Finland
Finland was a province and then a grand duchy under Sweden from the 12th to the 19th centuries and an autonomous grand duchy of Russia after 1809. It won its complete independence in 1917. During World War II, it was able to successfully defend its freedom and resist invasions by the Soviet Union - albeit with some loss of territory and the payment of war reparations. In the subsequent half-century, the Finns made a remarkable transformation from a farm/forest economy to a diversified modern industrial economy; per capita income is now on par with Western Europe. As a member of the European Union, Finland was the only Nordic state to join the euro system at its initiation in January 1999.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen took office in June 2003. His predecessor, Anneli Jaatteenmaki, resigned in a row over allegations about the use of leaked secret information to help secure what turned out to be a short-lived election victory two months earlier. Although she was subsequently acquitted, for Finland, which has a reputation as a country where government is stable and slow moving, her swift departure came as a major shock. Vanhanen, a teetoller, is noted for his thoughtful, academic approach rather than for his charisma and was expected to be the safe pair of hands needed to steady the political ship again. Like his predecessor, Vanhanen is a member of the Center Party which formed a coalition with the Social Democrats and the Swedish People's Party.
Tarja Halonen became Finland's first woman president in 2000 and was re-elected for another six-year term in January 2006. She comes from the center-left coalition. The role of the president is focused mainly on foreign policy. Social Democratic candidates have held the president's post since 1982, although the head of state must give up party affiliation when taking office.
Following a period of economic slowdown over recent years, the economy recovered well by 2004 when a report by the World Economic Forum put Finland at the top of its league for business competitiveness.
Finland scores highly - in many cases at the top of world league tables - in measures of technology use, largely thanks to the influence of companies such as mobile giant Nokia. Over the past 10 years, Finland has not only become one of the world's most efficient, tech-driven economies, but has invested effort and money into social policy. One key indicator of its long-term thinking is the Finland 2015 plan, which aims to improve the knowledge, skills, resources and networks of top-level Finnish decision-makers in matters concerning the future of Finland.
A growing influx of Slovak gypsies has become an issue with many Finns. The gypsies say they are escaping from persecution at home but officials say it's more likely they're attracted to Finland's welfare benefits.
There are no known threats to travelers to or expatriate residents in Finland. Nevertheless, Finland has not totally escaped occasional random violence. In October 2002 a Finnish Teen exploded a bomb at a shopping mall near Helsinki that resulted in 7 deaths, including the teen. Police determined that the teen acted alone and was not tied to international terrorist groups.
Animal rights groups are also active in Finland and occasionally target companies involved in animal research and in the fur trade.
