Finland

Discover Finland

Fun Foods

Salmon soup, Karelian pasties, Reindeer stew, Open-faced rye sandwiches, Cinnamon buns, Blueberry pie, Cloudberry jam with cream

In 1906, Finland became the first country in the world to grant all women the unrestricted right to both vote and run for elected office. New Zealand and Australia had moved earlier, but both excluded certain women based on race or other conditions. The United States didn't get there until 1920.

For most of its recorded history, Finland wasn't independent at all. Sweden controlled it for more than 600 years, then Russia took over in 1809.

When the Bolshevik revolution toppled Russia's government in 1917, Finland declared independence on December 6. The new Bolshevik government was among the first to recognize it.

Independence didn't bring peace. In 1918, a brutal civil war split the country between "Reds," working-class socialists, and "Whites," conservative government forces. The Whites won, but the war killed around 36,000 people in a country of 3.2 million.

Two decades later, the Soviet Union invaded in November 1939. The Finns, vastly outnumbered, held them off for 105 days in what became known as the Winter War. Finland eventually lost territory, including the Karelian region in the southeast, but kept its independence.

The Sami people have lived in northern Finland, called Lapland, for thousands of years. They developed reindeer herding as a way of life over the past few centuries and maintain a distinct culture and language that predates Finnish statehood by far.

Visit Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus, where you can cross the Arctic Circle marker. In winter, Lapland is one of the most reliable places in Europe to see the northern lights.

The Finnish sauna is a national ritual, not a spa luxury. Try it. Eat smoked salmon, reindeer stew, and Karelian pasties, which are thin rye shells filled with rice porridge and often topped with a mix of butter and hard-boiled egg.