21,000 men, and with an output valued at over £3,000,000 annually . Communications.---The roads, attaining an aggregate length of 27,500 in., are kept as a rule in very See also:good See also:order . The first railway was opened in 1862, and the next, from Helsingfors to St Petersburg, in 187o (cost only £4520 per mile) . Railways of a lighter type began to be built since 1877, and now Finland has about 21o0 m. of railway, mostly belonging to the state .

The See also:

gross income from the state railways is 26,607,622, and the See also:net income 4,684,856 marks . Finland has an extensive and well-kept system of canals, of which the sluiced canal connecting Lake Saima with the Gulf of Finland is the chief one . It permits See also:ships navigating the Baltic to penetrate 270 M. inland, and is passed every year by from 4980 to 5200 Vessels . Considerable See also:works have also been made to connect the differentlakes and lake-basins for inland navigation, a sum of £i,000,000 having been spent for that purpose . The telegraphs chiefly belong to Russia . Telephones have an enormous See also:extension both in the towns and between the different towns of southern Finland; the cost of the yearly subscription varies from 4o to 6o marks,' and is only Io marks in the smaller towns . See also:Commerce.—The foreign trade of Finland increases steadily, and reached in 1904 the fallowing values: From or to From or to Totals . Russia. other Countries . Imports • £4,036,000 £6,488,000 £10,524,000 Exports 2,332,000 6,292,000 8,624,000 The chief trade of Finland is with Russia, and next with Great See also:Britain, See also:Germany, See also:Denmark, See also:France and Sweden . The main imports are: cereals and See also:flour (to an annual value exceeding £31000,000), metals, machinery, textile materials and textile products . The chief articles of export are; timber and wood articles (£5,250,000), paper and paper pulp, some tissues, metallic goods, leather, &c . The chief ports are Helsingfors, lobo, Viborg, See also:Hango and Vasa, See also:Education.—Great strides have been made since 1866, when a new education See also:law was passed .

Rudimentary teaching in See also:

reading, occasionally See also:writing, and the first principles of Lutheran faith are given in the maternal See also:house, or in " maternal schools," or by See also:ambulatory schools under the See also:control of the See also:clergy, who make the necessary examination in the houses of every See also:parish . All education above that level is in the hands of the educational See also:department and school boards elected in each parish, each rural parish being See also:bound (since 1898) to be divided into a proper number of school districts and to have a school in each of them, the state contributing to these ex penses 80o marks a year for each male and 600 marks for each See also:female teacher, or 25 % of the total cost in See also:urban communes . Secondary education, formerly instituted on two separate lines, classical and scientific, has been reformed so as to give more prominence to scientific education, even in the classical (linguistic) lyceums or gymnasia . For higher education there is the university of Helsingfors (formerly the Abo See also:Academy), which in 1906 had 1921 students (328 women) and 141 professors and docents . Besides the Helsingfors See also:polytechnic there are a number of higher and lower technical, commercial and navigation schools . Finland has several scientific societies enjoying a See also:world-wide reputation, as the Finnish Scientific Society, the Society for the Flora and Fauna of Finland, several medical societies, two societies of literature, the Finno-Ugrian Society, the See also:Historical and Archaeological Societies, one juridical, one technical and two geographical societies . All of these, as also the Finnish See also:Geological Survey, the Forestry See also:Administration, &c., issue publications well known to the scientific world . The numerous See also:local branches of the See also:Friends of the Folk-School and the Society for Popular Education display great activity, the former by aiding the smaller communes in establishing schools, and the latter in See also:publishing popular works, starting their own schools as well as See also:free See also:libraries (in nearly every See also:commune), and organizing lectures for the See also:people . The university students take a lively part in this work . Government and Administration.—From the time of its See also:union with Russia at the See also:Diet of Borg& in 1809 till the events of 1899 (see See also:History) Finland was practically a separate state, the emperor of Russia as grand-duke governing by means of a nominated See also:senate and a diet elected on a very narrow See also:franchise, and See also:meeting at distant and irregular intervals . This diet was on the old Swedish See also:model, consisting of representatives of the four estates—See also:nobility, clergy, burghers and peasants—sitting and voting in separate " Houses." The government of the country was practically carried on by the senate, which communicated with St Petersburg through a Finnish secretary attached to the Russian government . See also:War and foreign affairs were entirely in the hands of Russia, and a Russian See also:governor had his See also:residence in Helsingfors .

The senate also controlled the administration of the law . The constitutional conflict of 1899–1905 brought about something like a revolution in Finland . For some years the country was subject to a practically arbitrary See also:

form of government, but the disasters of the Russo-See also:Japanese War and the growing anarchy in Russia resulted in 1905 in a See also:complete and peaceful victory for the defenders of the Finnish constitution . As a Finnish writer puts it: just as the calamities which had befallen Finland came from Russia, so was her deliverance to came from Russia," The status quo ante was restored, the diet met in extraordinary session, and proceeded to the entire re-casting of the Finnish government . Freedom of the See also:press was voted, and the diet next proceeded to reform its own constitution . i The Finnish See also:mark, markka, of too pcnni, equals about Sid . Far-reaching changes were voted . The new diet, instead of being composed of four estates sitting separately, consists of a single chamber of 200 members elected directly by universal See also:suffrage, women being eligible . By the new constitution the grand-duchy was to be divided into not less than twelve and not more than eighteen constituencies, electing members in proportion to population . A See also:scheme of " proportional See also:representation," the votes being counted in accordance with the system invented by G . M. d'Hondt, a Belgian, was also adopted . The executive was to consist of a See also:minister-secretary of state and of the membert of the senate, who were entitled to attend and address the diet and who might be the subject of interpellations .

The members of the senate were made responsible to the diet as well as to the emperor-grand-duke for their acts . The diet has power to consider and decide upon measures proposed by the government . After a measure has been approved by the diet it is the See also:

duty of the senate to See also:report upon it to the See also:sovereign . But the senate is not obliged to accept the decision of themajority of the diet, nor, apparently, is the sovereign bound to accept the See also:advice of the senate.- The first elections, See also:April 1907, resulted in the See also:election to the diet of about 40 % representatives of the Social Democratic party, and nineteen women members . The See also:budget of Finland in 1905 was L4,273,970 of " See also:ordinary " See also:revenue . The "ordinary " See also:expenditure was £3,595,300 . The public See also:debt amounted at the end of 1905 to £5,611,170 . History.—It was probably at the end of the 7th or the beginning, of the 8th century that the Finns took See also:possession of what is now Finland, though it was only when See also:Christianity was introduced, about 1157, that they were brought into contact with civilized See also:Europe . They probably found the Lapps in possession of the country . The early Finlanders do not seem to have had any governmental organization, but to have lived in separate communities and villages See also:independent of each other . Their See also:mythology consisted in the deification of the forces of nature, as " Ukko," the See also:god of the See also:air, " Tapio," god of the forests, " Ahti," the god of water, &c . These early Finlanders seem to have been both brave and troublesome to their neighbours, and their repeated attacks on the coast of Sweden See also:drew the See also:attention of the See also:kings of that country .

Phoenix-squares

See also:

King See also:Eric IX . (St Eric), accompanied by the See also:bishop of See also:Upsala, See also:Henry (an Englishman, it is said), and at the head of a considerable See also:army, invaded the country in 1157, when the people were conquered and baptized . King Eric See also:left Bishop Henry with his priests and some soldiers behind to confirm the See also:conquest and complete the See also:conversion . After a time he was killed, canonized, and as St Henry became the See also:patron See also:saint of Finland . As Sweden had to attend to her own affairs, Finland was gradually reverting to See also:independence and paganism, when in 1209 another bishop and missionary, See also:Thomas (also an Englishman), arrived and recommenced the work of St Henry . Bishop Thomas nearly succeeded in detaching Finland from Sweden, and forming it into a province subject only to the See also:pope . The famous See also:Birger Jarl undertook a crusade in Finland in 1249, compelling the Tavastians, one of the sub-divisions of the Finlanders proper, to accept Christianity, and See also:building a See also:castle at Tavestehus . It was Terkel Knutson who conquered and connected the Karelian Finlanders in 1293, and built the strong castle of Viborg . Almost continuous See also:wars between Russia and Sweden were the result of the conquest of Finland by the latter . In 1323 it was settled that the river Rajajoki should be the boundary between Russia and the Swedish province . After the final conquest of the country by the Swedes, they spread among the Finlanders their See also:civilization, gave them See also:laws, accorded them the same See also:civil rights as belonged to themselves, and introduced agriculture and other beneficial arts . The Reformed See also:religion was introduced into Finland by Gustavus Vasa about 1528, and King See also:John III. raised the country to the dignity of a grand-duchy .

It continued to suffer, sometimes deplorably, in most of the wars waged by Sweden, especially with Russia and Denmark . His predecessor having created an order of nobility,--See also:

counts, barons and nobles, Gustavus See also:Adolphus in the beginning,of the t 7th century established the diet of Finland, composed of the four orders of . X . 13385 the nobility, clergy, burghers and peasants . Gustavus and his successor did much for Finland by See also:founding schools and gymnasia, building churches, encouraging learning and introducing See also:printing . 'During the reign of 'See also:Charles XI, (1692–1696) the country suffered terribly from See also:famine and pestilence; in the See also:diocese of Abo alone 60,000 persons died in less than nine months . Finland+ has been visited at different periods since by these scourges; so late as 1848 whole villages were starved during a -dreadful famine . See also:Peter the Great cast an envious See also: