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Finland

OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Finland

DATE OF FORMATION: 1917

POPULATION: 5.2 million

DENSITY: 44 people per square mile

LANGUAGES: Finnish, Swedish, Sámi

RELIGIONS: Evangelical Lutheran 89%, Other 9%, Orthodox Christian 1%, Roman Catholic 1%

ETHNIC MIX: Finnish 93%, Other (including Sámi) 7%

GOVERNMENT: Multiparty elections

CURRENCY: Euro

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Bordered to the north and west by Norway and Sweden, and to the east by Russia, Finland is a low-lying country of forests and 187,888 lakes. Politics is based on consensus, and the country has been stable despite successive short-lived coalitions. Russia annexed Finland in 1809, ruling it until 1917. After two wars against the USSR, Finland accepted a close relationship with its eastern neighbor in exchange for peace. It joined the European Union in 1995 and, despite popular suspicion of Brussels bureaucracy, Finland was among the 12 EU states to adopt the euro from 2002.