Category Archives: Finland

Dec
02
2023

Popular Holidays in Finland

Posted by

By Kyran Lorio

Finland celebrates many different holidays, and the official holidays established by the government can be separated into two groups: Christian holidays and non-Christian holidays.

The most popular Christian holidays are Christmas, New Years, Easter, Midsummer Day, All Saints Day, Epiphany, and Ascension Day.

Finnish Christmas traditions usually include involve going to a traditional wood-heated sauna with your family, going to church, decorating Christmas trees and adorning them with lights, ornaments, and traditional decorations like straw sticks and dimmers. Food is very important in Finnish Christmas tradition, and popular foods are rice porridge, ham, casseroles, plum jelly, and gingerbread cookies. The most popular Christmas beverage in Finland is a type of mulled wine called glogg. Another important aspect of Finnish Christmas are the Christmas carols, and surprisingly older Christmas songs are the most popular compared to newer Christmas songs.

Finnish Glogg

To celebrate New Years in Finland clubbing and partying all night are popular activities to celebrate the holiday, as well as more universal traditions such as making New Year’s resolutions and drinking sparkling wine. A more traditional activity done on New Years in Finland is fortune telling. This is done by pouring melted tin into a bucket of cold water, and the hardened tin shape is used to predict your future for the new year. For example, a ring of tin would indicate a future wedding, a star would mean good fortune, etc. Popular New Years foods include hot dogs, French fries, and potato salads.

Hardened tin shapes

The most popular non-Christian holidays in Finland are May Day and the Finnish Independence Day. May Day celebrates the beginning of summer and is a very popular holiday in Finland. Traditions for this holiday usually involve nature, like gathering branches and flowers to make flower garlands Another popular activity is setting up a maypole to dance around and decorate as you dance.

Christmas in Finland – Traditions and Food – Arctic Guesthouse & Igloos (arcticguesthouseandigloos.com)

May Day in Finland – the authentic Finnish spring carnival (herfinland.com)

Quick Guide to Finnish New Year and Its Effortless & Fun Traditions (herfinland.com)

Nov
23
2023

Human Rights and Equality in Finland

Posted by

By Kyran Lorio

In Finland, human rights are represented in the Finnish constitution. The constitution covers the citizens’ rights to freedom of speech, religion, association, and assembly. Finland’s constitution is very similar to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, with relating topics of equality, liberty, and security. In the Finnish constitution freedom of expression and belief are protected by Article 12. Because of this, most media outlets in Finland are free from political pressure and censorship and are fully independent. Religious freedom is also guaranteed for citizens in the constitution, however, there have been several incidents of perceived threats to religious communities and hate speech directed to Muslim and Jewish populations.

The Finnish president speaking to the parliament.

Equality in Finland has long been viewed as a national priority and various groups within the population have full political rights and opportunities. Finland was one of the first nations to establish women’s suffrage, granting them the rights to vote and compete in parliamentary elections in 1907. Unfortunately, there is still a lack of gender equality in Finnish working life, with men receiving a higher salary than women and many companies not having a gender equality plan. Employers in Finnish workplaces with also often provide more training for men than women. Ethnic minority groups in Finland also have full political rights with the indigenous Sami people of Finland having their own legislature, and inhabitants of the Finnish Aland Islands having their own parliament.

Sami parliament of Finland

The Finnish constitution also separates the courts from the other branches of the government by providing for an independent judiciary. In the Finnish government corruption is not a significant problem, although Finland is behind in implementing corruption prevention. Recently, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) advised Finland to improve the detection policies for corruption within law enforcement and government agencies, but as of 2020 Finland only has one of fourteen GRECO anticorruption recommendations implemented.

Finland: Freedom in the World 2022 Country Report | Freedom House

Constitution of Finland – Ministry of Justice (oikeusministerio.fi)

Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations

Nov
11
2023

Finland’s Endangered Culture and Decline in Biodiversity

Posted by

By Kyran Lorio

Endangered, or dying cultures are present in all countries and regions due to time, loss of information, endangered lifestyles, disease, and loss of habitat and environmental quality. Wade Davis, a National Geographic Explorer, brings up the issue of rapidly dying cultures and the negative impacts of a lack of cultural diversity. Finland is no exception, and the culture of the Sami people is endangered. Like most other indigenous cultures, the culture of the Sami people is dying because of the decline in population over the years, and because the cultural practices are not very mainstream. One of the main aspects of the Sami culture that is endangered is the Inari Sami language. This language only has around 300 speakers in Finland and is considered a minority and endangered language. Some suspect that this language might die out within the next few generations because Sami parents often only use Finnish to speak to their children to help them integrate into society better. Although this specific Sami language does not have many speakers, the Finnish language itself actually has adapted a few Sami words into the northern Finnish dialects, using Sami words for reindeer hunting and breeding, and other nature related words.

Endangered species in Finland

In Addition to the loss of culture, Finland is also experiencing a loss of biodiversity in their environment and in ecosystems. Nearly half of Finland’s natural habitats are endangered and about 12% of their species are endangered. 12% of Finland’s species is about 2,663 total species potentially facing extinction. Finland is also having problems with maintaining strong and healthy habitats, with the percentage of rotting and decaying trees on forest land increasing in recent years. These issues are mostly due to Finland’s industrial development causing an excessive burden on the neighboring ecosystems. In reaction to this, a plan was implemented in 2021 called the “Helmi Habitats Program” to improve habitats and provide nature reserves.

This European Language Is Now So Rare That… | Culture Trip (theculturetrip.com)

Biodiversity continues to decline, several successes in environmental protection – (kestavakehitys.fi)

 

Oct
09
2023

Finland Joins NATO

Posted by

By Kyran Lorio

The region that this blog will focus on is Northern Europe, and the country I chose is Finland. A recent development in Finland’s involvement in global affairs was their decision to join NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This decision not only shifts Finland’s foreign and security policy but deepens their political relationships with other NATO members. Finland’s Ambassador to India, Kimmo Lahdevirta, also says, “Finland brings essential assets to NATO. We have strong national defense, civil preparedness, and crisis resilience.” In addition to this, over two percent of Finland’s GDP is also being allocated to defense and security for NATO. Overall, Finland’s recent involvement in NATO is a large step for their international relations, security, and their political influence and reach. 

Kimmo Lahdevirta, Finland’s Ambassador to India.

Finnish and Swedish envoys submitting their countries’ requests to join NATO to the NATO Secretary General.

 

News from Finland “Helsinki Times”