Cultural Demography
Today, there are approximately 5.3 million Finns, with an estimated population density of 17 inhabitants per square kilometer. About 65 percent of Finns live in towns or urban areas; 35 percent reside in rural areas. The main cities are the capital, Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa, Turku and Oulu.
While the vast majority of the populace -- 93 percent -- are ethnic Finns, ethnic Swedes, Sami or Lapps, Roma, and Tatars are also resident. A small number of Somalian refugees have also made Finland their home. Ethnic Swedes comprise approximately six (6) percent of the total population and are the most significant minority. The Finnish government estimates the Sami population at 6,500.
Both Finnish and Swedish are official languages. Just over 93 percent of the populace speaks Finnish; close to six (6) percent speaks Swedish. About 1,700 people speak Sami, which is also sometimes called Lappish. A small number of Finns speak Russian.
In terms of religious affiliation, approximately 89 percent of the population is Evangelical Lutheran; one percent is Greek Orthodox. The rest of the population offer no particular religious orientation.
Human Development
According to year recent estimates, Finns have an average life expectancy at birth of 77.75 years of age (74 years of age for males, 81.5 years of age for females). The infant mortality rate is 3.76 deaths per 1,000 live births. It is estimated that nearly 100 percent of the population, age 15 and older, can read and write.
About 11.7 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures in this country; about 5.9 percent of GDP is spent on educational expenditures. Access to education, sanitation, water, and health is regarded to be excellent.
One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In recent rankings of 169 countries, the HDI placed Finland in the very high human development category at 16th place.
Editor's Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief,
www.countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.